Altitude training tent

I would like to know from an experienced person who has used altitude training tent and doing regular blood test to see the up and down changes of the red blood cells.

I would like to know what is the maintenance dosage after the first 8 weeks sessions.

I have not used such a tent. But I have done other (some similar) forms of preparation for altitude. I have not had my RBC / Hematocrit levels measured before and after -- but the increase in my measured athletic performance (as in uphill bicycling) at sea level has been obvious -- so I infer the increase in my RBC was significant.

I think that the main purpose for most customers + users of those tents is to improve athletic performance near sea level, not at altitudes like 3000 meters / 10,000 feet or higher. So do not expect that the manufacturers + distributors, or the user communities, know much about how best to use them for actually going up to altitude.

Keep in mind that there are at least four changes in physics and physiology that might matter for performance (and happiness) at high altitude:

• reduced partial pressure of O2
• reduced partial pressure of H2O
• reduced partial pressure of CO2
• reduced total air pressure

The tent deal mainly with the first one, possibly a bit with the second. So at best it's only a partial solution.

For many people, the main cause of reduced performance and discomfort at altitudes in the range of 2500-4500 meters / 8000-14000 feet is reduced Carbon Dioxide CO2 concentration, which causes "respiratory alkalosis".

Increasing Red Blood Cell concentration (by a tent, by injecting EPO, whatever) does not address the problem of respiratory alkalosis -- so even after eight weeks or whatever or preparation with the "altitude tent", you still might feel miserable or not perform well your first few days at real altitude. (Also raising RBC concentration normally does raise the risk of getting a harmful embolism.)

Nor does using the altitude tent address the total air pressure factor -- though I'd guess that for most people that's becomes a significant problem only at altitudes somewhere higher than 4500 meters.

Ken

^ other "forms of preparation" ...=dope(epo, etc...)?!?

Johncoool wrote:I would like to know from an experienced person who has used altitude training tent and doing regular blood test to see the up and down changes of the red blood cells. I would like to know what is the maintenance dosage after the first 8 weeks sessions.

You might try contacting Adrian Ballinger at alpenglowexpeditions.com

He guides 8000 meter peaks, preparing clients ahead of time with these tents and might be willing to share his knowledge.

I have no interest in climbing high altitude at all. My interest is just to increase the red blood cells.

So I need someone who has experience with maintenance dosage and how to do it.

Bike racing friend got one who lived at low elevation on the east coast. He also had a blood spinner and measured his hematocrit daily. He said there was a lot of volatility in the day-to-day measure, and he said he had to squint hard at the numbers to see any increase. I think he did the cycle early in his periodization.

Tents are expensive, why not just buy some EPO.

If you're going to play the game of boosting your hematocrit / Red Blood Cell concentration, I think you need to get serious about dealing with the increased risk of embolisms (think like internal blood clots in the wrong places, or a stroke).

One internationally competitive racer wrote that altitude tents were safe (because not injecting EPO), but then got a blood clot inside the leg, likely from a long airline flight. Luckily survived that. Afterward quietly removed from the web their article about the supposed safety of tents.

On my flights home just from alpine climbing/skiing trips at only 4000 meters, I take measures to reduce the risk of embolisms. I've heard stories that pro bike racers would follow special procedures even during the inactivity of non-travel sleep.

I saw a scientific journal article that multi-generation natives of Tibet (but not recent lowland Han Chinese who have immigrated to Tibet) have a genetic adaptation that helps reduce their risk of embolisms from their high RBC / hematocrit just from living at high altitude. So likely there are also some different biochemistry configurations relative to RBC and clotting/embolisms among the wider human population. But if you do not _know_ that you possess special protective biochemistry / physiology, makes sense to be very careful.

Even better to ask why it's worth taking on the risk of serious injury just to move your athletic performance up a couple of notchwes.

Ken

Thanks for the information Kenr.

I do want to increase the red blood count for my cells but I don't plan to exceed the limit. The normal range for adult males is 14-18 g/dl. So I just want to be close to 18 g/dl.

Most heavy smokers have 16 g/dl because most of the hemoglobin has become useless from having a carbon dioxide molecule attached to it. So their body has to produce more red blood cells just to keep up with the day to day life.

They don't suffer from blood clots. Many of them die from heart attacks or strokes but that is after 40-50 years of smoking, so I don't think that it is directly related to that.

However now I know that I should never exceed the limit of 18g/dl.

Thanks for the advise.