I’ve just started a course of Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure (IHE) using the Altitude Centre’s POD in Manchester’s Ellis Brigham store. It works by allowing me to breathe rarefied air and so expose me to lower oxygen levels with the aim of triggering some physiological changes to help me “pre-acclimatise” before I get on to Kilimanjaro. I’ll be trying to get a 40 minute session in each day until we leave a week on Friday. I don’t know to what degree it’ll help but I’m pretty much happy to try most things to give me the best chance of reaching the summit!
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June 10, 2013 at 8:12 am
Well, if I didn’t feel completly unprepared for Kili I certainly do now 🙂
June 10, 2013 at 8:43 pm
I’m not sure it’s doing much. When on the machine my oxygen saturation levels (SPO2) don’t seem to drop much nor does my heart rate rise which seems to suggest that (a) I’m really fit and not significantly affected by the rarefied air – unlikely (b) the machine isn’t performing as expected (c) I’ve just bought £100 worth of placebo! Have emailed the altitude centre but didn’t get a response (they have a place in London BTW). I’ll stick with it “just in case” I suppose…
June 10, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Dare I ask how expensive this was?
June 10, 2013 at 9:45 pm
£100 for 10 x 40min sessions
June 12, 2013 at 7:04 am
That isn’t as bad as I expected – the Altitude centre in London is over £100 for a consultation…