Altitude training for boxers

If you’re a fan of boxing science then you’ve probably seen the trailer for the new Creed movie. During the trailer we noticed something interesting- Adonis Johnson appears to be wearing a mask during a treadmill run.

This is a “training mask” or “elevation mask” purported to mimic altitude training. We use the word ‘purported’ because there’s absolutely no evidence to suggest these masks are similar to training at altitude.

We’ve also noticed high profile boxers training in altitude tents. If you’re a keen reader of boxing science you’ll know we also train our boxers in an altitude tent inside our environmental chamber at Sheffield Hallam University.

So, in the forthcoming weeks we’ll be publishing a series of articles on altitude training.

We’ll be answering questions such as:

• What effect does exercising at altitude have on the body?
• Why do athletes train at altitude?
• How could boxers use altitude training?
• What are altitude tents and how do they work?
• How do we use our altitude tent?
• What are altitude masks and how do they work?
• Are altitude masks useful for boxers?

Most training methods are useful but there’s a time and a place for their use. Knowing the time and place is key to training effectively. A consistent theme running through all our articles is this: The answer to the training programme puzzle is never simple.

So before you go and place an order for your altitude mask wait for our altitude series, then make your mind up.

Even better – if you have a question you’d like to ask us about altitude training leave a message on our facebook wall and we’ll do our best to answer it!