Are you
a fitness enthusiast looking for the energy boost that you need during
your workouts? Do you feel sluggish or fatigued on days after a hard
workout? Are you training for a fun or competitive event or race?
Whatever your fitness goals are, the key to improving your athletic performance
may be Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).
Did you know that
the career of the average NFL football athlete is just 3 years, professional
soccer just 2 years, baseball only 6 years and basketball players 5
years? Many professional athletes and now many amateur athletes are
becoming privy to HBOT and other legal, natural treatment modalities that allow
for faster recovery from injuries, sharper performance and longer and more
intense training regimens. This in hopes of prolonging careers by years
and attaining peak performance during the athlete’s sport of choice.
Michael Phelps is
one noted athlete who uses a hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery
from training. Hyperbaric tents and chambers are used by many athletes to
replicate high-altitude conditions and boost levels of oxygen-rich red blood
cells. They have become popular with NFL players trying to speed their recovery
from injuries.
So how does HBOT
work? Well, normally when we breathe in air (usually at sea level), the
oxygen contained within must travel from our lungs down into our bloodstream
and be absorbed by our cells. However, our cells are only able to absorb
about 25% of the oxygen that is contained in our blood. More importantly,
organelles inside our cells called mitochondria use this oxygen to create ATP,
which is energy is in its purest form. When inside an inflatable
hyperbaric oxygen chamber, the pressure of the chamber forces oxygen into our
lungs, bloodstream and cells. Absorption rates inside cells increases
from 25% to 40-50%, thereby increasing the load of available oxygen to
mitochondria and enhancing energy production. In fact, only 50% of our
energy comes from the fats, carbohydrates and protein that we eat on a daily
basis. In order for our bodies to make this stored energy usable, our
cells must convert this energy into molecules of ATP using oxygen.
The idea for HBOT
and athletic performance was originally developed through scuba diving when
divers reported feeling refreshed and invigorated, even after surfacing.
Some even noted that their joint stiffness disappeared and that their focus
became very sharp. Today, medical studies on the healing properties of
HBOT have triggered this therapy’s growth beyond the diving world. HBOT has
been proven beneficial for not only athletic performance, but also a wide range
of diseases. These include: stroke, autism, chronic fatigue
syndrome, fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s
disease. It also can help individuals recovering from any type of surgery
(plastic, reconstructive) as it facilitates wound healing.
There are many
expected benefits of HBOT, which include:
• Increase of oxygen
to tissues 25 times normal levels
• Stimulates
production of body stem cells
• Boosts immune
function and increases ability to fight infection
• Decreases swelling
and inflammation
• Detoxification
• Promotes
regeneration of injured tissues
• Reduces fatigue
from chronic inadequate oxygen supply to cells and tissues
• Decreases ligament
healing time
• Successfully
treats traumatic and ischemic brain injuries, like strokes
As mentioned
above, professional and amateur athletes alike are now using HBOT to help them
recover and gain a competitive edge. Tennis star, Novak Djokovic,
currently number 1 in the world and winner of the most recent major title at
the Australian Open, uses a hyperbaric chamber to assist with recovery from
long, exhausting matches. When asked about his usage of HBOT, Djokovic
said, “I think this (chamber)really helped. Not for the muscles, but more for
recovering after an exhausting match. It is like a spaceship, a very
interesting technology”, said Djokovic.
Many football players use and sometimes
even sleep overnight in hyperbaric chambers to help them with injuries and for
recuperating after intense training and physically grueling games. Some
players who are known to have benefited from HBOT include Tim Tebow, Darren
Sharper, James Harrison, Terrell Owens and Hines Ward.
During a recent
interview with ESPN, James Harrison stated, “It’s simple – my body helps me
make money.” Harrison has a meticulous weekly routine that helps him to
repair his body, which includes HBOT. “I have a hyperbaric chamber that I
use to rejuvenate myself. The days that I don’t do it (HBOT), I don’t
have that extra “umph”,” he said about his almost daily use of hyperbaric
oxygen.
