Don't Bother with High Altitude masks.

There are two types of people who wear altitude masks. The first type are those who love to draw attention to themselves (even if it's not in a good way). The second type are those who are actually gullible enough to believe that there are physiological benefits to wearing those stupid gimp masks! Before you go about thinking you are Bane from the "Dark Knight Raises" please read this post.

Take it from a man who studied physiological adaptations to altitude as the main part for him physiology exam during his degree. Nothing good will come of splashing out cash on altitude masks.

I get amused to see people weight training with altitude masks. This is particularly bizarre as heavy weight lifting is an anaerobic activity anyway. Anaerobic literally means without oxygen. The main glycogen stores in your body are utilised for energy and are broken down via the ATP\PC system. What does happen during lifting whilst wearing a mask is a negative thing. As well as oxygen being depressed so is your air supply in general. This reduces the stability of your mid-section and lowers your chances of lifting heavier weight. This basically means that to restrict oxygen will have no positive impact on your lifts and therefore is a daft idea.

Using an altitude mask is more popular with endurance athletes. There have been masses of studies which demonstrates the effects of altitude on the body. There is a heavy correlation between time at high altitude and an increase in red blood cell count. This is due to the low supply of oxygen that causes a homeostasis response to initiate the body's manufacturing of more red blood cells.
Now here's where it gets really important to read. Don't forget why you started high altitude training in the first place. We don't go out of our way to improve red blood cell count. We are looking to improve performance.
Yes red blood cells are produced in a higher quantity and yes they do aid in the transport around the body but how effectively can they do that when blood plasma (the fluid in your blood) doesn't produce as quickly? The large saturation of red blood cells will begin the slow oxygen transfer down which is opposite to the desired effect.
Another negative effect involves a lowering of skeletal muscle tone. As a panic response to low oxygen levels your body will brake down the amino acids of your skeletal muscle tissue.

To conclude please don't bother with an altitude mask. There's better pieces of kit for less money which will be much better for a variety fitness goals.

You may also wish to read:

Resistance Training and Lateral Movement

http://icankeepup.blogspot.it/2015/09/resistance-training-and-lateral-movement.html

Why the Pull Over is a Fantastic Exercise

http://icankeepup.blogspot.it/2015/09/why-pull-over-is-fantastic-exercise.html