Altitude training has long been a go-to performance enhancer for pro cyclists. Many of the world’s top riders seek heady heights of between 1,800 and 3,000m in search of a red-blood cell boost. Not everyone has the luxury of training in Tenerife, though, which is where the Altium i10 comes in.
Altium's device is named after the Kenyan village of Iten, which sits at over 2,400m and is a home away from home for many world-class runners. The i10 aims to replicate the benefits of breathing the same high-altitude air as its namesake no matter where you are.
The i10, which costs £500, is essentially a rebreather. When you inhale, ambient air enters at 21 percent oxygen. When you exhale, a consumable soda lime cartridge – as used during general anaesthetics – absorbs and removes all exhaled CO2. The more you breathe through the i10, the lower the blood’s oxygen saturation gets – the proportion of oxygen dissolved in the blood – and the higher the altitude that’s emulated.
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It’s worth mentioning that the i10 isn’t actually a substitute for training at altitude. Rather, it works like an altitude tent, giving access to breathing at such elevations and the apparent gains that can be made from this alone.
The i10 was designed using computational fluid dynamics, the same computer-aided technology used in the production of aero bikes. This allowed the parameters of the device to go through the trial and error process before production.
The i10 is quite large. Its PC central chamber has an aluminium skin and the whole device is wrapped in soft-touch plastic. The soda lime cartridges are screwed into the top and there’s a plastic lid into which a breathing spout is inserted for use. The i10 takes a bit of calibration to optimise for each athlete. This is achieved through the addition or removal of foam discs within the chamber and rubber studs on its base.
- This measure of aerobic capacity is the maximum heart rate at which the body can utilise oxygen while exercising. That’s a rise possible with dedicated structured and progressive training over a month, but not one easily achieved.
- The power participants ended their tests on – the point at which oxygen consumption plateaued – was three per cent higher following use of the Altium i10. While not insignificant, this is less relevant for cyclists who aren’t regularly pushing up to their VO2max.
- Participants showed an increase in the the sustained power achievable before lactate accumulates in the blood faster than it can metabolised into the muscle. Such a boost could be a boon for endurance cyclists working relatively hard for long periods.
- This is the sustained power achievable before a sudden upswing in blood lactate (a higher intensity than lactate threshold) and could also benefit those looking to push their power at higher intensities.
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