Athletes always seek that extra advantage—a method of pushing themselves harder in the gym, healing more quickly, and eventually outperforming their rivals.

That is when Exercise with Oxygen Therapy (EWOT), a training method that promises to revolutionize athletic performance by supercharging athletes with high-concentrations of oxygen. 

But how does EWOT truly live up to the hype?  Let's just explore it a bit more!

The Power of Oxygen: Fueling the Machine

Imagine your body as a high-performance engine. Just like any engine, it needs fuel—in this case, oxygen—to function optimally. Your muscles need a steady flow of oxygen to function during physical activity. 

The more oxygen your muscles can use, the longer and harder you can train. It is where your body's maximum oxygen consumption during exercise, or VO2 max, comes into play.

Athletes have always depended on techniques like altitude training to raise their VO2 max. However, altitude training requires special facilities, can be expensive, and is potentially risky.

EWOT aims to improve the quantity of oxygen available to athletes' muscles during activity by giving them concentrated oxygen, which may have multiple benefits.

A Cellular Boost: How EWOT Might Enhance Performance?

Imagine your body as a bustling city. Every building (muscle cell) needs a steady flow of energy (ATP) to function. This energy is produced by the intricate process known as cellular respiration, which uses glucose as building blocks and oxygen as fuel. That said, your body struggles when oxygen levels fall, much like a city experiencing an energy crisis.

Exercise with Oxygen Therapy athletes help in this situation. EWOT seeks to supercharge athletes' cellular power plants during training by giving them concentrated oxygen. This results in a triple threat: speedier recovery, enhanced endurance, and improved performance.

• Increased Endurance

During exercise, your muscles demand a constant supply of oxygen. The more oxygen available, the longer it helps in maintaining aerobic respiration and the more efficient the energy production process. However, as intensity increases, oxygen levels can dip.

Anaerobic respiration, a less effective mechanism that depends only on glucose, is initiated as a result. Although it gives you a short burst of energy, it also produces lactic acid, which causes that burning sensation to eventually wear you out. 

• Faster Recovery

Muscles that have been working hard cry out in protest. The accumulation of lactic acid and other waste materials is one cause of this pain. Your body typically needs time to remove it and mend any damaged tissues. EWOT quickens this process.

Your muscles may recover more quickly due to the improved lactic acid elimination caused by the increased oxygen supply. 

Furthermore, the increased oxygen may encourage muscle development and regeneration, which results in quicker and a shorter recovery period between exercises.

• Improved Performance

EWOT enables athletes to train harder and more frequently by improving endurance and recovery. Imagine exerting more effort during one exercise and recovering more quickly for the next one. 

This increased training volume often leads to significant improvements in performance. Athletes see themselves running faster, cycling further, and lifting heavier weights.

The potential benefits of EWOT for athletes are fascinating, and it has long been used by professional and Olympic athletes alike.  EWOT has the potential to revolutionize sports performance by enhancing cellular respiration and supplying an uninterrupted flow of oxygen.

The Science Behind the Hype: Is There Evidence to Back it Up?

EWOT boasts a range of potential benefits for athletes, but is the science as solid as the claims? 

Here's a breakdown of the current research landscape:

• Early Promise: Cyclists using EWOT displayed significant endurance gains compared to those training with regular air. Additionally, rowers experienced reduced muscle soreness and faster recovery times with EWOT.
• Numbers Don't Lie: EWOT Research highlights potential improvements in various areas:
• Endurance: Studies suggest that this therapy can also help in increasing endurance from 32% to 67%.
• Power Output: Gains between 8% and 14% have been reported.
• VO2 Max: This key fitness metric saw a rise of 4% to 12%.
• Lactic Acid Reduction: EWOT might help athletes clear lactic acid by 34% to 60%, potentially delaying fatigue.

Benefits of EWOT for Different Sports

Endurance Athletes

Endurance athletes, such as cyclists and marathon runners, primarily rely on aerobic respiration, which is the process of utilizing oxygen to produce energy. Their VO2 max, a measurement of how much oxygen their body can use while exercising, is continuously pushed.

For these athletes, the capacity of EWOT to improve oxygen availability is often a game-changer.

EWOT protocols have the potential to enable endurance athletes to train harder for longer periods of time, which could result in faster race times and increased overall performance. This is because they can postpone the onset of tiredness and promote recovery. 

Weightlifting and High-Intensity Activities

For sports like weightlifting and sprinting, anaerobic respiration, which produces energy without oxygen, is crucial to these tasks. The EWOT protocol is also valuable for these athletes.  Delaying the use of anaerobic respiration during training increases maximum output, and oxygen during the recovery phases expedites recovery. This increased oxygen supply during recovery aids in the faster removal of lactic acid, leading to quicker muscle repair and a shorter turnaround time between intense workouts. This benefits weightlifters looking to break plateaus and increase their peak performance.

Final Thoughts

EWOT has a strong track record of improving performance in endurance athletes, and improving performance and  recovery in high-intensity activities.  The science and feedback we receive from our customers speaks to the power of EWOT to help improve athletic performance and recovery.