Two years ago I suffered a serious head injury that effectively ended any thought,idea or ambition to return to any form of activity apart from walking and getting back to working a full day of work as a massage therapist. It has been a VERY long and hard road back.
I have known about the many benefits of altitude training, or IHT - intermittant hypoxic training as it is known from when I used to compete in the Ironman years ago. Now, I was mainly interested in the benefits altitude training offers for health and recovery. I decided to come and see what altitude training could do to speed up my recovery from a health perspective while also improving my fitness.
Knowing I could create the right amount of stress adaption without hard physical activity was something that was very important to me. I chose to walk on the treadmill actively while breathing in reduced amounts of air for short periods of time. I needed to take things slowly to build my confidence back up. Six weeks after first starting and with the support of Walter at the NZ Altitude Centre monitoring my improvement, I am excited about the changes that have come about.
There is a clear reduction in my heartrate by over 30 beats per minute under activity. I also have a better clarity of thought throughout the day. Sometimes I get forgetful, but then who doesn't. I have even joined my daughter in her karate classes and am working towards going for my first run in a few more weeks!
Grant Hopkins