Running, boxing, cycling and the gym: the jungle of masks for training in hypoxia

On the web market Italian ones can be found about eighty modelsfrom the cheapest ones to one twenty euros to the most sophisticated ones that exceed 200. Of the «Elevation Training Mask» (Emt), the mask That limits the passage of air to the nose and throat intended for those who play sportswhich tragically came to the fore because it was found in the mouth of the Norwegian biathlete Sivert Bakken, found dead on December 23 in his hotel room in Trentino, most Italian sports doctors have never heard of.

“From training or recovery in hypoxiaor in an environment with reduced oxygen availability, its possible benefits on performance have been discussed for decades”, explains Gaetano Danielehealth manager of Lidl-Trek, one of the most important professional teams in the cycling world, «but here we are talking about something different, that is roughly “cut” the air entering the nose and mouth. Analyzing their characteristics, they are not medical devices and there is no health control on the product: if a sportsman, amateur or professional, came to me asking for advice I would tell him to forget it immediately.”

The autopsy in the next few days will clarify the reasons for Bakken’s death, to try to understand if it can be linked to the pericarditis that blocked his eligibility for two years and/or to the use of the mask as a concomitant factor. The Norwegian Olympic Committee, which on Christmas evening had invited all its athletes to no longer use the instrument, then specified that the model found on Bakken “was not part of the national team’s equipment”.

The mask would be exactly one EMT, device that conveys air through a slit with multiple holes that can be gradually closed using a washer to reduce the flow to the nose and mouth to just a trickle. Basically a piece of fabric (spandex or lycra) with an elastic band to tie it at the nape of the neck and plastic nozzles and washers. The hypoxia generated by the (expensive) tents where professional athletes rest to simulate high altitude is another thing, There are various devices for respiratory gymnasticsseveral more i snorkels connected to «offshore generators» that the Barcelona aces Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi have exhibited on their social networks and that they shoot up to 100 liters of air per minute at reduced oxygen pressure to encourage (at least that’s what the manufacturer explains) the elimination of toxins while the footballers cool down on the exercise bike.

“Sports suffocation” is instead a banal mechanical obstruction of the airways which forces you to force your breathing in and out even when you are at rest and in an extreme way if you run, cycle, box or lift weights. The masks are often of oriental production and, unlike health masks, are not subject to any controls quality. Those who sell them explain that the fact of being forced to “also inhale carbon dioxide produced by the breath” would also send “strong signals to the diaphragm and intercostal muscles so that they learn to contract more forcefully” but the risk on coarse models is that of hypercapnia, or excessive accumulation of CO2 in the blood.

Few scientific studies high-level officials incontrovertibly officialize the benefits of using EMT masks, many however, they agree in saying that the forced simulation of the altitude must be carried out under strict medical supervision to avoid “sensations of claustrophobia, disorientation and suffocation” or, in more down-to-earth terms, to avoid what the user Luca reports in an effective review on the most well-known online commerce site: “When you overdo it you could feel short of air and have to remove the mask. We would need a safety valve that can be opened easily also because, when you find yourself on the ground gasping for air, you certainly can’t remove the mask.”

December 28, 2025

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