Do Training and Personal Protection Masks Give You a Fitness Boost?

You've probably seen those sleek, slightly intimidating, tight-fitting masks worn by UFC fighters like Diego Sanchez, Tyrone Woodley, and Carlos Condit, celebrity actors like Michael B. Jordan in the movie Creed, and maybe even some extreme workout enthusiasts at your local gym who appear to be the exercising equivalent of the villain Bane from Batman’s The Dark Knight Rises.

From the looks of NFL players, Ironman triathletes, BJJ champions, MMA fighters, boxers, Crossfitters, and beyond, these masks—which come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes—are staying trendy longer than I'd anticipated.

I got a mask back in 2013, and then a device called a Powerlung shortly after that. I fully expected them to disappear within the year—not because they lacked science or had been proven ineffective but mainly because they looked silly and felt terrible to use. I mean, exercise is hard enough without feeling smothered while you do it. Training masks are just a fad, right?

Well, maybe not.

The difference between resisted breathing, restricted breathing, and hypoxia

Resisted breathing

Let’s do an experiment: Put your fist up to your mouth like you're pretending your hand is a trumpet. Now, breathe in and out through the tiny space between your fingers and your palm. That's resisted breathing. You can think of it as weight training for your lungs.

Restricted breathing

Now, go for a swim. (Or, if a swimsuit or pool isn’t handy, imagine going for a swim.) Experience what happens when you breathe every five or seven strokes instead of every one or two. That’s restricted breathing. It sends a clear message to your body that oxygen molecules are few and far between.

Hypoxia

Finally, let’s say you climb a mountain or crawl into an altitude tent (a fancy tent that basically sucks some of the oxygen out of the air you’re breathing). That’s hypoxic training, in which the air is truly thinner and you’re pulling less oxygen into your body with each breath.

Some notes on breathing apparatuses

An oxygen concentrator is a machine that pressurizes the air in a room and separates the nitrogen from the oxygen, which creates a high concentration of oxygen and a low concentration of nitrogen.

A hypoxic generator works the same but in reverse. This machine has been modified so the exhaust (...

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