CVAC pod
Pressurized pod that cycles the air inside to simulate rapid altitude change
You sit inside a sealed pod while the pressure around you rises and falls, which the maker puts at 100 to 200 pressure changes in 20 minutes. The claim is that a couple of 20 minute sessions a week deliver what weeks of altitude exposure normally take, with better oxygen absorption, faster muscle recovery and lymphatic benefit. Altitude researchers are skeptical, because the established live high, train low method needs hours a day over several weeks.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Novak DjokovicDoes it
Tennis player · Record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
In 2011, the summer he reached number one, he named the CVAC pod at a sponsor event as part of what he was doing. ABC News carries his comments: the value he saw was in recovery after a hard set rather than in the muscles, and he likened the machine to a spaceship.
Source: ABC News: Tennis Pro Novak Djokovic's Pressurized 'Space Egg'
Aimed at the same thing
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On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 2 recommend it
Gear entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.