Palacký University in Olomouc – Faculty of Physical Culture has a Hypoxic Chamber. Of course From Us – From the Hypoxia Altitude Program.
It is located in the laboratory of stress physiology in the Centre of Kinanthropological Research and can simulate conditions of altitude up to 5500 meters above sea level. This means a lower concentration of oxygen or hypoxic air. Breathing this air not only improves athletic performance or acclimatization for a given altitude, but this method has many beneficial effects for the human body.
The Faculty of Physical Culture is the first university in the country to have such a chamber.
Experts from the faculty here, for example, studied the reaction of the organism of forty test subjects depending on the changing altitude and intensity of the load. Currently, they are preparing experiments on the effect of molecular hydrogen in the form of hydrogenated water and hypoxic environment on performance enhancement. Opticians from the Faculty of Science, for example, have also used the possibility of varying the percentage of oxygen in space for their experiments, investigating the effect of hypoxia on corneal thickness and intraocular pressure.
We are HYPOXIA.
And we are going into the future!
Article about the installation of a hypoxic system at UPOL (2 May 2020):
Sea or mountains in Olomouc? No problem at the Faculty of Physical Culture
Experience the conditions of the high mountains, experience the manifestations of the coastal climate or find the limit of your strength. These are experiences for which there is no need to leave Olomouc. Thanks to the unique hypoxic chamber, experts from the Faculty of Physical Culture can simulate a wide range of environments and situations in the laboratory of stress physiology and evaluate the human body’s response to them – and, for example, save money that would have gone on a failed holiday. You can take a peek into the lab with the main topic of the UP Magazine.
“The key is to survive,” the laboratory’s guarantor Michal Botek from the Department of Natural Sciences in Kinanthropology begins his explanation of what stress physiology deals with. Any kind of stress is a stress for the human organism, which it has to cope with somehow. And we’re interested in what happens to the organism under different stresses, whether it’s physical stress, cold, heat, or maybe lack of oxygen, hypoxia. In testing, we mainly monitor and evaluate the response of the cardiopulmonary system, cognitive function and also fatigue or the speed of recovery,” he explains.
The body’s reaction starts with the idea that the load is waiting for you. “The autonomic nervous system begins to prepare the body: the heart rate increases, blood moves to the working muscles. The aim is to supply oxygen and energy,” recalls Botek’s colleague Aleš Jakubec, adding that stress tests give athletes and their coaches a lot of important information for determining a training plan.
An unique chamber
Both gentlemen are “offspring” of Pavel Stejskal, who years ago was a pioneer in the field of stress testing at the Faculty of Physical Culture. “At that time we had two bicycle ergometers and a treadmill. Then when we bought a breathalyser, I was absolutely thrilled with it, spending whole days in the laboratory to catch all the initial problems,” recalls Aleš Jakubec in the middle of a modern room in the new Faculty Centre for Kinantropological Research, where two pieces of equipment in particular cannot be overlooked: a hypoxic chamber and a large treadmill.
The hypoxic chamber is, simply put, a greenhouse into which oxygen-depleted air flows thanks to a special filter. In this way, conditions of different altitudes can be created and, with the help of other devices such as humidifiers or heaters, the climate of various places in the world can be created. The Faculty of Physical Culture is the first university in the Czech Republic to have such a chamber. Outside the academic world, only biathletes have similar equipment in their training centre. “Technically, we are able to simulate altitudes of up to seven thousand metres in the chamber. However, we have not yet tested these values because there is already a great danger of losing consciousness from five and a half thousand metres. Normally, 21 percent of oxygen is in the air, but at a simulated altitude of 7,000 metres it would be only 8.5 percent,” says Jakubec.
But the chamber is primarily an equipment for scientific purposes, and not only in connection with physical activity. For example, experts from the faculty studied the response of the bodies of forty test subjects in relation to changing altitude and intensity of exercise. They are currently preparing experiments on the effect of molecular hydrogen in the form of hydrogenated water and hypoxic environment on performance enhancement. Opticians from the Faculty of Science, for example, have also used the possibility of varying the percentage of oxygen in space for their experiments.They are investigating the effect of hypoxia on corneal thickness and intraocular pressure.The hypoxic chamber has the greatest potential for mountaineers and other lovers of mountainous terrain, who, for example, before planning a trip abroad, can test in laboratory conditions whether they will be paralysed by acute mountain sickness at higher altitudes as a reaction to lack of oxygen. “Hypoxia at different altitudes can also be used to increase aerobic endurance, i.e. to increase performance, and to improve health in general. There are studies that show that exercise in hypoxic conditions has a far greater effect on reducing body fat percentage than standard therapy. This, in conjunction with the services we offer at the BALUO Application Centre, could be interesting for people suffering from overweight or obesity,” says Michal Botek. Due to its size, three to four people can exercise in the chamber at the same time, and it is also possible to place an ergometer or treadmill in it.
Not only for professionals
Most of the Moravian premier league football clubs regularly go to the Faculty of Physical Culture for testing; the laboratory of stress physiology has also been used by Zlín hockey players, triathlete Jaroslav Hýzl, cyclists Tereza Huříková and Jan Hirt, rugby players from Vyškov and the entire Czech national team of deaf athletes. Markéta Hanáková, who was not stopped from climbing the mountains even by an implanted pacemaker, tried her hand at simulated altitude.
The Exercise Physiology Laboratory is also open to interested recreational athletes who want to learn more about their bodies and performance in a more in-depth way than, for example, the now popular fitness bracelets can offer them. At the same time, the door is also open to scientists from other departments of Palacký University who are looking for the possibility of using hypoxic environments for their research.
