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MY PERSPECTIVE—BY DR. IGOR GAMOW
Rustem Igor Gamow’s father, George, developed the big bang theory of the creation of the universe; scientific curiosity was in Igor’s DNA. Following a stint as a dancer with the National Ballet Company and as a motorcycle courier for CBS News at the White House, the younger Gamow became a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His best-known patented inventions include an inflatable pressure chamber used to treat mountain climbers for altitude sickness and a shallow underwater breathing apparatus.
In the early eighties, I was convinced by my research in Boulder that one should train under conditions where one’s performance is maximum—train at or below sea level while living higher in elevation. I was in the midst of trying to figure out how these high-low experiments could be tested when I read in our local newspaper that Dr. Phil Maffetone was giving a clinic in downtown Boulder, Colorado that afternoon. I had never been in a health gym, but I decided to attend to see if I could pick up some ideas. His lecture was very well attended and I stood back in the crowd with my hands in my pockets. Phil asked for volunteers and I stood perfectly still without moving. Sure enough he picked me and asked me to be a guinea pig to demonstrate the use of a heart-rate monitor while riding a stationary bike.
After the talk, we spent some time discussing the pros and cons of high-altitude training. Phil visited my lab the next day, and I demonstrated a large fabric hyperbaric bubble, which you could inflate, here in Boulder, a mile high city, and be immediately transported to sea level. I also demonstrated a smaller version of our bubble, the Gamow Bag, that could be used to treat climbers suffering from mountain sickness. Phil became very excited about the prospect of using our portable hyperbaric chambers not only to train athletes but to treat other aliments that included brain injury in children, obesity, and cardiac problems. It has been my pleasure and delight for these past twenty-five or so years to exchange ideas on and anecdotes of the various benefits provided by portable both hypobaric and hyperbaric chambers.
In addition to improved oxygen uptake, which by itself is a significant benefit of the chamber, spending time in the device relaxed many of the athletes I used it with on the days leading up to a race. Some would even fall asleep while inside. They also experienced improvements in muscle function, ranges of motion, posture, and gait. These athletes always said they felt better overall, and many looked forward to their turn in the chamber.
In my New York clinic, the hyperbaric chamber was often in use, with athletes who lived in the area scheduling sessions throughout the week. They would use it during periods of a busy training schedule, before important events, after a race, and when they were feeling fatigue, were training hard, or were late in their long racing season.
I would often bring my mild hyperbaric chamber to the more important races, such as the Ironman Hawaii, the Seoul Olympics, or the big triathlon race in Nice, France. Athletes would be scheduled every day for a forty-five-minute hyperbaric session. Post-race, these same athletes would use the chamber to help speed recovery.