So, my buddy Mike and I decided to do something really stupid the other day.
A few weeks ago, Mike ordered about 10 of these for his rugby team, but only just recently took them out of the box, and decided that he needed a workout partner with an equal motivation to ruin their own day:
This guy.
These masks basically just restrict oxygen flow to your body so that you adapt to needing less oxygen to perform increasingly difficult tasks. This is incredibly useful for people interested in heavily cardio-based strength programs (like I am), martial arts (like I am), or running marathons (like I am).
Because I’m so chronically dumb in this regard, when Mike suggested a workout where we put these masks on–which again, essentially, lightly asphyxiate you–and push barrels full of water up the hill in his backyard, repeatedly, until we were worn out, naturally I was game. I seriously think Mike and I’s time in the USMC seriously skewed our perception of fun.
Either way, after a light cardio warm-up to adjust to the oxygen levels that the mask regulates, we started on the actual exercise: pushing barrels up a hill, and then resisting against them to slowly let them roll back down.
That was by far the best cardio workout I’ve ever gotten. My chest was pounding, I felt slightly, but “controlably”, lightheaded, and my whole body was on fire.. Hell, that may be one of the best strength workouts I’ve ever gotten as well.
Unfortunately, Mike had promised these masks to his team mates. Which is good, because they recently came out with a new version of this mask that I’ve already placed an order for. I don’t know why agreed to join him for this in the first place. Maybe I’m slightly brain dead. However, I’m happy I did. It reinforces what I believe is a key principle of fitness, as well as a pillar on which my life philosophy rests:
“Challenge yourself in unconventionally difficult ways, and you will see unconventionally excellent levels of self-improvement.”
An Odd Approach to Fitness 