The Preface

Two weeks ago, Obstacle Racing Media published a podcast interview with Dr. Jason Wagner. We reached out to Jason as a direct result of his blog post questioning the legitimacy and effectiveness of the “Elevation Training Mask”. I personally reached out to TrainingMask.com shortly after this episode aired to see if they wanted to respond to any of Jason’s findings.

I got in touch with the CEO of Training Mask LLC, Casey Danford, and he suggested we speak with Brian MacKenzie. Brian is a world renowned strength and conditioning coach and has studied altitude and hypoxic training for over 10 years. Brian works for Training Mask, LLC as an independent contractor and wears the loose title of “Research & Development in Human Performance”.

I chose to have Joshua Grant on the call with me to ask some tough questions. Josh is a well respected athlete and has become ORM’s resident skeptic/myth buster. Many in the OCR community may remember his appearance with the inventor of “Let’s Talk About Oral I.V.” on a previous podcast episode.

The episode

Listen in and let the episode speak for itself.

The Aftermath

Several questions came up during the call regarding the true benefits/claims of the mask. The largest bone of contention being that the mask has nothing to do with actual “elevation training”. Statements had been made previously by some associated with Training Mask, LLC that many were aware these benefits did not exist, but that it didn’t mean the Training Mask wasn’t a quality product, didn’t have other benefits, etc.

Joshua Grant pointed out that the words “elevation mask” (along with the logo appearance of mountains still appearing on the mask and its packaging) was misleading consumers.

When this point was raised, Brian answered the best he could, then referred us back to Casey Danford, the CEO of Training Mask, for further discussion.

This afternoon we received breaking news in the form of an email from Mr. Danford.

Click here to read about the name change to Resistance Training Mask.

Today’s show is sponsored by:

Mud Hero – We welcome Mud Hero as a sponsor! Code ORM16 saves $5 on all events.

PearUp – Get your group sponsored on Pear and earn up to $1,000 for custom apparel or direct donation.

Ultimate Wine Run – Save 15% on all 2016 locations for the Ultimate Wine Run using code ORM28.

Featured Image Photos from Twitter. @training_mask_ural, @andrea_blake, @tokkun122532

• About
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Matt B. Davis

is the host of the Obstacle Racing Media Podcast and the author of "Down and Dirty-The Essential Training Guide for Obstacle Races and Mud Runs". He is also the only (known) #wafflehouseelite obstacle racer.

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