Simulated Altitude Training
Add controlled hypoxic exposure to your training and recovery. Box Altitude systems make simulated altitude accessible at home, in the gym or while you sleep.
Altitude Training & VO₂ Max
Build simulated altitude exposure into a structured training block to support the physiological adaptations associated with oxygen transport, VO₂ max and endurance performance.
Simulated altitude training creates a controlled hypoxic environment with a lower oxygen concentration than normal sea-level air. Over a structured altitude block, this environmental stimulus can contribute to adaptations relevant to endurance athletes, including changes in red blood cell production, haemoglobin mass and the body's ability to transport and use oxygen.
One of the most widely used approaches is live high, train low . Athletes accumulate longer periods of altitude exposure while continuing to complete their important training sessions at or near sea level, helping preserve training quality while adding the altitude stimulus.
Box Altitude technology is used by athletes and performance programs including Josh Kerr, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Cameron Wurf, the Queensland Academy of Sport and Australian national programs. The key advantage is that simulated altitude can become part of everyday life rather than requiring repeated travel to an altitude camp.
Depending on the system, altitude exposure can be incorporated while sleeping, recovering or training. This allows runners, cyclists, triathletes and other endurance athletes to integrate hypoxic exposure around their existing program rather than replacing it.
Individual responses to altitude vary, so exposure duration, altitude, training load and factors such as iron status should all be considered when planning a block.
Simulated Altitude Training
Build altitude exposure into a structured training block to support the physiological adaptations associated with oxygen transport, VO₂ max and endurance performance.
Box Altitude technology is used by elite athletes and performance programs including Josh Kerr, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney, Cameron Wurf, the Queensland Academy of Sport and Australian national programs.
Sleep, train and recover at home. No altitude camp. No travel. No unnecessary disruption to the rest of your program.
Endurance Performance
VO₂ max describes the maximum rate at which your body can take in, transport and use oxygen during intense exercise. It is one of the major physiological determinants of endurance performance alongside factors such as lactate threshold, exercise economy and sustainable race intensity.
Well-trained athletes can reach a point where adding more volume or more intervals produces increasingly small gains. Altitude exposure provides a different physiological stimulus that can complement normal endurance training.
One of the key adaptations athletes look for from sustained altitude exposure is an increase in total haemoglobin mass — the amount of haemoglobin available to transport oxygen around the body.
The Physiology
Simulated altitude reduces the oxygen concentration of the surrounding air, creating a controlled hypoxic environment. Reduced oxygen availability can stimulate erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone involved in red blood cell production.
With sufficient exposure, some athletes experience increases in haemoglobin mass. More haemoglobin can increase the blood's oxygen-carrying capacity, which is one mechanism through which altitude exposure may contribute to improvements in aerobic capacity and endurance performance.
The size of the response varies considerably between athletes. Exposure duration, altitude, baseline haemoglobin mass, training history, recovery and iron availability can all influence the outcome.
Live High, Train Low
Live high, train low — often shortened to LHTL — is one of the most widely studied approaches to altitude training. Athletes accumulate prolonged altitude exposure while sleeping or recovering, then complete key training sessions closer to sea-level oxygen conditions.
The reasoning is straightforward. Altitude provides the hypoxic stimulus, while lower-altitude training allows athletes to preserve more of the absolute pace, power and intensity required for quality endurance work.
A simulated-altitude system makes this approach possible without relocating to the mountains. Altitude exposure can be integrated around work, family, recovery and an existing training program.
The objective is not to replace your training with altitude. It is to add altitude exposure around the training that already makes you fit.
Planning an Altitude Block
Altitude exposure is typically planned as part of the wider training year rather than treated as a stand-alone intervention. Many endurance athletes use multi-week blocks with long-duration overnight exposure while continuing their normal training during the day.
A common practical range for sleep-based simulated altitude is around 2,000 to 2,500 metres, progressively introduced and adjusted according to individual response. Many athletes aim to accumulate approximately 8 or more hours of exposure per night across several weeks.
Higher is not automatically better. Sleep quality, resting heart rate, oxygen saturation, training load and recovery should all be considered. Iron status is particularly important because adequate iron availability is required for normal red blood cell production.
The optimal timing relative to competition varies between athletes, events and coaches. The aim is to arrive at the target event with the benefit of the altitude block without compromising the quality of the training that precedes it.
Choose Your System
Box Altitude offers three ways to integrate simulated altitude into an endurance training program: sleep-based exposure, active hypoxic training and whole-room altitude.
Designed for athletes who want to accumulate long-duration simulated-altitude exposure overnight while continuing to train normally during the day.
The Sleep Cloud is a practical way to implement a live-high, train-low approach at home without travelling to an altitude camp.
Explore Sleep CloudCreate a controlled simulated-altitude environment around a treadmill, indoor bike, rower or other training equipment.
Ideal for athletes and performance facilities that want to include active hypoxic sessions alongside normal sea-level training.
Explore Training CloudConvert an existing bedroom into a controlled simulated-altitude environment for consistent overnight exposure without a tent.
Designed for athletes, couples and high-use environments where altitude is being integrated as part of an ongoing performance program.
Explore Bedroom SystemsProven in Elite Sport
Box Altitude systems are used across professional endurance sport, elite training environments and high-performance programs.
Whether the goal is a major championship, a stage race, a marathon or a personal best, the principle remains the same: accumulate the right altitude exposure while protecting the quality of the training that drives performance.
Read how Josh Kerr uses Box Altitude as part of his performance environment.
Altitude Training FAQs
It can. Sustained altitude exposure can stimulate adaptations involved in oxygen transport, including increases in haemoglobin mass in responsive athletes. These adaptations may contribute to improvements in VO₂ max and endurance performance. Individual response varies substantially.
Altitude adaptation begins soon after exposure starts, but the haematological adaptations endurance athletes are usually seeking require repeated exposure over time. Multi-week blocks are common, with the exact duration depending on altitude, hours of exposure, training history and individual response.
They are used for different purposes. Long-duration sleeping or living exposure is commonly used when the goal is to accumulate enough hypoxic exposure to stimulate haematological adaptation. Active hypoxic training provides a different training stimulus. Many endurance programs use a live-high, train-low approach so key sessions can still be completed at higher absolute intensity.
There is no single altitude that is ideal for every athlete. Sleep-based programs commonly use moderate simulated altitudes and increase exposure progressively. The appropriate setting depends on experience, oxygen saturation, sleep quality, training load, recovery and the purpose of the block.
Simulated altitude can reproduce the reduced-oxygen stimulus used in many altitude-training protocols without requiring an athlete to relocate. Natural and simulated altitude are not identical in every respect, but home systems can make consistent hypoxic exposure easier to integrate around normal training and daily life.
Yes. Iron is required for normal haemoglobin and red blood cell production. Athletes planning a significant altitude block often monitor iron-related blood markers and discuss abnormal results with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Build Your Altitude Setup
Sleep at altitude, train in hypoxia or convert an entire room. Box Altitude can help you choose the setup that fits your training, space and altitude goals.