EXERCISE
EXERCISE – Building Strength and Flexibility
Mike in 2017.
We often get the question of whether Exercise with TurboOxygen Therapy (EWOT) can provide similar benefits as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and which therapy is more suitable for individual needs.
It’s important to note that oxygen, in all its forms, can be beneficial to the body, and both EWOT and HBOT offer potential advantages.
Before we delve into the comparison, let’s first understand what each therapy entails and how it works.
EWOT is a dynamic approach that rapidly increases oxygen circulation throughout the body. In contrast, HBOT is a passive therapeutic method in which your body is exposed to oxygen at increased pressure to drive oxygen into the tissues.
One key advantage of EWOT is that it super-oxygenates the plasma, driving oxygen deeper into distal hypoxic tissues. What’s more, EWOT capitalizes on the synergistic combination of oxygen and exercise, delivering the same amount of oxygen as HBOT in less than 20% of the time.
What’s Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
The Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS)[1] defines Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as “an intervention in which an individual breathes near 100% oxygen intermittently while inside a hyperbaric chamber that is pressurized to greater than sea level pressure (1 atmosphere absolute, or ATA)”.
HBOT involves inhaling 100% pure oxygen in a specially designed pressurized chamber. The air pressure inside the chamber is increased to a higher level (2-3 times) compared to the normal atmospheric pressure.
This elevated air pressure in the chamber can deliver oxygen into all body fluids, including the plasma, the lymphatic system, the cerebrospinal fluid in the central nervous system, and the synovial fluids in the bones[2]. This therapy helps the lungs accumulate more oxygen than would be achievable by inhaling pure oxygen at normal pressure.
Transporting this additional oxygen to the tissues and other organs helps the body fight various infections and promotes healing. HBOT, a stationary form of Oxygen Therapy, is based on a hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox[3].
The UHMS[4] has officially accepted HBOT to treat conditions including Gas Embolism, Arterial Insufficiencies, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Gas Gangrene, Compromised Grafts And Flaps, Acute Traumatic Ischemias, Decompression Sickness, Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections, Delayed Radiation Injuries, Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Intracranial Abscess, Severe Anemia, Refractory Osteomyelitis, and Thermal Burns.
HBOT chambers are of two types:
- Soft-sided Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers: Also known as mild HBOT, soft hyperbaric chambers are portable, inflatable bags made of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and with a pressure limit of 1.3 ATA. As we experience a pressure of 1.0ATA at sea level, mild HBOT offers 30% higher pressure than at sea level. These chambers are approved for home use and can be purchased with a prescription. The chamber prices vary in the $4000-$10000 range.
- Hard Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers: Hard Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers are FDA-approved medical-grade devices that offer profound benefits compared to soft chambers. These chambers, made of steel or acrylic, work by exposing 100% pure oxygen at a typical pressure of 2.4ATA and can reach up to 3.0 ATA. Their use requires a prescription and needs to be supervised by trained professionals. Typically, a session lasts for 90 minutes and costs around $250-$750.
Exercise with Oxygen Therapy
Now, let’s talk about EWOT. Simply put, EWOT involves breathing 90-96% pure oxygen while exercising. This exercise-oxygen combo does its magic by improving your energy, endurance, recovery, and whatnot- that too in just 15 minutes!
The Turbo Oxygen System, the most affordable EWOT-based entity, helps you reap the maximum benefits from your workout routine.
What’s the Science behind EWOT?
When you exercise, your muscles demand more nourishment and energy. Simply put, exercise is the creation of demand. To deal with this additional requirement of oxygen, your breathing rate has to increase from 15 breaths per minute to 40-60 breaths per minute, which accounts for ~100 liters of air [5].
Incorporating oxygen into your daily exercise routine can pull the oxygen into your blood plasma, super-oxygenating your body tissues. EWOT enables you to be more efficient at oxygen absorption and delivering oxygen to the working tissue.
EWOT is similar to hard HBOT, but instead of using a pressurized chamber, your heart exerts the pressure to drive oxygen into the distal hypoxic tissues. As your blood vessels dilate during exercise, the blood can reach deeper into your tissues, cutting the time required to experience the exponential benefits.
A 15-minute EWOT session with Turbo Oxygen System offers almost the same amount of oxygen you would get in a 90-minute session in a hard HBOT chamber. In simple terms, you’re receiving the synergistic benefits of a 15-minute cardio exercise along with the potential benefits of super-oxygenating your blood, plasma, and tissues in 1/6th of the time.
What are the Similarities between EWOT and HBOT?
Have you ever thought about the similarities shared by EWOT and HBOT?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Exercise With Oxygen Therapy are the concepts derived from a hypothesis: regulating the oxygen supply to the body is the foundation for life and energy.
Both of these techniques use hyperoxia as the basic block of their system. Inhaling excess oxygen is the key factor, and this extra oxygen is delivered to the body to enhance oxygen absorption in the tissues.
Now that we’ve addressed the similarities, let’s look at the significant distinctions between these two therapies.
EWOT vs. HBOT: A Comparison
Here are some of the major differences between these two oxygen delivery mechanisms:
- Passiveness vs. Activity: HBOT is intrinsically a passive oxygen therapy approach in which the person lies down in a pressurized chamber for 90 minutes without any activity. In contrast, EWOT uses exercise as the key to enhancing oxygen intake and absorption.
- Constant Pressure vs. Partial Pressure: HBOT uses high pressure in chambers to improve oxygen absorption, whereas EWOT utilizes the potential of the combination of high oxygen supply to the bloodstream together with the partial pressure of exercise on the body to drive oxygen into the system
- Time efficiency: HBOT takes a longer time to oxygenate the tissues compared to EWOT because it relies on pressure to deliver the oxygen. Conversely, exercising with oxygen enables the body to absorb more oxygen in a shorter time to support the motion of limbs and muscles.
- Cost efficiency: Compared to EWOT, HBOT is far more expensive because of lower time efficiency and the higher operational cost of hyperbaric chambers. Since our Turbo Oxygen System uses a more straightforward system of the oxygen machine, bag, and patented mask, its cost is substantially lower.
The Takeaway
At the end of the day, EWOT and HBOT offer many similar benefits.
HBOT serves as a better option for persons who have some sort of physical issue, malady, or non-healing wounds[6] that prevents them from being able to exercise at the intensity that they need to pull oxygen into their body. Direct skin contact with high oxygen concentrations is highly beneficial, and there are many FDA-approved uses [7] where HBOT has shown great benefits.
From the comparison, it is clear that exercise-based oxygen therapy is more effective and efficient than hyperbaric oxygen therapy in terms of general health and wellness improvements.
When compared to EWOT, HBOT is far less feasible because it falls behind in the various performance parameters and is costlier.
We believe that if you’re able to exercise, the benefits offered by EWOT will outweigh the benefits of HBOT because it is something that can be easily incorporated into your daily routine.
Finding just 15 minutes daily for exercising with oxygen can do wonders for you.
Considering the exercise-based therapy frameworks, the Turbo Oxygen System is the best of the bunch, with its immense potential for profound healing and energy improvement.
In simple terms, EWOT beats HBOT in feasibility and cost-effectiveness- after all, you’re going to stick with the approach that benefits you the most.
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