NZ Altitude Simulation Innovators Go Stateside

New Zealand Altitude Simulation Innovators Go Stateside

The company behind a network of state-of-the-art altitude simulation centres in New Zealand has launched the first public altitude simulation centres in the USA.

New Zealand io centres are located in Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin and Wanaka

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In stage one of an international expansion programme, io opens two altitude simulation centres in San Francisco's Bay Area, in a joint venture with American company Pacific West Athletics.

The partnership has plans to open altitude simulation centres throughout the greater Bay Area and the Pacific West region of the United States.

The io programme, first launched in Queenstown in May 2006, delivers health, lifestyle and sporting benefits. Using sophisticated high altitude air delivery, io has taken altitude simulation from the realm of elite athletes and made it available to everyday people.

The convenience of io's altitude simulation programme sets it apart from competitors in the US.

Michael Lodge, io chief executive officer, says one hour a day of his company's three week initial programme offers similar benefits to sleeping nightly in a hyperbaric tent over many weeks, but is a more flexible and less time-intensive approach.

"A handful of companies in the US offer professional athletes hyperbaric tents or chambers to sleep in, but our clients come in for just an hour a day, over a 15-day programme," says Lodge.

"We're the first to open the doors to a convenient public altitude simulation centre in the US, and we're exporting our Kiwi know-how to do it. Our tailor-written software monitors the body while breathing, making immediate adjustments for every individual. Sleeping in a tent filled with high altitude air doesn't offer the same tailored approach."

Lodge says growing interest in the company's natural and drug-free programme has accelerated business expansion, creating significant opportunity for business growth into larger and more diverse markets.

"Many professional and amateur athletes already use the io programme, but we're also helping clients with asthma, sleep disorders, pneumonia, people recovering from chemotherapy and hard-working individuals who want more energy and vitality."

Richard Martinez, co-founder and executive director of Pacific West Athletics in the USA, sees great potential for this New Zealand invention.

"San Francisco has long been a health and fitness conscious marketplace, frequently awarded for its focus on healthy living. Once the general public in the USA realises the positive effects altitude simulation delivers, not only to the recreational athlete but to asthmatics, insomniacs and those with chronic fatigue symptoms, awareness will spread fast," says Martinez.

io delivers its unique programme through a network of centres around the world including New Zealand, Australia and now the USA, with others planned for South Africa, New York, Canada and Dubai.

Clients fix on their own breathing mask for an hour, put their finger into a high-tech pulse and body oxygen monitoring clip, and sit back and relax. They can surf the net, listen to music or catch up on reading in peace.

io altitude simulation boosts energy levels and wellbeing, provides relief from a range of medical conditions and results in a stronger and fitter body. Other results include measurable improvements in sporting endurance, speed and injury recovery, greater breathing control, improved aerobic and anaerobic conditioning and maintenance of fitness during injury periods.

io clients in New Zealand include All Black Ali Williams, Ironman Kieran Doe, NZ freedive champion Ant Williams and mountain biker Scarlett Hagan.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About altitude simulation

Altitude simulation is not new - making its benefits available to the general public is. Altitude simulators were first developed more than 40 years ago in the Russian aerospace medicine programme to train cosmonauts. Around the same time, scientists and sports trainers noticed the amazing results achieved by athletes from high altitude countries at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics (2,240m above sea level).

Since then, altitude training has become a regular part of many professional athletes' training regimes. The science and technology behind high altitude training has continued to develop and is now available to the public at a local io centre.

io

New Zealand io centres are located in Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin and Wanaka. Australian centres are in Maroochydore and Adelaide.

www.io-nz.com

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