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Beckham retires to
an oxygen tent - without Posh
By Simon Hart
(Filed: 21/04/2002)
DAVID BECKHAM has been told to lie back
and think of England. The national team captain has left
his marital bed to sleep in an oxygen tent on his floor
in an attempt to help his recovery in time for the World
Cup.
The Manchester United midfielder, who
fractured a bone in his left foot in a Champions
League match 11 days ago, has been advised that sleeping
in a sealed, low-oxygen environment, which simulates the
effect of high altitude, will help maintain his fitness
while his injury heals.
Doctors at the British Olympic Medical
Centre (BOMC) in Northwick Park, London, who have been
liaising with the Manchester United medical team,
believe it could make all the difference in ensuring
that the England captain leads his team out for their
crucial opening game against Sweden in Saitama, Japan,
on June 2.
Dr Greg White, of the BOMC, says that
sleeping in a reduced-oxygen, or hypoxic, environment
stimulates the production of red blood cells, which
deliver oxygen to the muscles. "The footballer in
question is now immobilised and of course the amount of
training he's going to be able to do over the next few
weeks is much reduced. But hypoxia will maintain his
fitness without him having to do anything. It won't make
any difference to the speed of the healing process, but
what it means is that when he has recovered from the
injury he will be fit enough to play football almost
immediately."
The tent, which comes complete with a
generator that reduces the proportion of oxygen in the
air inside from the normal 21 per cent to about 15 per
cent, could accommodate a double mattress. However, on
medical advice, Victoria Beckham has decided not to join
her husband inside because she is four months pregnant
with their second child.
The tent, which costs £6,000, has been
supplied by edge4, a company based in London whose
owner, Angela Lebaigue, was contacted by Manchester
United the day after Beckham suffered his injury.
"When David got injured I got a call from
Manchester United really early in the morning and I
suggested that David should go in the tent," she said.
"They rang me back an hour later to say he was willing
to try it."
Miss Lebaigue travelled to the Beckhams'
home in Alderly Edge, Cheshire, last week to supervise
the installation and to explain how it works to
Victoria. "She was utterly sweet about it," said Miss
Lebaigue. "Victoria just wants him to get better and be
as fit as possible for the World Cup. She's really
terribly supportive of him."
She added: "The tents are made so that,
if you want, you can put it on top of your bed with your
double mattress inside it, but David's actually got it
on the floor next to the bed. Basically, it simulates an
altitude of between 9,000ft and 15,000ft, which is
similar to a normal ski resort. It's all been pre-set
for David. He doesn't have to do anything. I set it up
myself for about 9,000ft, which should be enough for
him. It isn't the quietest of things, but you can just
put an extension lead on it and put the generator in
another room. It shouldn't keep him awake."
Miss Lebaigue confirmed that Beckham
would be sleeping alone. "Victoria wouldn't want to get
in while she's pregnant," she said. "But if she wasn't
pregnant then she'd definitely be in there."
Although the use of hypoxic tents is the
latest in sports science, Beckham is not the first
sportsman to use the idea to speed up the recovery
process. Two years ago the former world rally champion,
Colin McRae, was hurt in a serious crash in Corsica but,
after sleeping in a tent identical to Beckham's, was
back in action within a few weeks.
Other sportsmen, particularly endurance
athletes, believe that sleeping at "high altitude" can
offer fitness benefits as part of their normal training
programmes. Britain's Paula Radcliffe, who made a
stunning winning debut in last Sunday's London Marathon,
has her own tent, while her fellow British runner Mark
Steinle, who broke his personal best when he finished
eighth in the same race, swears by the technology.
"I use it most nights when I'm at home,"
he said. "I sleep in it pretty much all year round. It's
a case of using it to aid fitness. It's the equivalent
of going away to altitude but obviously it's a lot more
convenient to do it in your own room in your own
home."
The edge4 company also manufactures
larger hypoxic chambers that enable athletes to train
inside them on static bikes or treadmills. Manchester
United is one of a number of Premiership clubs already
using the system and it is likely that Beckham will
supplement his sleeping programme with some gentle
exercise inside the chamber in the next few weeks.
United, who play the first leg of their
Champions League semi-final against German team Bayer
Leverkusen on Wednesday, insist it is "extremely
doubtful" that Beckham will be fit in time for the final
on May 15, should they go through. Miss Lebaigue,
however, is confident that the player will be able to
hit the ground running once his foot is healed. "When
his injury heals, he won't have to go and get himself
match fit because he should already be fully fit."
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