Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner who recently made a comeback and placed third in another Tour, has used a portable hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Many cyclists train at higher altitudes, where there is less oxygen, so that the body feels like it has more than enough at regular elevations. Sometimes this makes an athlete's lung capacity greater, as well as simply enabling the red blood cells to carry more oxygen. Other athletes get blood taken out of their body and train with this deficiency, so that the body is used to working with less blood and oxygen, then get the blood replaced before a race or game. There are medications that replenish the oxygen supply in the blood, but these drugs are banned from most events, and hyperbaric chambers remain one of the most effective and well-regarded methods for athletic training.
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