Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens Used a Hyperbaric Chamber to Heal a Toe Injury

Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens Used a Hyperbaric Chamber to Heal a Toe Injury

Stamped “P.M.,” the bag is filled with multicolored vitamin supplements. Before noon, the iconic Baltimore Ravens linebacker already had consumed a protein shake, egg whites, an apple, 2 gallons of water and a similar bag of “A.M.” supplements. Lewis, 36, is explaining why he believes he has survived 16 NFL seasons — and still is playing at a Pro Bowl level as the Ravens prepare for Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Houston Texans— in such a physically demanding sport. In addition to a relentless year-round conditioning regimen and aggressive therapy for the toe injury that sidelined him for four games this season, Lewis estimates he swallows 50 pills a day. Then the veteran, hardly ready to declare this playoff run a prelude to retirement, reaches into the briefcase to show off his afternoon snack — another apple. “I’m watching these guys, with their cheeseburgers and stuff,” he says. “And you’re going to compete against me? Even if you’re younger and faster, your fuel won’t let you beat me.” His obsession for healthy eating is, well, notorious in the Ravens locker room. “His diet is so ridiculous, even the people around him have to adjust,” linebacker Terrell Suggs says. “It’s crazy. Last week, I’m eating a bag of chips, and he throws ‘em away.” Lewis is a fish-and-vegetable man who hasn’t touched pork in 12 years and has eaten beef twice during that span. He also doesn’t drink soda or eat bread or sugar — except for scant exceptions. Like his cheat snacks, Twizzlers and Gummy Bears. “To keep living life,” he says. Conversations with Lewis — a passionate, spiritual man and maybe the greatest middle linebacker ever — can branch into myriad directions that offer a glimpse into layers of his life beyond the game that made him famous. To get the latest sports news from USA TODAY, including game results, columns and features, follow us on Twitter at @USATODAYSports. He not only details the lengths he has gone to heal his toe and contemplates his gridiron mortality, but he also reveals a profound concern that generational curses of poor diet and exercise habits threaten the health of family members. Lewis is an unmarried father of six, and his relationships include people who have fallen on hard times. A boy who was the lone survivor when his mother drove her van into a river last spring. A 76-year-old cancer patient. A teenager with bone cancer — for whom he is paying medical expenses. “It goes back to the idea that, ‘To much is given, much is required,’ ” Lewis says. “With all the things I’ve been through, the No. 1 thing that I’ve learned is that we’re supposed to help people through this world.” He reflects on a big influence, Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe. And a not-so-big influence, the father who suddenly appeared three years ago. As he sat at his locker, Lewis, who grew up in Lakeland, Fla., mimicked the gravelly voice of his late maternal grandfather, Gillis McKinney. “He used to have this old car, and he’d say,” Lewis said, changing his voice for effect, ” ‘Y’all kids keep getting all these new cars so quick, but I’ll keep a car with 500,000 miles on it. You’ve got to take care of the engine.’ “It’s the same thing with your body. If you clean your body out so that it is not fighting against you, you rest better, think better and you’re always light on your feet. I haven’t had as much as a cold in three years. Bottom line, your body is a temple, and you have to treat it that way. That’s how God designed it.” Tending to toe injury Yet on the field, some setbacks just happen. Lewis had started 57 consecutive games, dating to 2008, when he was sidelined in November. Although the injury was widely reported as turf toe, which generally involves the big toe, Lewis said the injured area was actually near the small toe on his right foot. “I tore a piece of my plantar plate,” he says. Says Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome: “A toe took out Jack Lambert, Deion Sanders and Jonathan Ogden— two Hall of Famers and another who will probably be one. You hear about ACLs and how serious of an injury it can be. People don’t realize how much the toe affects the ability to push off, change direction and accelerate.” Did Lewis — who still had a team-high 95 tackles this season — see the injury as a sign that his body is succumbing to wear and tear? “I don’t do that,” he says. “That cheats what warriors like me really go through on a daily basis to keep our bodies going full speed, running into people. If you’re trying to play a long time, it takes 24-hour treatment. There’s no break.” Lewis, who led the Ravens with 95 tackles despite the games missed, was bombarded with remedies from fans. One woman urged him to drink a special cherry juice. Another suggested a particular ointment. He also was told that he could alleviate pain by tying his shoes differently. In rehabbing the toe, with the tissue needing to scar, Lewis bought a hyperbaric chamber that increases oxygen flow. He had acupuncture treatment. He’s using a laser light that accelerates regeneration of tissue. “If you walked in my house, you’d wonder, ‘What is going on with this?’ ” Lewis says. “It’s like a space lab over there.” Retirement? Not now Perhaps this will be the final shot at another championship for the two-time NFL defensive player of the year (2000, 2003) and Super Bowl XXXV MVP. If the Ravens win it all, would Lewis retire in a blaze of glory? “Ask Haloti (Ngata) and Sizzle,” Lewis says of the all-pro teammates. Suggs, aka T-Sizzle, was adamant: “I can’t let him retire. We don’t even want him to come off the field.” Suggs recalled a 2009 game in which Lewis showed him his gruesome right hand — the bone of a finger broke through the skin — as the Cincinnati Bengals were driving. “I said, ‘Let’s get through this series, and you can deal with that on the sideline,’ ” Suggs said. “That’s how valuable he is. He’s still outplaying guys in their 20s. When it’s time to walk away, he’ll know. But it’s still not his time.” Lewis figures he wouldn’t still be playing if not for Sharpe, a central figure during a turning point in his life. When Lewis was on trial in Atlanta in 2000 after the deaths of two men during a brawl following a post-Super Bowl party (murder charges were dropped; he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge), he lived in Sharpe’s basement. Sharpe, who had signed with the Ravens as a free agent that spring, would pick up Lewis each day after court and work out with him. The houseguest became fascinated by Sharpe’s strict diet. “I give him a lot of credit for trying something that you’ve never done, which takes you out of your element,” Sharpe said this week. “As the years progressed, he got better at it.” The diet only scratched the surface of Sharpe’s impact on Lewis, who formed a bond with the tight end and safety Rod Woodson, who had joined the team in 1998. “When he was going though his ordeal, it was very tough on him,” Sharpe said. “But he had always been around people who told him what he wanted to hear. Rod and I, we would tell him what he needed to hear. That’s why he respected us.” Sharpe said he understood how Lewis, who grew up poor, was tempted to indulge in a lavish lifestyle after striking it rich as a pro athlete. “You can do all these things because you’ve got the money, but it might not be the best thing to maximize your talent,” Sharpe says. “I told him, ‘You don’t have to be at every party coming to a city near you.You don’t have to go to every all-star game.It’s OK to pass.’

An oxygen treatment normally given to injured footballers could help relieve disruptive side-effects that pelvic cancer

Posted 24th August 2009

Medical News Today - An oxygen treatment normally given to injured footballers could help relieve disruptive side-effects that pelvic cancer patients often suffer. The first patient in The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 's new trial of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is being treated today at a Greater London hospital.

The trial aims to help patients who have received radiotherapy treatment for pelvic cancer - including cancer of the cervix, ovary, prostate, testis, rectum, bladder and uterus - and are left with unpleasant side-effects including diarrhoea, stomach cramps and frequent bowel movements.

Most patients return to normal within a few weeks of stopping radiotherapy treatment, but about 30 per cent develop long-term bowel problems that can interfere with their daily activities and impact on their quality of life. At the moment there is no cure for these symptoms and, as more people are treated for pelvic cancer, an increasing number of people are affected.

A recent small study found evidence that hyperbaric (high pressure) oxygen therapy may be able to improve these side-effects. Now, the ICR and The Royal Marsden are conducting a large Phase III trial to properly test whether this therapy works in patients who have been suffering side-effects for at least a year.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is commonly used to treat scuba divers who suffer the bends (decompression sickness), and it is also given to elite footballers after an injury to help them heal more quickly. The therapy involves the patient sitting in a sealed chamber and breathing 100 per cent oxygen (with periodic breaks) while the air pressure around them is gradually increased. The treatment lasts about 30 minutes and after it finishes the air in the chamber is slowly returned to normal pressure before the patient leaves.

The HOT II trial will take place at specialist centres in Cardiff, Chichester, Great Yarmouth, Hull, Plymouth, North London and the Wirral, co-ordinated by the ICR and The Royal Marsden.

A 71-year-old woman will today become the first patient treated under the new trial, by Hyperbaric Consultant Dr Mihaela Ignatescu at a chamber at Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust in Leytonstone.

The patient, who was given radiotherapy in 1996 after cancer spread from her ovaries to her colon and still suffers chronic stomach cramps and violent uncontrollable diarrhoea, says: "I was delighted to be accepted into this trial to try and improve my quality of life. I consider myself very privileged to take part in the trial and in this way help in the research to hopefully find a cure for pelvic radiation side-effects in the near future."

The trial is randomised and double-blind, which means the patients will be randomly split into two groups and two-thirds will receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy while one-third will be given normal air. Neither patients nor doctors will know to which group they have been assigned. The treatment is given five days a week for eight weeks.

Professor of Clinical Oncology at the ICR and The Royal Marsden John Yarnold, who is jointly leading the trial with Royal Marsden Consultant Gastroenterologist in Pelvic Radiation Disease Dr Jervoise Andreyev, says: "It's very difficult for patients who have already suffered through cancer and radiotherapy treatment to be left with these debilitating side-effects. We hope to answer once and for all whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy will improve their quality of life."

Click here to view the article online   

Holmes is only 25, but he, too, owns a portable chamber

Posted 3rd November 2009

Beaver County Times - PITTSBURGH — For as long as he’s been with the Steelers, Santonio Holmes has been soaking in whatever advice Hines Ward gives him — even when it comes to sleeping in a strange contraption.
Ward, the Steelers’ all-time leading receiver, is an advocate of hyperbaric therapy.

That’s why he owns and regularly uses a hyperbaric chamber.

“I call it my fountain of youth,” said Ward, a 33-year-old veteran who’s in his 12th pro season. Holmes is only 25, but he, too, owns a portable chamber. “It’s the same exact one Hines has,” Holmes said.
Hyperbaric therapy is the medical use of oxygen at a higher level than normal atmospheric pressure. Advocates claim that it enhances athletic performance, speeds up recovery time from injuries, relieves fatigue, and, even as Ward suggested, has anti-aging benefits.
While the use of hyperbaric chambers isn’t widespread, a number of famous athletes past and present have owned or do own one now. They include former Penguins star and owner Mario Lemieux, current Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins and former heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield.
NFL players such as New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens and Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook are also believers in hyperbaric therapy.
“They’re very expensive, but my body is my investment,” Ward said. “It’s a well-worth-it investment.”
A portable hyperbaric chamber — a tube-shaped device that’s roughly 93 inches long, 32 inches wide and 22 inches in diameter — can cost between $10,000 and $20,000.
“Just to help heal up the body throughout the year,” Holmes said when asked why he believes in hyperbaric therapy. “The massages can’t take care of everything … the ice and stim (electronic stimulation) can’t take care of everything … so I figure the extra oxygen can help heal the bruised areas a lot faster.”
“Santonio, he’s young. But at an early age, I really tried to stress to him to take care of his body,” Ward said. “When you get those little bruises and nicks during the season, take care of them … so he purchased one.”
With the Steelers playing their next game in Denver, Ward and Holmes are also using their hyperbaric chambers to help them get used to the rarified Rocky Mountain air.
“I’ll be in it every day this week,” Ward said.
“I’ll definitely spend the rest of this week sleeping in it and spending a little time in it,” added Holmes.

Lance Armstrong has used a portable hyperbaric oxygen chamber

Posted 9th April 2010

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.

Woods has said he has received oxygen treatment in a hyperbaric chamber.

Posted 25th May 2010

The main thing that most people know about Tiger Woods' current home in Orlando is that there's a fire hydrant nearby. But several details have surfaced about Woods' plans for his 12-acre property nearby in Jupiter Island.
Like building a room devoted to oxygen therapy.
Through his attorney, Woods has filed notices of commencement paperwork to begin work on a practice golf course, a series of pools and the oxygen therapy room for his 9,000-square-foot home, according to TCPalm.com
Such rooms typically feature a hyperbaric chamber, a steel tank that delivers pure oxygen to the body in high atmospheric pressure. Supposedly, Michael Jackson slept in one in hopes of looking younger, and they are credited with helping ward off arthritis, allergies and fatigue. Athletes sometimes use them to help recover from injuries.
Woods has said he has received oxygen treatment in a hyperbaric chamber.
TCPalm.com says the oxygen room and practice course might take a year to complete. The report added that the paperwork offers no indication of who will live at the house, as Woods sorts out his private life.
The practice course is to be built by Georgia-based Medalist Golf, Inc., which designed the exclusive McArthur Golf Course in Hobe Sound, Fla. Neighbors include Celine Dion, who has a 500,000-gallon waterway system.

Marcus Zukanovic make a welcome return

Posted 16th October 2010

Moonee Valley Leader - DRIVE and determination have seen motor racing’s Marcus Zukanovic make a welcome return to the sport he loves after a major high-speed collision last year.
The 30-year-old, born and raised in Sunshine and now living in Niddrie, said it had been “a long road” to recovery after the brakes on his V8 Supercar failed at about 200km/h during a test run in March 2009.
Zukanovic broke his collarbone, two ribs and a leg in two places. But after extensive medical treatments including 150 hours in a hyperbaric chamber and surgery to insert a steel rod in his leg, he is back in the driver’s seat - most recently racing at Phillip Island last month with Greg Murphy Racing.
Zukanovic, who has been racing cars for 10 years while working at his family’s business Action Motor Industries in Sunshine, admitted to some nerves when he first stepped back in a racing car about nine months after his crash.
“My first drive back in the car after the accident ... the first five laps were very, very shaky,” he said. “(But) as the day rolled on, I just got more and more confident.”
Zukanovic has an impressive racing history, winning both the Commodore Cup and V8 Ute racing categories in 2006 and joining racing legend Mark Skaife as the only other driver to win two separate Australian titles in the same year.
He was also named the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports’ 2006 personality of the year. He said the plan now was to race at Bathurst this month - hopefully in the main race with Greg Murphy Racing, but definitely in the Fujitsu V8 Supercar series.
As well as Action Motor Industries, Zukanovic’s sponsors have included Midway Mini-Mix Concrete and Garden Supplies in Sunshine and Re-Car Truck Repairs in Mulgrave.

WOLVES midfielder Dave Edwards

Posted 29th November 2010

Sunday Mercury - WOLVES midfielder Dave Edwards is feeling like a deep sea scuba diver as he speeds up his recovery from injury by turning to revolutionary technology.
The Welsh international midfielder is undergoing Hyperbaric oxygen therapy which means sitting in a tank whilst oxygen is pumped in at a higher than atmospheric pressure.
The system is already having a major impact in healing his torn thigh muscle and could mean him returning in time for key derbies against Blues and Albion.
“It was an idea that the physios brought to me which can only help me recover,” he said.
“I thought it was a good option to take.
“It used to be just a little bit of ice spray and that would do. The equipment our medical staff have here now is absolutely second to none.”
Edwards sits in the chamber, based in Tettenhall, every day for 90 minutes.
“I put on a mask and get oxygen pumped into my body to help the red blood cells,” he revealed.
“The chamber pressurises the air to make you feel as if you are 33 feet under water. At that depth apparently the blood cells can help the muscle recover quicker.
“It can get a bit boring as there’s no electrical equipment allowed. So I take in a newspaper to try and pass the time.”
Edwards injured his thigh in the opening minutes of the Premier League clash against Arsenal 18 days ago.
“I went for a scan and there was quite a big tear on my quadricep,” he said.
“The doctor said it was usually about six weeks for a tear like that to heal, so obviously with the chamber and the treatment I’m getting from the physios I am looking to reduce that and aim more for three to four weeks.
“I definitely feel an improvement. I’m starting to reap the benefits. It helps when I do my weights, you don’t feel as stiff the next day. It helps the body recover.
“I’ve been getting scanned every three or four days and you can see the tear gradually disappearing.”
It’s not the first time Edwards has resorted to extreme measures to get fit. During a pre-season tour to Ireland he took ice therapy along with Michael Kightly.
“We went into three rooms which were decreasing in temperature. They were very, very cold!” he recalls.
“We are in a great era where we have these sorts of things.”
But Edwards insists he won’t be taking any risks with his recovery by returning to action too soon.
“I obviously won’t go back into training until it is right. It has to be 100 per cent before I go back. There’s no way I can take any risks, I don’t want to do anything to it again.”
The 24-year-old was enjoying arguably his best form in the Premier League when the muscle tore.
Now he has set his sights on those crucial clashes with Wolves’ local rivals.
“I don’t want to miss any games of football and the big derby games are the ones that you want to be involved in,” he said.
“If I can get back for them it will be great. Obviously it would be nice to try to get back into the fold as well and to help us pick up some points.”
For Edwards the frustration has been even more acute after he was forced to miss most of the latter half of last season with an ankle injury picked up at Tottenham.
“I was out for four months. I got back for the last month of the season and played three or four games without ever really getting back to my best.
“This was the first time since that injury that I felt I was hitting top form again,” he went on. “That’s why it is such a shame.
“I have been unlucky with injuries over the last 12 months. It is something that has never bothered me in my career before,” he said.
“I have been very, very lucky with injuries. I have very rarely been out.
“Over the last 12 months in terms of getting injured it has been ‘my time’. Hopefully I can get over it.
“When I was in the team I played seven or eight games on the bounce, and I was starting to feel really good again. It is just a shame that this happened.
“Hopefully it is just a minor setback and I can get back in the team and start progressing.
“But there is nothing I can do now apart from work hard to get back and then try to keep my form going.”
To make matters worse Edwards admits he is not the best spectator.
“It is one of the worst times as a footballer, watching from the sidelines when you could be playing,” he said
by Bill Howell, 

avid Knight, the World Enduro Champion

Posted 25th May 2011

3FM - A local sporting star is praising the work of the Island's Hyperbaric Chamber.
David Knight, the World Enduro Champion, has recently had hip surgery forcing his season to
a halt.
He was still in with a chance of winning the World Championships and was leading both
British Championship series when he needed to take time out due to injury.
The 32 year old from Ballaugh is on crutches after his op and has been using the facility daily to ensure a speedy recovery.
He told 3FM; 'The oxygen therapy facility undoubtedly speeds up my recovery, we're lucky to have it here. It's always helped me, from an athletes point of view it's brilliant to be able to come to Douglas. I don't know what I would do without it.' (audio above)
The Hyperbaric Chamber, which costs around £200,000 a year to run, relies mostly on donations to help between 35 and 40 people a day.
The registered nurse Clare Duchars told 3FM they treat a huge variety of injuries that they can help relieve pain and get people back in to the work place as quickly as possible.

Women's World Cup, and a torn ACL knocked her out of the 2007 tournament

Posted 6th July 2011

Associated Press - A broken leg had ended what slim chances she'd had at making the 2003 Women's World Cup, and a torn ACL knocked her out of the 2007 tournament. This was likely the 33-year-old's last chance to play in a World Cup, and here it was in jeopardy yet again.
"I was starting to think I had the World Cup jinx," Mitts said Sunday. "Luckily, everything does happen for a reason, so I find myself here at a World Cup after all of my hard work. To be able to be here, it really is a cliche but it's a dream come true for me."
The top-ranked United States opens group play Tuesday against North Korea.
Mitts has been an integral part of the U.S. squad the last seven years, starting all but 15 of the 111 games she's played in since 2004. She helped anchor the defense as the Americans won the gold medal at both the Athens Olympics and Beijing Games. In Beijing, the Americans posted three shutouts, including a 1-0 overtime victory over Brazil in the gold medal game.
But the World Cup is the premier event in soccer, and no elite player's career is truly complete without playing in at least one.
"This is our Super Bowl," Mitts said.
There was no question Mitts would have been part of the U.S. team in 2007. She had logged the second-most minutes of any U.S. player in 2006, and started the Americans' first seven games of 2007. But in a May 12 friendly against Canada, Mitts felt her left knee give and knew immediately that she'd blown the anterior cruciate ligament.
With the World Cup only four months away, there was no way Mitts could make it back in time.
"I wasn't crying from the pain, I was crying from the fact I knew I wasn't going to be able to be a part of that World Cup," she said. "Obviously it was very devastating, the timing of it all. But at the same time, it is what it is and nothing can be done about it."
Mitts worked as an analyst for ESPN during the World Cup, watching from the United States as the Americans were dismantled by Brazil in a 4-0 loss in the semifinals.
"It's difficult not to be out there with your teammates when you know how hard you've worked," she said. "The other thing is, when you see them struggling, obviously you want to be able to be there and help. Once again, nothing you can do about it, so you just try to help from afar."
Mitts returned for the Beijing Olympics, and was a model of durability until January. She helped the Philadelphia Freedom to the WPS championship game in September, then played every minute of three games during World Cup qualifying. When the U.S. was forced into a home-and-home playoff against Italy to earn a trip to Germany, Mitts started each game.
And when the Americans returned to China in January for the Four Nations tournament, Mitts was on the field for all 90 minutes of the opener, a 2-1 loss to Sweden.
The next morning, her right hamstring hurt so badly she couldn't lift her leg.
"I knew I still had time at that point," she said.
She threw herself into rehab, spending three and four hours each day in a hyperbaric chamber and getting electronic massage to speed blood flow and accelerate repair of the muscle. She did strengthening exercises and got her hips adjusted. Finally, in April, she was ready to go again and joined the U.S. team at its World Cup training camp.
Then, two days before the women faced fellow top seed Japan in an exhibition in Columbus, Ohio, Mitts felt that familiar tug in her hamstring during training.
"That's when I was kind of like, 'Gosh, now I'm really going to be pushing it here,' because I knew time kind of wasn't on my side," she said. "I just went back to what I'd done before with my rehab. Honestly, I attribute that dedication to the reason why I'm here."
When U.S. coach Pia Sundhage announced her World Cup roster, Mitts' name was on it.
"I was relieved more than anything," she said. "I had been so stressed out from January until I found out I made it. I was trying to have a really positive outlook but at the same time, in the back of your mind you're thinking, 'Oh my gosh, is this my last chance?' Everything happens for a reason, and I'm here."
As will be her husband, St. Louis Rams quarterback A.J. Feeley.
Feeley didn't get to see his wife play in the Olympics because they overlapped with training camp. But with the NFL lockout, Feeley has time on his hands and will make his very first trip overseas for the second and third games of group play. The U.S. plays Colombia on July 2 in Sinsheim and faces Sweden on July 6 in Wolfsburg.
Mitts likely won't start, and there's a chance she may not even get off the bench.
She'll be in uniform, though, and that's all that matters.
"I know that my situation is definitely a little bit different now based on my injury," she said. "I'm extremely happy to be here and if I'm called upon, I will be ready. And if that means I'm sitting on the bench, I will be supporting my teammates 100 percent.

British Superbike Championship series

Posted 6th July 2011

Perthshire Advertiser - THE Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy was showcased alongside the premier British Superbike Championship series at Knockhill over the weekend.
And Perth rider Torquil Patterson was just delighted to get back on track after coming a cropper three weeks ago.
He took a painful tumble in a qualifying accident in the series at Thruxton and feared his season could be over.
Torquil came off his Harley and tore the ligament that holds the collar bone to his shoulder. After treatment which included spells in Dundee’s hyperbaric chamber and a series of intense physio sessions, he defied the odds to climb back onto the bike to race in round two at Knockhill.
With the Fife track wet for both the warm-up and qualifying sessions, Torquil demonstrated his undoubted skills and took second place on the grid for Sunday’s double header.
Sunday saw the rain relent and the track dry out.
In his first outing, Torquil made a promising start, although he almost came to grief on the first lap.
As the race progressed, some of the technical adjustments made to the bike hindered him and he slipped back to fifth place by the end.
Minor adjustments were made and he was good to go for race two.
Torquil was involved in a no-quarter battle for fourth and fifth place, riding hard and showing his overtaking skills.
Although he slipped fifth, Torquil made headway into the gap in front of him, quickly catching those ahead with five laps left. His sights were set on a strong finish and the podium.
Then another bike’s engine blew and spewed oil all over the track – causing the race to be halted prematurely and the order declared as it was.
His Edinburgh Harley-Davidson backed XR1200 now heads for round three in a fortnight at the new Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk.

Two football players with TBI/CTE are herewith shown to benefit from being treated with hyperbaric oxygen

Posted 6th July 2011

MedicalGasResearch.com - Two football players with TBI/CTE are herewith shown to benefit from being treated with hyperbaric oxygen as documented by neurocognitive examonations and functional brain imaging, in one case treatment commenced decades after the brain injury.

Saints receiver Marques Colston has one message for any injury that attempts to bring him down

Posted 29th September 2011

WWLTV.com Sports - METAIRIE, La. – Saints receiver Marques Colston has one message for any injury that attempts to bring him down – don’t mess with him.
Using mind of matter and a bit of new-age technology, New Orleans’ big-bodied receiver said injuries alone can’t bring him down.
“I don’t let my body heal; I heal my body,” Colston said Thursday. “It’s kind of an aggressive approach I take and it has worked well for me over the years.”
But in spite of having what he termed a “high pain threshold,” Colston said his secret to fast-healing – he’ll return two weeks early from a broken collarbone that was supposed to keep him out four weeks – is a hyperbaric chamber that he sleeps in at night.
“Especially times like now when I’m injured, I’ll sleep in it three or four nights a week,” Colston said.
Colston bought the inflatable chamber in his second season after his chiropractor suggested he try his out. The receiver liked the way he felt and bought his own, which he keeps in the second-floor hallway of his house.
A hyperbaric chamber provides a high-oxygen environment that helps the body recover from a variety of maladies, including deep sea diving.
Colston doesn’t generally bring it on the road with him, but he said he took it to Super Bowl XLIV in Miami.
He broke his right clavicle in New Orleans’ season-opening loss to Green Bay on Sept. 8. A day later, he had surgery, which included putting a titanium plate on his collarbone with six screws, to help speed up the healing of the break.
Saints coach Sean Payton said Colston is being worked into Sunday’s game plan, when the Saints (2-1) play at Jacksonville (1-2). He won’t give the receiver a full game’s worth of work, however.
Colston understands.
“I feel like I could play the whole game but it’s just smart as well as the other guys have been playing to just work my way in and really spell those guys when they need it and get back into the groove when I get in,” Colston said.

THE AUSTRALIAN - South Africa paceman Dale Steyn in a hyperbaric chamber in Johannesburg

Posted 21st November 2011

THE AUSTRALIAN - South Africa paceman Dale Steyn in a hyperbaric chamber in Johannesburg. Picture: Twitter Source: Supplied SOUTH Africa's cricketers have a training aid which appears to be giving them an edge over Australian players who have been struggling with the altitude here.
The cricketers, particularly the fast bowlers, have been using a hyperbaric chamber as an aid to recovery, the use of which is controversial but not illegal.
Johannesburg, where the second Test is being played, is 1694m above sea level.
At that those height, the air is thin and the body has to work hard to keep up the oxygen supply to the blood.
At one point on the second day, fast bowler Peter Siddle was on his haunches and struggling to breathe, and young fast bowler Pat Cummins had to have an ice bath at tea on the first day to relieve his cramping legs.
The hyperbaric chamber theoretically enriches the oxygen supply to the body and can provide almost instant recovery.
...The use of such chambers is frowned on by the World Anti Doping Authority, but is not banned because their therapeutic effects are unproven.
Some medial experts claim they do not work as advertised.
Vernon Philander, who injured himself on the first day of the second Test, was seen in the chamber, which is in a gym, during the lunch break and Dale Steyn even tweeted a picture of himself receiving the treatment on Saturday night.
"Cricket SA hav got some new toys 4us to use," he posted. "This guy helps with recovery, improving blood circulation!"
Umpires monitor fielders' movements and dressing-rooms are checked if they have been off for two overs to ensure they are getting treatment, but there is nothing in the rules to stop them using the chambers during innings breaks or while their side is batting.
Manufacturers of the chambers sell them to athletes on the basis they improve circulation, increase oxygen-rich red blood cells and remove lactic acid.
The Japanese Olympic committee issued a warning to its athletes not to use the devices in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics, triggering legal action from American manufacturers.
The chambers can be used as an aid to recovery from injury but are sold as a training aid.
Leading men's tennis player Novak Djokovic uses a $75,000 model three times a week.
"I think it really helps -- not with muscle but more with recovery after an exhausting set," he said during this year's US Open. "It's like a spaceship. It's very interesting technology."
American website Hypo2, which promotes the use of the treatment, makes a number of claims that might explain the benefits for cricketers.
"Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides greatly increased oxygen saturation throughout the body, allowing the body to get the oxygen it needs to create ATP (Adenosine-5'-triphosphate) for energy and flush out the lactic acid that causes muscle fatigue," it says. "The elevated oxygen levels help athletes increase performance and recover more quickly after a workout. In addition, increased oxygen delivery to the brain facilitates brain function and enhances an athlete's ability to make the split-second decisions that can make a difference in the outcome of the game."
Several AFL and NRL players, including St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt and Wests Tigers centre Chris Lawrence, have used hyperbaric chambers to speed up recovery from injury.
Lawrence underwent several sessions in a chamber at the NSW Institute of Sport as he recovered from a dislocated hip this year.
And Riewoldt spent up to four hours a day in a chamber in a bid to get fit for last year's finals series after suffering a severe hamstring injury.
"You talk about the one-percenters and these are the things we've got to try if it buys us a week or two," Riewoldt said.
"I think long-term is where the real benefit will come.
"If it heals that much stronger earlier on, I think long-term it will be a lot stronger and I'll be a lot better off because hamstrings can be fickle."
Breathing in an atmosphere of 100 per cent oxygen is believed to improve healing of wounds, reduce swelling and stimulate new blood vessel growth.

Pro Athletes do it! Oxygen

Pro athletes do it.
Do what you ask?

Receive oxygen when they are overly stressed or exerted during competition. Now that we’re headed into the summer months and water temperatures are rising, it’s time to think about doing the same with the bass we catch and hold during tournaments. A recent press release has some good data on using oxygen injection systems hooked into bass boat livewells.
Different bass boats have different livewell configurations. Most of them work similarly when it comes to keeping oxygen at an adequate level when a small limit of bass is in the livewell and the water is still relatively cool (<75F). Once temperatures start rising above that level, or you start catching Elite Series size limits of bass, they usually become woefully short when it comes to supplying enough oxygen to stave off delayed mortality. One way that solves this problem is to install an oxygen infusion system into your existing boats livewell system.

Nova research with Oxygen with athletes

A test of fitness

A range of physical traits and well-honed skills distinguishes elite distance runners from huffing joggers—lean yet muscular bodies, a linear and efficient stride, and a high threshold for pain and muscle fatigue among them. Yet exercise physiologists often focus on one measure of fitness, called VO₂max, as the key to a person's aptitude for endurance sports. It's also a good gauge of overall cardiovascular health. Because it's quantifiable, it also offered a way to assess how much progress NOVA's runners made from start to finish of their nine-month training for the Boston Marathon.
VO₂max, theoretically, is the volume of oxygen a person can consume in one minute as he or she exercises at maximum exertion. In practice, it's measured by hooking up test subjects (in our case, NOVA runners) to a breathing apparatus and having them run as hard as they can.
Oxygen is essential for converting the fuel you get from food into energy for your muscles, and endurance athletes process oxygen efficiently to keep themselves going. VO₂max is not simply a matter of oxygen consumption, however—it's usually expressed in terms of body weight (milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight), so merely losing weight can improve your score over time.

The NOVA runners had their oxygen consumption measured with an apparatus similar to this one, which includes a heart monitor to check for signs of dangerous overexertion. EnlargePhoto credit: © Dimitri Iundt; Jean-Yves Ruszniewski/TempSport/Corbis

Nurturing what nature gave you

Elite endurance athletes, including distance runners and cyclists, consume vast amounts of oxygen when they compete; they can have VO₂max scores twice as high as most of us mere mortals. Lance Armstrong once registered at 83.8 ml/kg/min; the average man his age would measure between 40 and 50. Even if Armstrong had never taken up cycling or any sport, he likely would have scored exceptionally high.
We are all born with a genetic predisposition for a certain VO₂max range, and most of us, even if we work out daily, will never hit the marks of champions. Yet where we fall within our own ranges hinges on how often and how strenuously we exercise. More critically, this exercise, like a wonder drug, can boost our physical and emotional well-being.
So what innate physiological factors determined the NOVA runners' scores, how could training change them, and what impact could this have on their health? For the answers, it helps to trace how oxygen moves from the air you breathe all the way to the mitochondria of your muscle cells, where it is ultimately consumed.

Into the lungs

Given that VO₂max is a measure of oxygen consumption, you might think that lung capacity—the volume of air a person can inhale—plays a major role in determining VO₂max scores. Indeed, Lance Armstrong is renowned, among many more significant things, for having strikingly large lungs. However, lung size isn't a limiting factor; even people with smaller-than-average lung capacity breathe in far more oxygen than the rest of their bodies can process.
From the lungs, oxygen diffuses into the bloodstream. For most of us, the rate at which the oxygen moves at this point is also insignificant. Only elite athletes might have their VO₂max scores hampered by the rate of diffusion, because their blood flows so rapidly that it might not have time to pick up all the oxygen it could carry. In any case, no amount of training will alter the lungs to make the oxygen flow from them any faster or make them healthier in general.

Regular aerobic exercise, whether it's marathon training or simply brisk walking, can dramatically enhance the health of your entire cardiovascular system. EnlargePhoto credit: © Howard Sochurek/CORBIS

Red-blooded athletes

Exactly how much oxygen your blood can absorb and deliver to your muscles is critical to your VO₂max and your performance in endurance sports. At the lungs, oxygen attaches to hemoglobin, a protein complex in red blood cells. Oxygen-enriched, the blood turns bright red and remains this vivid color until the oxygen is "dropped off" in all the various tissues of your body that need it—not just to power muscles, but to keep the heart, brain, and other vital organs functioning.
The sheer volume of blood in your body, the number of red blood cells it contains, and the quality of hemoglobin within these cells all affect the amount of oxygen your blood can shuttle to your muscles. If you are anemic and your hemoglobin lacks iron, for instance, it is less able to bond with oxygen. And cigarette smoking can dramatically compromise oxygen delivery, because tobacco smoke's carbon monoxide, rather than oxygen, holds onto hemoglobin.

With sweat and perseverance, all of us can strengthen our hearts.

"Born" runners may naturally generate high numbers of red blood cells that are particularly effective at transporting oxygen. World-class athletes also frequently train at high altitudes, where their bodies make more red blood cells in response to "thin" (low-oxygen) air. All too often, competitive athletes also temporarily boost blood oxygen levels through illicit means, including blood transfusions and doping with EPO (Erythropoietin), a hormone that triggers red blood cell production.
Team NOVA, of course, never turned to such underhanded tactics. Fortunately, legitimate training, even at sea level, could enhance the ability of their blood and vascular systems to carry more oxygen to hard-working muscles.

Red blood cells within a capillary. Such tiny blood vessels directly feed oxygen and nutrients to muscle and other tissues of the body. EnlargePhoto credit: © Visuals Unlimited/Corbis

Regular and fairly intense training like the NOVA runners experienced spawns the growth of new capillaries, tiny blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to skeletal muscles, the heart, the brain, and elsewhere. What's more, such exercise can make blood vessels throughout the body less stiff, improving blood flow and reducing risk of arteriosclerosis. By improving cholesterol levels, exercise also helps keep the vascular system, including vital coronary arteries, free of clogs.

The heart of the matter

Perhaps the greatest determiner of VO₂max scores is cardiac output, the amount of oxygen-rich blood your heart sends through your body in a single minute. Elite endurance athletes have extraordinarily powerful, and often unusually large, hearts. A typical jogger might pump over 15 quarts of blood per minute, while a frontrunner in the Boston Marathon is capable of pumping twice that.
Cardiac output is the product of heart rate (the number of beats per minute) times stroke volume (how much blood the heart ejects with each contraction). For champions and recreational runners alike, even the most arduous training won't increase maximal heart rate, and this rate inevitably drops as we get older.
On the other hand, with sweat and perseverance, all of us can strengthen our hearts and increase stroke volume. Elite marathoners rack up thousands of training miles each year to extend the muscles of the heart and increase stroke volume. Even Team NOVA's workouts—which eventually had the runners pounding pavement (and dirt) about 30 miles a week—could improve the efficiency of their hearts.

Muscle work

Elite distance runners may look almost waif-like, certainly not muscle-bound. Yet they have muscles that are exceptionally good at processing oxygen and propelling them through 26.2 miles—muscles that, despite maintaining nearly a five-minute-per-mile pace, don't seem to tire. How is it possible?
Part of the answer lies in the type of muscle fiber that predominates in their bodies. Physiologists call it "slow-twitch" fiber (as opposed to bulkier "fast-twitch" fiber that helps sprinters and weightlifters with quick bursts of power). Team NOVA's athletic muse, Uta Pippig, is likely graced with an abundance of slow-twitch fiber, while fast-twitch muscles probably contour NOVA runner Steve DeOssie, a former NFL linebacker.

While bodybuilders relish the bulky muscles created by resistance training, marathoners covet a different type of muscle adept at using oxygen. EnlargePhoto credit: © Bryan Smith/istockphoto.com

A person's tendency to develop either slow- or fast-twitch muscle is largely genetic, yet specific training techniques—long runs verses bench presses, for instance—practiced over many years may change the balance of fiber types slightly. Endurance training can also alter the physiology of either muscle type, in essence making fast-twitch muscles perform more like slow-twitch, and making slow-twitch muscles do better at what they already do well, namely use oxygen for energy production.
The key is mitochondria, tiny structures that act as power plants within all cells. Mitochondria combine oxygen with glucose or other food fuels to make ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the so-called "universal energy molecule" that powers cellular work. In muscle cells, ATP is essential for muscle contraction. Slow-twitch fiber inherently contains more mitochondria than fast-twitch. But endurance training increases the number of mitochondria in both types of muscle. It also can make mitochondria larger and more metabolically active.

No pain, no gain?

Bigger and more active mitochondria don't just produce extra energy to keep muscles moving, they also cut down on muscle fatigue. Tired, sore muscles during exercise are linked to a buildup of lactic acid, and mitochondria can sweep up and consume lactic acid as a fuel source. Once again, champion athletes may have an innate edge; their mitochondria might be particularly well suited for this cellular housekeeping. But anyone can condition his or her muscles to be less crippled by lactic acid.

It's possible that some of the positive change evident in Team NOVA's scores has little to do with red blood cells or mitochondria or any other physiological factor.

The members of Team NOVA conditioned their muscles over nine months of rigorous training, and they were capable of runs at the end that would have been excruciating for them at the start. In the summer of 2006 some of them couldn't even make it through a single mile without cramping up and stopping. By the spring of 2007, they were aiming to take on the grueling 26.2-mile course of perhaps the world's most famous marathon, Heartbreak Hill and all.

Coleman dependents on supplemental oxygen

Coleman, stepping off the stage after a competition, is dependent on supplemental oxygen. “The strain of intense dieting, dehydration and muscle-flexing,” says Zed Nelson (who took the picture) “places high levels of strain on the heart and lungs, rendering many contestants dizzy, light-headed and weak.”
So, the image we see on the stage, of a man who has refined his body and built up his strength in a way we can envy and wish to achieve (or come close to), is a lie.

Gold Medalist Ireen Wust of Netherlands breathes oxygen during the Speed Skating

VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 21: Ireen Wust of Netherlands breathes oxygen during the Speed Skating Ladies' 1,500 m on day 10 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Richmond Olympic Oval on February 21, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)










VANCOUVER, BC - FEBRUARY 21: Ireen Wust of Netherlands celebrates winning the gold medal during the medal ceremony for the women's 1500 m speed skating on day 10 of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics at Richmond Olympic Oval on February 21, 2010 in Vancouver, Canada.

Researching Oxygen Intake with athletes

It’s one of the hottest summers in Florida. As the temperature rises, so does the risk for athletes.
Under the piles of padding and hard helmets, athletes or others working in the high heat and humidity put themselves in danger of heat illness. If unchecked, the body’s inability to cool itself can lead to potentially life-threatening heat stroke, the severest form of heat illness.
“If we can start to identify those athletes, those kids, those workers … before they get into real trouble,” said USF Health’s Dr. Eric Coris, director of Primary Care Sports Medicine. “Maybe we can prevent some morbidity, sickness, or mortality, death.”

In general, Dr. Coris says, the bigger the players the hotter they get. Defensive and offensive linemen appear to be at more risk than quarterbacks and receivers. The researchers want to find out why.

This year, Dr. Coris – collaborating with Dr. Douglass Casa from the University of Connecticut and Dr. Ollie Jay from the University of Ottawa – has used some new technology to help predict which players are at most risk for heat illness. The researchers worked with athletic training staff and volunteers from the University of South Florida Bulls football team.
“We’re trying to get at the underlying question – which is what can we do to prevent these young kids from getting sick or dying of heat stroke on the field?” said Dr. Coris, associate professor of family medicine and orthopaedics and sports medicine.
With funding from NFL Charities, the foundation of the National Football League, the researchers used several different tools to measure players’ physiological responses to rising temperatures during strenuous exercise – both in a controlled heat chamber and on the playing field during preseason practices.

A portable metabolic analyzer device strapped to the back measures how quickly the player uses oxygen during exertion in heat and humidity.

The research started about five years ago, but this year a few new devices were added to the tiny electronic pills (basically ingestible thermometers) that players swallow before practice to monitor their internal body temperature. These include sensors on the skin to assess sweat concentrations and vests with built-in GPS systems to measure workload – the movement and acceleration of athletes playing different positions on the field. An oxygen mask with a portable device strapped to players’ backs analyzed how much energy they expended during specific drills.

Tim Tebow And His Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber

The celebrity website TMZ.com is reporting that Denver Broncos rookie and Florida Gator hero Tim Tebow has had a hyperbaric oxygen chamber delivered to his hotel room at the Broncos' training camp and TMZ says he's been using the device for more than two years -- since his days as a Gator. TMZ quotes Ric Rooney, owner of Pikes Peak Hyperbaric, as saying Tebow purchased the $20,000 device in 2008. The chambers, which are used by a number of professional athletes, including former Braves pitcher John Smoltz, "greatly accelerate the recovery process," Rooney told TMZ. Tebow has been getting "banged up" at practice and felt the chamber could help him heal quicker, Rooney told the website, which reported that Tebow's routine is to sit in the chamber for 60 to 90 minutes after every practice. Former Georgia Bulldog Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers is also reported to use a hyperbaric chamber.

Novak Djokovic's Secret: Sitting in a Pressurized Egg

By HANNAH KARP Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic hasn't earned his No. 1 ranking by taking the conventional road. There's his odd ritual of excessive ball bouncing before serves, which can break an opponent's concentration. There's his new gluten-free diet, which he's said has helped him feel stronger on the court. Novak Djokovic and other athletes are using a secret weapon called a CVAC pod that they believe boosts performance by simulating high altitude. WSJ's Reed Albergotti spends some time in the hyperbaric chamber to see if he can feel any difference. But now there's something truly weird: the CVAC Pod. Ever since last year's U.S. Open, Djokovic has been trying to improve his fitness by climbing into a rare $75,000 egg-shaped, bobsled-sized pressure chamber. The machine, which is made by a California-based company called CVAC Systems and hasn't been banned by any sports governing bodies, is one of only 20 in the world. Unlike the increasingly trendy $5,000 hyperbaric chambers many professional athletes use to saturate the blood with oxygen and stimulate healing, the CVAC is a considerably more-ambitious contraption. It uses a computer-controlled valve and a vacuum pump to simulate high altitude and compress the muscles at rhythmic intervals. More U.S. Open Coverage View Interactive • U.S. Open Scoreboard • The Daily Fix: Reviewing Another Kind of Pod The company claims that spending up to 20 minutes in the pod three times a week can boost athletic performance by improving circulation, boosting oxygen-rich red-blood cells, removing lactic acid and possibly even stimulating mitochondrial biogenesis and stem-cell production. Djokovic is so convinced that the pod helps his game that during the U.S. Open, which starts Monday, he's staying (for the fourth year) with a wealthy tennis-trainer friend in Alpine, N.J. who keeps one of the machines on his property. Djokovic has never mentioned the pod publicly before. He acknowledged using it for the first time last week during a sponsor event in New York after he was asked about it for this article. "I think it really helps—not with muscle but more with recovery after an exhausting set," he said. "It's like a spaceship. It's very interesting technology." The pod, which is seven feet long, three feet wide and seven feet high with the lid open, looks like a cross between a tanning bed and the giant egg Lady Gaga emerged from at the Grammys. CVAC says its pod is different from other pressurized chambers on the market because it combines altitude pressure with cyclic compression (a combination some studies suggest is more effective than one or the other). Because the pressure, temperature and air density in the CVAC pod can be adjusted, the company says it enhances an athlete's ability to adapt to a range of conditions. Enlarge Image Close Daniella Zalcman for The Wall Street Journal A CVAC pod simulates high altitude and compresses muscles at rhythmic intervals. While pod users don't do much beyond sitting while they are inside (cellphone use is permitted), CVAC Systems chief executive Allen Ruszkowski says the treatment seems to have many of the same effects on the body as intense exercise. He claims that the technology may be twice as effective at helping the body absorb oxygen as blood doping—a banned form of performance enhancement. Former U.S. Olympic wrestling coach Bob Anderson, motocross racer Ivan Tedesco and ultra cyclist George Vargas say they've used the pod and believe it helps. CVAC's Ruszkowski says a slew of other high-profile athletes use the Pod but often insist the company doesn't tell anyone, "because they feel it's a competitive advantage." Rock star Axl Rose owns a pod as well, according to his spokeswoman. The pod Djokovic is using for the Open belongs to 38-year-old tennis pro Gordon Uehling III, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 925 on the ATP Tour in 2001 and now runs a tennis school called CourtSense at the Tenafly Racquet Club in Tenafly, N.J. He has also worked with rising American star Christina McHale, who is ranked No. 66 and beat the top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in Cincinnati earlier this month. In addition to the indoor court, Uehling's family estate features outdoor courts with different surfaces—plus an artificial lake, where Djokovic says he's gone fishing. "We have absolutely everything here!" Djokovic wrote last August in a diary entry on his website. "You wouldn't believe it." Uehling declined to comment for this article. Djokovic and other players who know him say he's a visionary obsessed with cutting-edge performance technologies. "He loves to explore the future of athletic edges—and he has the resources to do it," says former top-20 player Vince Spadea, who hit with Djokovic in Alpine last summer when he says Novak was first "experimenting" with the pod at Uehling's estate. "He was looking to improve some of the challenges he was having—breathing capacity, allergies—and definitely something clicked there." Southcreek Global/Zuma Press Novak Djokovic returns a shot at a tournament in Cincinnati on Aug. 21. Spadea says he didn't dare set foot in the pod himself because he doesn't share Djokovic's "daredevil mentality." Djokovic's Serbian countryman, Janko Tipsarevic, currently ranked No. 20, says he's heard about the pod but hasn't tried it yet, either. Geoff Grant, tennis director at at Tenafly Racquet Club, says he braved the pressure chamber at Uehling's request and felt like he was taking off in an airplane as his ears popped. He says he hasn't used it enough to notice a difference in his play, but adds that some of his clients who go more regularly are hooked and "say it's like a drug." "It's weird—it's definitely something from the future," Grant said last week at the racquet club. "I think Novak was going to get in it today." In 2006 the World Anti-Doping Agency ruled that such oxygen tents enhance performance and violate "the spirit of sport," but did not add them to the list of banned substances and methods, saying they would wait until further studies were conducted. Patrick McEnroe, the USTA's general manager of player development, says he's skeptical that any such contraption could have much impact on tennis performance. "I don't really take this stuff particularly seriously," says McEnroe, noting that Djokovic has not only improved his fitness this year but has also fixed key problems in his game, revamping his serve and developing a newly devastating forehand. "Maybe there are a few things that have helped (Djokovic) mentally, but let's remember that before he tried his gluten-free diet or went into a hyperbaric chamber he had already won a Grand Slam and beat Roger Federer." Lou Lamoriello, the general manager of the NHL's New Jersey Devils, says he attended a presentation last year with his coaching staff in which Uehling cited Djokovic's defeat of Roger Federer in the 2010 U.S. Open semifinal as evidence of the CVAC unit's effectiveness. Lamoriello says he was intrigued but not entirely convinced—and isn't ready to have his players try it out yet. He said he wonders if some of the effect is psychological. "If you believe in something it's going to be a lot more powerful," he says. Djokovic is the No. 1 seed in the mens' singles draw at the Open. But he may need all the extra help he can get: A shoulder injury forced him to retire from the final against Britain's Andy Murray at a tournament in Cincinnati earlier this month.