Each AltoMixer is equal to about 5,000 ft. of altitude. Air flow is subjected to controlled compression rates that replicate oxygen and air flow at altitude.
Breathing through a single mixer causes a modest drop in blood oxygen %. Breathing through 2 mixers (equal to about 10,000 ft.) causes a drop in most people down to 90-92% blood oxygen after about 2 minutes. Three mixers it drops it down to 84-90% and 4-6 mixers drops it down to 65-84% blood oxygen, depending on the individual. Each session is done at intervals of 6 minutes/ON and 4 minutes/OFF repeated 6 times.
It's typically done while reclining on a sofa. It's vital that you constantly monitor your % oxygen levels with the pulse oximeter. If you want to raise or lower your oxygen, you can add or remove AltoMixers. There is a 20-30 second lag in reading the change on your oximeter.
Going to altitude is as simple as that! You can add or remove AltoMixers as you need. Because some very well-trained, Olympic caliber athletes are so efficient at oxygen absorption and retention, they find that they need to use up to 8 AltoMixers before they see their blood oxygen drop. If YOU fall into this category you have developed extremely efficient oxygen retention mechanisms. The K2 Xtreme AltoMixer is recommended.