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July 23, 2013 Comments (8) Gear Reviews, Nutrition

Review- Altitude Training in a Bottle with Mountain Might

Picture of the bottle of Mountain Might altitude training supplement

 

Wouldn’t it be great to get the effects of Live High Train Low (LHTL) no matter where you lived? “What effects”, you might ask? Studies of LHTL show increased EPO, hemoglobin, red blood cell concentration, inhalation pressure, V02 max and time to exhaustion. You might also wonder, “How does that translate into how I would feel or perform”? At lower altitudes this would mean “improved breathing power, increased speed, higher levels of energy and endurance, and reduced recovery time between workouts.”
At higher elevations you would “notice reduced feelings of shortness of breath, increased speed and endurance, higher energy levels, reduced recovery time, the ability to train harder at higher altitudes, and resistance to the negative symptoms of high altitude.”

picture of the nutrition information for mountain might

One company believes they can bring the benefits of LHTL with their supplement called Mountain Might. It’s a blend of Sodium Phosphate, B12 (as Cyanocobalamin), Iron (as Ferrous Sulfate), N-Acetyl-Cysteine and Hawthorn Berry powder which, individually and synergistically, work to bring greater athletic performance to endurance athletes. There’s a lot of science referenced at their website and we encourage you to visit them at mmaltitudetraining.com and review their documentation.

Mountain Might contacted us to see if we’d like review their product. We said yes so long as we could do a long test with enough reviewers. In the end, 3 reviewers tested the product for 6 to 10 weeks.

Our Reviewers:
Reviewer One (R1) male, ultra runner, 41 and lives at 4200′
Reviewer Two (R2) male, ultra runner, 40 and lives at 4500′
Reviewer Three (R3) male, ultra runner, 44 and lives 4400′

Note: We had no intention on the narrow reviewer profile. It boiled down to who, from our normal testing group, wanted to try the product. We’d be happy to attempt another test with female reviewers and other age groups. Contact us at reviews@TrailAndUltraRunning.com

Trial Time:

R1 used it for 8 weeks, R2 10 weeks and R3 for 6 weeks.picture of the logo for Mountain Might supplement

Caps Taken Per Day:

R1 took 3 to 5 per day while R2 & R3 took 5 per day.

Were Caps Taken All At Once or at an Interval:

R1 took them all at once and then switched to intervals (morning & evening) over 8 weeks.
R2 & R3 used them at intervals 2-3 (morning & evening).

Consistency Of Use:

All 3 reviewers used them consistently during their testing.  They did not skip days unless it was the day of a race.

Positive Effects:

   A.  At Base Altitude:   R1 and R2 reported no significant effects at their base altitude.  R3 noticed,  “On tempo runs I was able to push harder, run faster and could push past normal pace and effort barriers. I couldn’t believe how hard I could work. The effects felt like Tyler Hamilton’s description of the effects of EPO.”

   B. At Other Altitudes: All three reviewers felt no negative altitude related issues while racing the Bryce 100 mile or 100k at an average of 9,000. R1 said, “9,000 feet felt like nothing. It was amazing.”  He went on to say about other altitudes,  “definitely felt easier to breath above 10,000 feet. Didn’t get my normal headaches above 12,000 feet.”

R2 said,  “I had no altitude issues running the Bryce 100.  Most racers experienced altitude issues.  I felt great the whole 100 miles.”   He also reported feeling very good going up to 12,000 feet.

R3 felt, “absolutely normal” during the Bryce 100 race. He also said,  “I couldn’t understand why people where complaining about the altitude.” R3 also had blood work done 5 weeks into using Mountain Might and test results showed nothing out of order. If anything, the results showed he could possibly use more B vitamins. Given the 10,000% RDA of B12 in Mountain Might it was an interesting finding.

Negative Effects:

R1 experienced heart burn after taking the caps but went away within a few minutes.

R2 tried to use them on a run that crossed 13,000 feet  21 times. R2 suffers from AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) nearly every time he goes above 12,500 feet.   R2 experienced AMS during the run and had to abort his attempt. He did feel that Mountain Might helped a little and is very interested in continuing to test the product.

Initially, R3 felt a bit wound up during the day and had some difficulty getting to sleep for the first few nights.

Overall Experience:

Rated 1 to 5 with 5 being the best

R1 – 4.5
R2 – 3.0
R3 – 4.5

Overall, each reviewer felt benefits while testing Mountain Might.

Obviously, each person is unique and you should do your own research and consult with trusted medical professionals as needed.

8 Responses to Review- Altitude Training in a Bottle with Mountain Might

  1. Missy B says:

    To be thorough, you should really talk about the Adverse outcomes from B12 overdose, which this supplement clearly is. From UptoDate medical reference (used by IHC and Univ of Utah clinicians and providers):

    “Concerns related to adverse effects:

    • CNS effects: Vitamin B12 deficiency for >3 months results in irreversible degenerative CNS lesions; neurologic manifestations will not be prevented with folic acid unless vitamin B12 is also given. Spinal cord degeneration might also occur when folic acid used as a substitute for vitamin B12 in anemia prevention.

    • Hypokalemia: Treatment of severe vitamin B12 megaloblastic anemia may result in severe hypokalemia, sometimes fatal, due to intracellular potassium shift upon anemia resolution.”

    • Missy B says:

      Sorry, to translate: B12 deficiency is more dangerous (for CNS complications) but replacing it incorrectly (with out folic acid) or too quickly can result in complications (low potassium) that can be fatal.

  2. Steph says:

    I find this very interesting and I am thinking about trying some to see how it works!

    I live in CO, but I’ve only been here a year after growing up at sea level, and I will be racing an ultra later at sea level and worry about the ‘detraining’ I have read about that can happen when training in altitude for a sea level race. (sorry, run-on sentence)

    Maybe this would help me up my intensity here in CO (even though I’ve been here a year I still struggle a bit on my runs) so that my pace doesn’t completely suffer for race day!

  3. Dave says:

    I doubted the efficacy of the product and asked about anyone having success using it on an endurance sports forum. Everyone was skeptical. One of the principals at the company found the forum thread and offered me a bottle to try out for myself and see what I thought. I tried it for the week leading up to the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 Mile run a few weeks ago. I took two pills at breakfast and three at lunch every day. I live at 250 feet elevation. My race day felt like any other day running in the foothills around the SF Bay area, even though I was running at 6000-8500 feet on event day. I’m convinced it provided me some tangible benefit on event day and I p[lan to use it again at my next high altitude event (XC ski racing this winter near Lake Tahoe)

  4. Todd says:

    What is your control? Just another bottle of snake oil.

  5. Name says:

    Deconstruct the ingredients and make it yourself for under $5 for a good amount of quantity if you want to try this.

    Speed in a bottle is like any other preceding claim – either really bad for your body or PED banned. Mountain Might comes from time in the mountains, not a pill. This should be sold next to the horny goat weed at the tacky gas station. Complete fail.

  6. Viper says:

    They sell horny goat weed at gas stations?!?!?!?!?

  7. Ty says:

    Doesn’t oral B12 degrade to almost nothing when taking orally in pill form? Good enhanced results be from iron supplementation? How were the athletes iron levels prior to taking the supp?

    Double blind research on the Hawthorne berry and actyl-cysteine would be interesting. Unfortunately quality supplement research is hard to come by.

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