Shocking Secret Behind Real Madrid Players’ High-Tech Training Masks Revealed
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Real Madrid players have recently been seen training with distinctive blue masks resembling oxygen equipment typically used for high-altitude training.
However, these devices serve a very different purpose. The initiative comes from Madrid’s performance manager, Antonio Pintus, whose primary responsibility is overseeing the players’ physical conditioning.
The masks are worn during stress tests, with Pintus explaining to Real Madrid TV that they are “designed to determine the players’ aerobic and anaerobic thresholds and assess their current power levels.”
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Known as Cosmed K5 masks, the devices allow staff to accurately measure VO₂ max—the maximum rate at which the body can consume and utilise oxygen during high-intensity exercise.
Sports physiotherapist Ben Warburton told BBC Sport, as cited by Daily Mail Sport,
They've acquired high-tech equipment that allows these tests to be conducted during training sessions. This is beneficial because coaches can evaluate players while they train. Conducting separate treadmill or cycling tests for all players would be extremely time-consuming, and those surfaces differ from natural grass. Essentially, it saves the club time by combining testing and training in one session.
Warburton added that this method also reduces the risk of injury, as data is immediately available and potential issues, such as tight muscles, can be identified before they worsen.
This is not the first time Real Madrid players have used the masks. The club even shared a video on their YouTube channel titled “The masks are back!”
Manufactured by the Italian company Cosmed, the masks feature an anatomically contoured design with a resilient ribbed support structure for a leak-free, comfortable fit and an integrated chin cup for stability.
According to The Athletic, each kit costs approximately £26,000, with some equipment loaned by the club.
Pintus, who joined Real Madrid in 2016, has been using this technology since the 1990s during his time at Monaco. The masks have also been employed under managers Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, and occasionally when Xabi Alonso was in charge.
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