Advantages of high altitude training

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CodyPoke
Ranch Hand
Posts: 207
Joined: Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:35 pm

This article gives a short history on it. I hope one of the sportswriters will do a story on this topic sometime.

http://strong-athlete.com/the-benefits- ... ining.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Evidently it has benefits not only for endurance sports (long distance running, etc) but team field sports as well. There is not a lot on the internet about football related to high altitude training, however there is quite a lot of info about rugby, soccer, etc. in other countries.

"Based on recent evidence, it is suggested that hypoxic training can enhance Repeated Sprint Ability performance in field-sport players. These benefits may become apparent in the final quarter of a game allowing a player to maintain their high workload and resist fatigue, which could be the difference in winning and losing.

Research studies have explored the idea of taking advantage of the body's physiological changes at high altitude as a "natural blood doping" effect. As the blood increases its red cell volume in response to a lower availability of oxygen, VO2 max also increases. Sea level performance has been shown to improve as a result (Journal of Applied Physiology, 1997, Vol. 83, No. 1, pp. 102-112).

By training at high altitudes, athletes aim to allow their bodies to produce extra red blood cells. Then, they head to a competition at lower elevations to take advantage of their changed physiology, which should last for 10 to 20 days.

Sleeping in an altitude tent (LHTL) would also benefit field sport athletes as they would achieve increased red blood cells, increased VO2 Max and improved aerobic fitness that would positively impact on RSA performance. Many premiership soccer and rugby players sleep in altitude tents during the pre-season. A combination of LHTL (sleeping in an altitude tent) for a 4 week period and carrying out 2-3 LLTH hypoxic training sessions per week would enable a field sport athlete to enjoy the full benefits of hypoxic training with increased blood response as well as the muscular adaptations.

It was also suggested that repeated sprint training in hypoxia resulted in preferential recruitment and better utilization of fast twitch muscle fibers with less anaerobic energy dependence thereby reducing fast twitch fiber fatigue. "
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