A higher calling. But does altitude training actually work?

[jonbe54]

How many players get 8 weeks off in the middle of the season where they have no injury and are allowed to do nothing but train?

There's no doubting that this helped, also getting away from the intensity of a full season helped but anyone who totally discounts altitude training is seriously in need of a white cane or totally unprepared to accept anything that Collingwood does as having any merit

 

[Sunny_]

It's a very debated subject, no doubt.

My take is what's already been said. You have to be born and bred in said areas for there to be serious long-term benefits from training in altitude. So if you were born in a high altitude, grew up in area and then descend to take part in events, you will have a benefit. Then return home back up high to train again.

It's my understanding that this is why people from different parts of the world are good at separate sporting events.

With that said, I'm of the impression that if you live at a lower descent and go up there to train, you might get a lot out of it. Your body might adapt. But when you come back down, you'll be back to normal within 4 weeks or so. Such is what I studied in Bio-Mechanics at Uni, anyway.

I know the Suns are hitting up Arizona too. I'm not sure how long Collingwood is going to the state for, but GC are going there for a grand total of 10 days in November. They'll be back before the start of December. There is no way this little training run can have an influence on the body come March 2012.

Pies fans might argue that since they've done it continually over the years, it might be having results. But again, I'm not so inclined to believe that, since the body reverts back to normal not long after returning. It's just how it works, it adapts to the environment around it.

The only possible way I can see how you could get benefit from it would be what Swan did. He went there for a little over a week in the second half of the season, didn't he? Then played games immediately after before his body had time to detox, so to speak. But this cannot be proved, since one could argue that he came back into form simply because he had a week or two off from the hard hits of AFL footy.

Also coming into the equation would be the mental aspect. Players believing that their body is better, and thus perform better. A placebo sort of effect, I guess. Or the novelty of training in a new area will let you gain more out of it, fitness wise. Sort of a half holiday/half training sesh.

With all that said, I'm certainly no sports scientist. Just fiddled with a few subjects in post-grad. AFL certainly is not the only team to do high altitude stuff, that's for sure. I know quite a lot of Aussie long distance runners spend months at a time way high up before a big race, just getting their lungs bigger and able to suck up more oxygen. But again, this would fade for them if they spent a mouth or so back down in Melbourne.

 

[telsor]

YOU ARE NOT A TRAINED ATHLETE who has an entire fitness and training regime to manage. Never said it amounted to a whole lot merely said it gave more benefit from training while at altitude. That has a flow on effect of accelerating and adding value to the whole training regime.

Just because you work hard at high altitude doesn't mean you understand the effects of high altitude training for professional athletes. I'll take the accumulated wisdom of sports training professionals thank you very much.

Actually he's right. Think about it. How would being where there is less oxygen mean your body could work harder?


The beneficial effect is that your body adjusts to the low oxygen environment by producing more red blood cells (among other things), which carry more oxygen thus ensuring your body gets enough. When you RETURN to lower altitude, these additional cells mean your body now has a greater than usual supply, allowing it to work harder/recover faster.

Naturally, how many extra cells you have would be a function of the time spent at altitude.


Edited to add..

One method of trying to speed up recovery from injuries is to put people in a hyperbaric chamber, thus putting them, effectively, below sea level in order to give them an oxygen rich environment.

Being at altitude probably means that athletes are LESS effective at training/recovery, but the aim is that once they return to sea level, the benefits mentioned above have a greater beneficial effect than the altitude 'cost'.

 

[tucker777]

YOU ARE NOT A TRAINED ATHLETE who has an entire fitness and training regime to manage. Never said it amounted to a whole lot merely said it gave more benefit from training while at altitude. That has a flow on effect of accelerating and adding value to the whole training regime.

Just because you work hard at high altitude doesn't mean you understand the effects of high altitude training for professional athletes. I'll take the accumulated wisdom of sports training professionals thank you very much.

What if anything does that sentence mean?
It gave more benefit. You train at altitude; puts the body under more stress than at sea level, you can't train for as long, you can't train at as high an intensity. It takes months of training at altitude for a real benefit in terms of increased cardio-vascular health (sizeable increase in red blood cells, able to train at the same intensity and duration as sea level).
When you return to sea level, you lose that benefit...rather rapidly as you body aclimatizes to the altitude it is used to.
The fitness and training regime that you are talking about is thrown all out of whack by altitude training, ie suddenly instead of doing 10km run 5 times a week only a 5km run can be accomplished 5 times. Meaning that when returned to sea level the body not only has to "reset" itself if you will biological for sea level but also get used to an increased training workload because it wasn't able to work as hard or as long at altitude then what it could before.

Just because I work at altitude doesn't mean I understand the effects of altitude training for pro athletes. However I do understand the effects of altitude on the body, and what that means in terms of training (from the various sport and medical professionals I know and have worked with).

 

[Hump 17]

Surely if it really had benefit every country would send all there athletes there to prepare for the Olympics.

 

[jonbe54]

What if anything does that sentence mean?
It gave more benefit. You train at altitude; puts the body under more stress than at sea level, you can't train for as long, you can't train at as high an intensity. It takes months of training at altitude for a real benefit in terms of increased cardio-vascular health (sizeable increase in red blood cells, able to train at the same intensity and duration as sea level).
When you return to sea level, you lose that benefit...rather rapidly as you body aclimatizes to the altitude it is used to.
The fitness and training regime that you are talking about is thrown all out of whack by altitude training, ie suddenly instead of doing 10km run 5 times a week only a 5km run can be accomplished 5 times. Meaning that when returned to sea level the body not only has to "reset" itself if you will biological for sea level but also get used to an increased training workload because it wasn't able to work as hard or as long at altitude then what it could before.

Just because I work at altitude doesn't mean I understand the effects of altitude training for pro athletes. However I do understand the effects of altitude on the body, and what that means in terms of training (from the various sport and medical professionals I know and have worked with).

Well to spell it out for you then. . .

I never said that altitude training was the magic bullet, all I said was that it contributed.. Sorry if you have trouble understanding plain English.

This whole business of the body resetting itself shows lack of the ability to follow an argument through to its conclusion also, not just you but others.

Of course the body resets itself, its the value during the training that accelerates the whole preseason program that is important not the so-called altitude effect over the whole season. You and many of the naysayers get hold of a concept and nag away with it while the rest of the world moves on to further discussion.

 

[Sunny_]

Surely if it really had benefit every country would send all there athletes there to prepare for the Olympics.

Lots of countries do. Especially for long distance athletes. They will spend 3-4 months in high altitudes training, then go down before their race. Get the most benefit out of it before it goes.

At least, the countries that can afford it anyway.

 

[tucker777]

Well to spell it out for you then. . .

I never said that altitude training was the magic bullet, all I said was that it contributed.. Sorry if you have trouble understanding plain English.

This whole business of the body resetting itself shows lack of the ability to follow an argument through to its conclusion also, not just you but others.

Of course the body resets itself, its the value during the training that accelerates the whole preseason program that is important not the so-called altitude effect over the whole season. You and many of the naysayers get hold of a concept and nag away with it while the rest of the world moves on to further discussion.

Okay so if the body resets itself, as you agree. Doesn't that mean that the "value during training that accelerates the whole preseason" is lost?

I'm quite sure you barely understand the concept..and really can't be bothered argueing anymore.

 

[telsor]

Well to spell it out for you then. . .

I never said that altitude training was the magic bullet, all I said was that it contributed.. Sorry if you have trouble understanding plain English.

This whole business of the body resetting itself shows lack of the ability to follow an argument through to its conclusion also, not just you but others.

Of course the body resets itself, its the value during the training that accelerates the whole preseason program that is important not the so-called altitude effect over the whole season. You and many of the naysayers get hold of a concept and nag away with it while the rest of the world moves on to further discussion.

Yes, your body resets itself for altitude, it's not like flicking a switch, but a gradual process.
It ALSO resets itself back to sea level, again, it's gradual process, that would take place at roughly the same rate.

10 days at altitude will not set you up for the season, it wont even set you up for the entire preseason, it'll set you up for ~10 days of slightly harder training once you return to sea level.

The sports that take advantage of altitude training 'seriously' spend months at altitude. Cadel Evans doesn't live in Switzerland because of any abiding love with chocolate and cuckoo clocks.

 

[Tas]

Surely if it really had benefit every country would send all there athletes there to prepare for the Olympics.

Most countries can barely afford to send a token team to the Olympics.

 

[Slattery_20]

How many players get 8 weeks off in the middle of the season where they have no injury and are allowed to do nothing but train?

You'd probably remember Cuz' comeback game for the Weagles in 07.
Worked for him - and no altitude training - just a solid 8 week pre-season in the middle of the year.

 

[Slattery_20]

Most countries can barely afford to send a token team to the Olympics.

I know Nike have a facility somewhere that they send their athletes.
( I believe a lot of athletes are funded as much by their sponsors as by their country/team )

 

[Number 10]

Even if it doesn't, you would have to ask if it has a positive placebo effect?

 

[Slattery_20]

Even if it doesn't, you would have to ask if it has a positive placebo effect?

Probably does.

Much like I think gameplans can often be about convincing guys to run to the same places as they did last year but with fancy new names for the reason why.