Altitude Training Approaches

Contents

1 Altitude Training Approaches

There are various ways of using altitude to improve performance.

1.1 Live High, Train High

By moving to altitude, you are exposed to lower oxygen all the time. While this approach can have a good effect on altitude acclimatization, it makes training much harder. Therefore the benefit of altitude on increased red blood cell count are offset by the reduced ability to train hard.

1.2 Live High, Train Low

Sleeping at altitude produces the increase in red blood cells, and training at low altitude provides optimum training benefits. This effect can be achieved by literally living at a high altitude and travelling to a lower level to train. However, this approach is also possible by using a hypoxia generator to reduce the level of oxygen in a tent. The downside to an altitude tent is that the quality of sleep can be significantly degraded.

1.3 Intermittent Hypoxic Training

Being exposed to low oxygen for short periods has been shown to provide similar benefits to other altitude training approaches. The technique usually involves breathing air with reduced oxygen content for a few minutes, followed by breathing normal air for a few minutes, repeating for about an hour. IHT can provide the increase in red blood cell count as longer periods, as well as improving oxygen delivery to the muscles. IHT is normally performed at rest rather than when training, and uses a pulse oximeter to verify the impact of the hypoxia. IHT uses lower oxygen content than other forms of altitude training.

IHT promises a number of advantages over other techniques. It does not reduce training intensity in the way that Live High, Train High does. It does not impair sleep in the way that an altitude tent does. The biggest advantage is that chemical based IHT can be obtained for much less than other systems.

The evidence for IHT is rather mixed. Some studies show improvements with IHT type approaches, at least one well designed study showed no improvement. There are claims that the USSR used IHT extensively.

2 See Also

• Altitude Training
• Hypoxia Systems
• Book Review – Altitude Training and Athletic Performance