Today’s post offers a brief case study performed by me.

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Will spending a ‘limited’ time at altitude (5000-7000ft), both in training and while recovering, improve my fitness (my <em>aerobic capacity)</em> and tolerance for more and harder <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7692.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-2949 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7692-300x105.jpg" alt="IMG_7692" width="363" height="127" /></a>work?

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More importantly, will this possible improvement make me faster for longer?

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<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Also, will altitude training;</strong></span>
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<blockquote>Influence my weight? as in increase fat loss,</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Affect my sleep quality?, or,</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Will increased training demands suppress my immune system?</blockquote>
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Or, is the whole thing ‘altitude training thing’ a waste of time and I’d be better served simply training (perhaps harder) and recovering (stress-free) at sea level.  After all training stress (that is to facilitate adaptation) can be produced in many ways; with the most common being,

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<blockquote>Increasing and inter-changing intensity.</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Increasing heat exposure (which has recently gained exposure in the sports physiology world).</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Increasing load &amp; resistance.</blockquote>
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<blockquote>Calorie reduced diets.</blockquote>
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<blockquote>And of course increasing volume.</blockquote>
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<span style="color: #008080;"><em>All in all, training stress it’s nothing more than creating ‘controlled’ stress that in time yields tolerance.   This tolerance usually delivers the opportunity for ‘more work’.</em></span>

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While the list above relates to physiology, it could be argued that much of training adaptation is relative to the brain accepting I’m not placing my well-being at risk.   In time, with repeated practice my brain usually accepts an increase in relative intensity by prolonging my fatigue and improving my performance.

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<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Into Thin Air</strong></span>

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Simply, my <em>aerobic capacity</em> refers to my ability to intake, transport, and utilise oxygen to<a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/breatheas.jpg"><img class=" size-full wp-image-2945 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/breatheas.jpg" alt="breatheas" width="197" height="256" /></a> produce sustained energy.  More so it’s the maximum effort I can maintain before I can no long favour oxygen as my primary driver for energy.  At this point my brain will signal that I switch to a more anaerobic (without oxygen) pathway.   One physiological result of this limited pathway is the accumulation of lactic acid in my muscles and lungs.  Basically the by-product of pushing over and above my aerobic capacity is the accumulation of hydrogen ions – which – leads to an increase in cellular acidity.  This increase in lactic acid theoretically is designed to slow me down, as it becomes increasingly uncomfortable to tolerate.

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Most of you know that burning sensation in your lungs and muscles, when you find yourself sprinting for the bus.  Sometimes, if you’re pushing yourself hard enough, or, if you’re simply dreadfully out of knick, you experience a metallic taste in the back of your throat.

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<strong><em>Therefore</em></strong>, 1) improving my ability to utilise oxygen at increasing intensities (as in increase supply) and 2) increase my tolerance of discomfort when favouring my anaerobic pathway are key ingredients in improving my performance.

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<strong>A PERSONAL STUDY</strong> – Enter: the magnificent Snowy Mountain Region.

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<strong> Is it possible to improve my aerobic capacity with a 4 day training dose at altitude?</strong>

In short, over four days and 10 training sessions, a few mates and I rode up to Thredbo and back, swam in Jindabyne (an almost Hawaii-like balmy 20-21’ - seriously), and possibly our hardest day was running from Charlotte’s Pass to Mount Kosciuszko and back (20kms) at 7,000ft.

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<strong>The good bits</strong>

The Snowy Mountains are nothing short of ‘breathtakingly’ spectacular.  The water was super clean, the roads are near perfect,  the climbs while challenging are equally entertaining, the descents saw me post  a new  speed PB of  87.5kph, and the off-road runs surely stand up to alternate altitude training mecca’s like Colorado and the French Alps (so I reckon).

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<strong>The bad bits.</strong>

The thin air at 7000ft offered a breathing demand like I’d never experienced before.  And yes, while we were ascending at roughly 3-6% gradient it felt like I was running on the spot.  My chest felt like I was wearing a super constricting tight wetsuit making inhalation 50% harder than normal which reflected in my pedestrian pace.

All 3 of us suggested suffering from poor sleep.  Perhaps we were over-trained, or perhaps our bodies were simply working overtime recovering and finding an increasingly difficult to supply the best recovery ingredient of all - oxygen.

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<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>So what’s the theory?</strong></span>

It’s simply the laws of adaptation.  Force your body into finding oxygen....<a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/epoee.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2943 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/epoee-300x233.jpg" alt="epoee" width="300" height="233" /></a>somewhere.  Make it, find it, and use it.

Basically the most vital function in increasing my O2 availability is by increasing the production of red blood cells.  Training adaptations, via my kidneys produce a hormone called erythropoietin (EPO).  EPO then facilitates increased RBC production via bone marrow.   RBC’s attach and transport 02 to where it’s needed most – working muscles.

Therefore, more EPO, more RBC’s, less perceived discomfort, more work produced.  Your breathing rate is irrelevant if you don’t have the transporters (being; red blood cells) of 02 to your working muscles.

In time, by forcing my body to manufacture increased RBC’s, I can, theoretically, perform <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/rbc.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-2944 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/rbc.jpg" alt="rbc" width="194" height="121" /></a>greater work before fatigue slows my performance, via an increase in muscle cell acidity.

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<span style="color: #993366;"><strong>Does it work?</strong></span>

Well, I should concede I did not undertake a haematocrit (blood judge of 02 saturation) before and after our brief training camp.  However, returning to sea level after just 4 days at 7000 ft, I certainly found my first run back super easy.  In fact, breathing was so easy, my legs (strength &amp; coordination) were clearly limiting my performance more than breathing demands.  These perceived performance gains lasted around 3 weeks.

So I guess something seemed to work.   Of course it could have simply been a reduction in training stress – eg now I had more available 02. It felt similar to running with 5 less kilograms.

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<strong>Can I mimic these adaptations while at sea level and on a budget?</strong>

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Research and certainly my experience suggests the following training stimulus can produce a similar adaptive ‘feeling’.

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<strong>Hypoxic training </strong>– harder and smaller bouts of anaerobic (without oxygen) interval <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/breath.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-2946 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/breath-244x300.jpg" alt="breath" width="200" height="246" /></a>training.  Eg. breathing every 5<sup>th</sup>, 7<sup>th</sup>, or 9<sup>th</sup> stroke in swimming, or something I’ve played around with success is breathing through a ‘breathe easy’ unit (see pic) while riding a stationary bike, or finally simply running hill repeats broken with fast push up sets.

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I’m told altitude tents and specific altitude training rooms can also produce results related to haematocrit (increasing O2) and performance adaptations.

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All in all, its likely altitude training produces an improved performance.  And, let’s face, I suspect 4-6 months would most certainly produce significant athletic changes.

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Finally, as so much of endurance performance is largely governed by one’s ability to <a href="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7685.jpg"><img class="  wp-image-2948 alignright" src="http://balancehealthprograms.com.au/wp-content/uploads/IMG_7685-225x300.jpg" alt="IMG_7685" width="138" height="184" /></a>dissipate heat, specific heat stress training could possibility offer more bang for one’s buck.

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<strong><span style="color: #008080;">Above all, if you move you’ll improve.   </span></strong>

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BP