Living High, Training Low; A New Approach to Altitude Training at Sea Level in Athletes

Rusko, Heikki; Leppävuori, Antti; Mäkelä, P.; Leppäluoto, Juhani

doi:10.1249/00005768-199505001-00036

Cited by 21 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…In order to minimize the detraining effects of living and training in hypoxia, Levine and Stray-Gundersen (1997) popularized the concept of living at moderate altitude (20-22 h/day) and training daily at low altitude or near sea level. Using simulated altitude (for $ 12-16 h/day) as an alternative to natural altitude was concurrently popularized in Finland (Rusko et al, 1995). In Australia, for logistical reasons, the exposure was limited to sleeping in moderate hypoxia ( $ 2650 m simulated altitude) for $ 9 h/night, which although insufficient to boost the production of red blood cells (Ashenden et al, 1999) did elevate HVR in a dose-dependent manner that was significant after 15 nights (Townsend et al, 2002), which is indicative of ventilatory acclimatization.…”

Section: Lhtlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation for football competition at moderate to high altitude

Gore

McSharry

Hewitt³

et al. 2008

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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Analysis of approximately 100 years of home-and-away South American World Cup matches illustrate that football competition at moderate/high altitude (>2000 m) favors the home team, although this is more than compensated by the likelihood of sea-level teams winning at home against the same opponents who have descended from altitude. Nevertheless, the home team advantage at altitudes above approximately 2000 m may reflect that traditionally, teams from sea level or low altitude have not spent 1-2 weeks acclimatizing at altitude. Despite large differences between individuals, in the first few days at high altitude (e.g. La Paz, 3600 m) some players experience symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS) such as headache and disrupted sleep, and their maximum aerobic power (VO2max) is approximately 25% reduced while their ventilation, heart rate and blood lactate during submaximal exercise are elevated. Simulated altitude for a few weeks before competition at altitude can be used to attain partial ventilatory acclimation and ameliorated symptoms of AMS. The variety of simulated altitude exposures usually created with enriched nitrogen mixtures of air include resting or exercising for a few hours per day or sleeping approximately 8 h/night in hypoxia. Preparation for competition at moderate/high altitude by training at altitude is probably superior to simulated exposure; however, the optimal duration at moderate/high altitude is unclear. Preparing for 1-2 weeks at moderate/high altitude is a reasonable compromise between the benefits associated with overcoming AMS and partial restoration of VO2max vs the likelihood of detraining.

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Section: Lhtlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparation for football competition at moderate to high altitude

Gore

McSharry

Hewitt³

et al. 2008

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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“…This method was introduced by Finnish scientists for their athletes, who wanted to utilise the favourable hypoxia organism adaptation without inconvenient and expensive travelling (Rusko et al, 1995). Athletes are exposed to hypoxia in rooms; training is the only break from the hypoxia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altitude Training and its Influence on Physical Endurance in Swimmers

Strzała

Ostrowski

Szyguła³

2011

Journal of Human Kinetics

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It is possible to plan an altitude training (AT) period in such a way that the enhanced physical endurance obtained as a result of adaptation to hypoxia will appear and can be used to improve performance in competition. Yet finding rationales for usage of AT in highly trained swimmers is problematic. In practice AT, in its various forms, is still controversial, and an objective review of research concentrating on the advantages and disadvantages of AT has been presented in several scientific publications, including in no small part the observations of swimmers. The aim of this article is to review the various methods and present both the advantageous and unfavourable physiological changes that occur in athletes as a result of AT. Moreover, AT results in the sport of swimming have been collected. They include an approach towards primary models of altitude/hypoxic training: live high + train high, live high + train low, live low + train high, as well as subsequent methods: Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure (IHE) and Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT). Apnoea training, which is descended from freediving, is also mentioned, and which can be used with, or as a substitute for, the well-known IHE or IHT methods. In conclusion, swimmers who train using hypoxia may be among the best-trained athletes, and that even a slight improvement in physical endurance might result in the shortening of a swimming time in a given competition, and the achievement of a personal best, which is hard to obtain by normal training methods, when the personal results of the swimmer have reached a plateau.

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“…Knaupp et al (1992) Rusko et al (1995); Mattila and Rusko, (1996);Chapman et al (1998);Piehl-Aulin et al (1998); Rusko et al (1999); Ashenden et al (2000); Koistinen et al (2000); StrayGundersen et al (2001);Ge et al (2002);Friedmann et al (2005) Ն3800 m (F IO2 ϳ0.135) Eckardt et al (1989); Knaupp et al Vallier et al (1996);Garcia et (1992); Savourey et al (1996);al. (2000); Katayama et al Rodriguez et al (2000); Niess et al (2003); Julian et al (2004); ( Rusko et al (1995); Mattila and Rusko (1996); Savourey et al (1996); Chapman et al (1998);Piehl-Aulin et al (1998a);Piehl-Aulin et al (1998b); Rusko et al (1999); Ashenden et al (2000); Koistinen et al (2000); Stray-Gundersen et al (2001); Dehnert et al (2002); Ge et al (2002) brecht and Littell, 1972;Eckardt et al, 1989). However, most studies have used exposure times greater than 2 h ( Table 1).…”

Section: Introduction Ementioning

confidence: 99%