Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
Athletes in endurance events practice a training
technique called "living high, training low". Many years ago,
scientists noticed that people who live in the mountains, where
the air contains lower levels of oxygen, have higher than normal
blood oxygen levels. A limiting factor in events that require
endurance is the time it takes to move oxygen from the lungs into
the muscles. Since more than 98 percent of the oxygen in the
blood is bound to red blood cells, people with high numbers of
red blood cells should have higher levels of oxygen and therefore
have more oxygen available for their muscles, giving them
greater endurance. It appears that living and training at high
altitude would improve performance even more, so theoretically,
all long distance runners, cross country skiers, bicycle racers and
other athletes in endurance sports would benefit from living and
training at high altitudes.
However, you can’t train as intensely in the mountains
where oxygen is sparse. Lack of oxygen during hard exercise
slows you down. One group of researchers decided to see if
living at high altitudes would increase red blood cell
concentration, and training at low altitude would allow the
athletes to take harder workouts. Eleven trained middle-distance
runners were tested before an 18-day training session in which
they slept in special low-oxygen pressure chambers and trained
at sea level with oxygen-rich air (Journal of Applied Physiology,
January 2006). The tests were repeated 15 days after the
training. The athletes who lived high and trained low had higher
maximal oxygen uptakes, higher maximal aerobic power and
lower resting heart rates than the control group. The blood of
these athletes could carry more oxygen, and the oxygen
concentration in their bloodstream would return to normal earlier
after intense competitions so their performance would improve.
Barometric pressure chambers are avaiable for about $8000,
so serious endurance athletes can "sleep high" and train wherever
they live.
June 15, 2006