Träning på hög höjd

Clas undrar vilken effekt konditionsträning på hög höjd har. Foto: Colourbox.

Det har inkommit en läsarfråga om träning på hög höjd:

Hej,

jag har en fråga angående träning på hög höjd. Jag befinner mig sedan ett år tillbaka i Mexico City (2 300 m ö h) och det är inte helt enkelt att löpträna här på samma sätt som jag gör hemma. Det blir uteslutande löpband 4-5 ggr/vecka. Min fråga är vilken effekt konditionsträning har på hög höjd? Om jag tränar här och sedan åker hem till Sverige, har jag då en fördel (syreupptagningsförmågan) på grund av min höghöjdsträning? Om det är så, hur länge håller denna effekt i sig innan konditionen stabiliseras till havsnivå?

Anledningen till att jag frågar är att lagom till hemresa till sommaren ska jag delta I ett stadslopp hemma och vill kunna planera resan någorlunda för att kunna göra ett så bra resultat som möjligt. Tacksam för svar!

/Clas

Jag skickade vidare frågan till Rubin McRae på Running Sweden, som har erfarenhet av träning på hög höjd sedan tiden då han bodde i Colorado. Så här svarar han (på sitt modersmål engelska – med tanke på textens vetenskapliga karaktär kände jag att det var bäst att inte försöka översätta den):

There are two effects that happen at altitude a short term effect which happens within the first day of arriving at altitude and a long term which happens in approximately three weeks! Clas lives there so this is no problem, he will recieve both! Exposure to high altitude like that you reader is experiencing has been shown in many cases to improve an athlete’s capacity to exercise. Exposing the body to high altitude causes it to acclimatise to the lower level of oxygen available in the atmosphere. Many of the changes that occur with acclimatisation improve the delivery of oxygen to the muscles -the theory being that more oxygen will lead to bette rperformance.

For any type of exercise lasting longer than a few minutes, the body must use oxygen to generate energy. Without it performance is reduced and times become worse. The body naturally produces a hormone called erythropoetin (EPO) which stimulates the production of red blood cells which carry oxygen to the muscles. Up to a point, the more blood cells you have, the more oxygen you can deliver to your muscles. There are also a number of other changes that happen during acclimatisation which may help athletic performance, including an increase in the number of small blood vessels, an increase in buffering capacity (ability to manage thebuild up of waste acid) and changes in the microscopic structure andfunction of the muscles themselves.

Altitude Exposure Techniques

Taking some of the information about altitude training intoconsideration, various techniques have been devised in order to exposethe athlete to the beneficial effects of high altitude whilst notreducing their ability to train effectively. These have been labelled ‘Live High – Train High, ‘Live Low – Train High’ and ‘Live High –Train Low’. The typical altitudes used are around 2000-2500m like theguy with the question!, which in itself reduces the risk of some ofthe unhelpful effects of altitude exposure.

Live High – Train High

Maximum exposure to altitude. Evidence of a positive effect at sea level is controversial, and there is less support for this methodamongst experts.

Live Low – Train High

The idea behind this regime is that the athlete is exercising in a lowoxygen environment, whilst resting in a normal oxygen environment.There have been some interesting findings suggesting that thistechnique might work, but there are no good studies showing that the technique makes any difference to the ultimate competitive performance of the athlete at sea-level. Additionally, training intensity isreduced so some athletes may find that they actually lose fitness using this regime.

Live High – Train Low

The theory behind this regime is that the body will acclimatise to altitude by living there, whilst training intensity can be maintained by training at (or near) sea level. Hence, the beneficial effects of altitude exposure are harnessed whilst some of the negative ones are avoided. However, residence at altitude must be for more than 12 hours per day and for at least 3 weeks. With this technique, improvements in sea-level performance have been shown.

To answer Clas’ question about when is best time to return before to his race and win ;) well studies show there are two optimal time frames,

1. 2-3 days before the competition has been shown to have positive results to performance.

2. 20-24 days has been shown to really be the best time to race upon leaving altitude, and proved to be the best time for me and my ownpersonal performance.

3. Worst time is 10-14 days before competition.

4. Benefits have been shown to last for up to 3 months.

5. With altitudes of the height Mexico City is, it is important to retain leg speed, as the decrease in oxygen and performance of someone at this height is so great that over prolonged periods an athletes speed is reduced, therefore I suggest he tries to run 8-10 fast sprints of up to 200 m at least once a week to maintain this speed! I know this is a long answer but got carried away!

/Rubin