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Vol. 39 No. 29 • Issue No. 1277
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26
– SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
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Feature
NATUR A L H I G H !
How altitude tr a in in g is li ft in g p e rf
Pre-season training on mountains … players sleeping in altitude
tents … it’s all part of new training methods giving footballers an
edge, writes DR JODI RICHARDSON.
T
HESE days you would be forgiven
for mistaking the physical
preparation departments of many
AFL clubs for miniature versions of the
Institute of Sport.
Sports science supports almost every
aspect of player development, with
clubs using every means possible to
keep their elite athletes functioning like
highly tuned machines.
Clubs are always looking for an edge
because at the elite level of sport, even
a small improvement in any aspect of
player fitness has the potential to have
a large impact on performance and can
ultimately be the difference between
premiership glory and agonising defeat.
While by athletes competing in
individual sports like running have
used altitude training for decades, it is
a recent addition to Australian football.
Now AFL clubs are training at
altitude, or using a simulated hypoxic
(reduced oxygen) environment at sea
level, in an effort to gain an advantage
over opposing teams.
Collingwood has travelled during pre-
season to altitude camps in Arizona, at
an altitude of around 2100 metres, and
to Potchefstroom in South Africa at
considerably lower average elevation of
around 1320 metres.
Reports are that the Magpies will be
heading back to Arizona in preparation
for 2010.
x
Collingwood also has the advantage of
o rm a n c e
a purpose built altitude training room at
the Lexus Centre designed to maintain
the physiological improvements created
by the pre-season altitude work.
Originally, travel to altitude was done
to help athletes acclimatise for high
altitude competition but the benefits
are now known to extend to improved
performance at sea level.
Altitude exposes players to a reduced
oxygen environment.
The higher above sea level, the lower
the air pressure which reduces the
amount of oxygen inhaled per breath.
Over time, the body adapts to this
reduced oxygen environment, changing
the athletes physiology in ways that
improves endurance, a key fitness
component in Aussie rules.
Western Bulldogs sports scientist
Dr Rob Aughey, a lecturer in Sports
Physiology at Victoria University, said
there was no specific research exploring
the benefits of altitude training for team
performance, but the performance
effects seen in research with athletes
were almost certainly going to translate
to football.
“Two of the things we most definitely
get is an improvement in running
economy, and quite a large effect –
somewhere between 3 and 10 per cent
– so any of the real gut running where
you are doing sustained high intensity
but not maximal running in games,
you are definitely going to get a benefit
Inside Football
there,” he said. “And you also get an
increase in hemoglobin mass which
means you should get more oxygen
delivery to the muscles.
“Those two things alone should be
good for sustained performance in
Australian football matches.”
In terms of what altitude is best, Dr
Aughey says the higher the better – to
a point, as there is a trade-off risk of
altitude sickness.
Recent research suggests 3000 metres
puts athletes on the cusp of altitude
sickness. Symptoms include headaches,
dizziness, nausea, fainting, shortness of
breath and difficulty sleeping.
“You have to be really careful that you
are not inducing any of those symptoms
in your athletes because you are
certainly going to impair performance
in the short term and possibly the long
term,” he said.
“It’s a trade-off between the greatest
amount of hypoxia a person can handle
without the potential risk.”
Dr Aughey said there were numerous
problems with travelling to altitude.
These include a decrease in
training intensity, as athletes are
physically unable to train as hard at
altitude, so there is a possibility of a
de-training effect; the usual problems
of international flights and fatigue; as
well as taking athletes away from home
which can also have detrimental effects
on performance.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
AUGHEY: Seeing gains in running
economy of up to 10 per cent.
He added that team travel had the
benefits of player bonding and team
coherence.
There are easier and more cost effective
alternatives to travelling to altitude.
One option is termed “live high,
train low” where athletes experience
simulated hypoxia overnight while
sleeping, yet train at sea level without
the constraints of reduced oxygen.
“It’s quite different between training
under hypoxic conditions and sleeping
under those conditions and being able
to maintain your training intensity at
sea level,” Dr Aughey said.
“I think that ‘live high, train low’ is the
way to go. It is a lot more cost effective,
can be done at home and to me seems
to be the best option.”
Dr Aughey said the time under
hypoxic conditions was very important
– somewhere between 12 and 14 hours
a day for around three to four weeks.
The 12 to 14 hours is done during sleep.
This is achieved with altitude
tents, which are used by a number of
footballers.
“It is good in terms of being able to
sleep in your own home,” he said.
“The tent goes above the mattress
on the bed. It’s not normal behavior to
have a tent with a generator going in
the background which does emit a fair
bit of noise, not unlike a fan or a quiet
vacuum cleaner, so there are trade-offs
there.
“There is no easy way of doing
it unless you set up a bedroom for
yourself at home that is effectively your
very own altitude house.
“But your partner may not want to
sleep under hypoxic conditions. They
can become expensive to run as well.”
Altitude rooms such as those
installed by Collingwood and Carlton
also simulate altitude by reducing the
amount of oxygen available in the
enclosure.
This is achieved by introducing
nitrogen into the environment while the
room or tent is at normal atmospheric
pressure.
One of the important optional
features of the altitude rooms is remote
video monitoring of the occupants over
the internet by club staff.
Rob Shugg, co-director of Kinetic
Performance Technology which
designed and installed these facilities,
 Inside the game 21

‘If someone were to tell me they were getting a

1.5% increase in performance from altitude and
asked do you think it’s worth it, then the answer
is absolutely every time, no question at all.’
explained that the downside to using
the tents was that athletes were
unsupervised.
More is not better when it comes
to hypoxic exposure, and players need
to adhere closely to an appropriate
protocol of exposure to ensure maximal
performance gain and to minimise
negative side effects.
Dr Aughey described the Bulldogs’
protocol for the use of an altitude
simulation tent where a player is advised
to spend four weeks sleeping under the
tent, gradually stepping up the amount
of hypoxia and sleeping five nights on
and two nights off, attempting to stay in
the tent for 12 to 14 hours each night.
He adds that the timing of exposure to
altitude needs to be carefully planned.
“In the first week and maybe even two
weeks, the players are likely to actually
feel quite fatigued from it,” he said.
“It is an extra stimulus the body is
getting and over many years we have
seen that in that first week, athletes can
really feel quite flat.
“It’s when you’re getting the majority
of the physiological changes occurring.
It’s important in terms of the scheduling
of when we start it and the coach needs
to be made aware of this.
“We tell the coaches that the players
are going to get benefit from this but not
this week and maybe not next week, so if
the player tells you he’s tired he probably
really is.
“A player is likely to have the best
performance benefits in one to two
weeks time. Within about one to two
weeks of finishing ‘live high, train low’
is when you are getting maximal gains.”
A recent study led by AIS senior
physiologist Dr Philo Saunders explored
a combination of “live high, train low”
simulated altitude exposure with a series
of training camps at natural moderate
altitude in elite middle-distance runners.
He found that the combination of
exposures improved competitive
performance by 2 per cent.
Though a small amount, this type
of improvement can have significant
effects on an athlete’s competitive edge.
HIGHER, FASTER, STRONGER: THe Bulldogs on the training track.
Collingwood combines travel to
natural altitude with simulated altitude use of structured altitude training for “hotel” that will be available for up to be open to more than just the Bulldogs,
in its purpose-built room. all players. 16 athletes to come and sleep under it will be a commercial facility,” Dr
“Small changes are really worthwhile,” Tents cost up to $10,000, which he hypoxic conditions. Aughey said.
Dr Aughey said. sees as a small investment in a player’s The close relationship the Bulldogs “We will also have a separate room for
“If someone were to tell me they were performance. have with the university means the club about 10 people to be able to exercise
getting about a 1.5 per cent increase in He encourages players to buy their will be able to use the facility. under hypoxic conditions – in fact
performance from altitude and asks do own but players do need to adhere to an “My current plan of course is that we will be able to manipulate heat,
you think it’s worth it, then the answer is appropriate protocol of exposure. maybe we could have the Bulldogs’ humidity and hypoxia in that room,
absolutely every time, no question at all.” Victoria University has a new building midfielders in residence for a month which I think will be the only facility of
Dr Aughey highly recommends the under construction including an altitude during pre-season but it will certainly its kind in the world.”

Inside Football Wednesday, August 26, 2009