THE AIR UP THERE.

I.H.T. THE NEW FORCE IN ALTITUDE TRAINING

Rod Cedaro (M.App.Sc.)

Triathlon and Multisport Magazine. Nov. 1999.

Introduction:

1998 saw the cycling world rocked to its very foundations by the well

publicised exposure of the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs

during the Tour de France of that same year.

Since then athlete after athlete in a myriad of different sports around the

world have "gone positive" as Sports Drug Agencies, and indeed law

enforcement agencies, worldwide crack down on the use and traffic of

performance enhancing drugs in sport.

The UCI, in what could only be described as a "knee jerk" reaction to the

scandal surrounding the '98 Tour, introduced "blood testing" as a means of

determining the "potential" illicit use of erythropoitin (EPO) as an

ergogenic agent. By setting an arbitrary figure of 50% as a haematocrit

"competition cut off", the UCI opened a Pandora's box of potential "false

positive" disqualifications from competition being called against "clean"

athletes.

In a paper by Browne et al (1999), the authors concluded that blood testing

as a means of detecting the illicit use of performance enhancing substances

such as EPO is "not yet justifiable in sport" (Browne et al, 501, 1999).

The International Triathlon Union adopted a more conservative approach to

drug control within triathlon. It would however be naive to believe that a

sport such as triathlon, which has its training basis in aerobic

strength/endurance, requires voluminous repetitive training and offers the

elite of the sport a lucrative lifestyle, is immune from drug abuse.

The last few years have seen major advancements in sports science and

bio-technical instrumentation that provide startling new possibilities in

leveling the playing field between those athletes who chose to avail

themselves to illicit, performance enhancing drugs, and those that wish to

compete "clean".

Without doubt, "hypobaric" or altitude training warrants further

investigation as a means of improving athletic performance. Recent research

has shown a swing away from "conventional" altitude training whereby

athletes live and train for periods of 4-6 weeks at altitudes of 2,500 to

3,000 metres. American physiologist Benjamin Levine in 1997 first proposed

the idea that athletes should "live high and train low". There is however

another school of thought gaining some acceptance within both the athletic

and sports science worlds:

IHT or "Intermittent Hypoxic Training could well be the way of the future.

Intermittent hypoxic training: The next frontier in altitude simulation.

Intermittent Hypoxic Training or "IHT" which has its origins in the Russian

military and aero-space programs may well herald the new frontier in

"altitude" training. Approximately three years ago this form of altitude

simulation was introduced to New Zealand sports by Dr. Alexei Korolev of the

former Soviet Union.

This method of "altitude training" - which is claimed to be equivalent and

even superior to conventional altitude training by being able to control the

altitude "dose" - is achieved by exposing athletes to hypoxic air containing

9-16% oxygen (equating to altitude exposures of 2,000 to 6,500 metres above

sea level) intermittently at 4-6 minute intervals interspersed with

breathing normoxic air for the same periods, for 60-90 minutes per session,

once or twice a day.

Exposing the athlete to such hypoxic gases in the aforementioned manner, via

a machine called an "hypoxicator", is thought, among other physiological and

biochemical reactions, to stimulate EPO release and hence red blood cell

production resulting in increased oxygen carrying capacity within the blood.

Preliminary Research and Case Studies:

In a pilot study of a group of 10 elite endurance athletes (swimmers,

triathletes and runners), Dr. John Hellemans of New Zealand (1998), himself

a World Age-Group Champion triathlete found:

Endurance performance over a series of performance tests (swimming, cycling

and running) improved on average by 3.1%.

Hemoglobin concentration increased on average by 4.4%.

Hematocrit increased on average by 4.8%.

Reticulocyte count increased on average by 28.7%

Dr. Hellemans summarised the findings of this investigation as follows:

Ten endurance athletes were tested with the method of Intermittent Hypoxic

Training (IHT) in relation to hematological factors and performance over a

period of three weeks. Results show an overall improvement in hematological

factors related to oxygen transport and performance. The results indicate

that IHT is an effective method to simulate altitude training. On the basis

of the results it is recommended that further research and testing is done

in the area of maximising outcome for individual athletes. However in

general the method

of IHT can be strongly recommended for any serious athlete as part of their

training and preparation.

A further case study was undertaken at the Runaway Bay Sports Super Centre

on Queensland's Gold Coast, in Australia. The results of this case study are

indicated below and occurred over a ten to fourteen (10-14) day period

during which time the training of the athlete involved remained constant.

VARIABLE Pre IHT exposure Post IHT exposure

* Resting heart rate (bpm) 35 28

* Body weight (kilograms) 68.7 67.9

* Skinfolds (sum of eight

sites - mm) 32.3 29.3

* Hematocrit 44% 51%

Performance time for

for 4km track time trial

at fixed aerobic heart rate

of 152bpm (mins/seconds) 15.25 14.55

The athlete in this case study was an elite ultra-distance triathlete (Nb.

Training performances prior to IHT exposure suggested that he has the

potential to record a finish time in the vicinity of 8 hours even for an

Ironman distance triathlon) training 30+ hours per week. His weekly training

comprised 25-30km per week of swimming, 400-600km per week of cycling,

100-120km per week of running with two to three weight training sessions per

week.

This athlete's training was not altered in any other way during the IHT

exposure.

All factors listed above show tendencies to improved aerobic function as a

consequence of a greater red cell mass - this is conclusively supported by a

7.5 second per kilometre improvement in performance time for the fixed

aerobic heart rate track run (Cedaro, Unpublished observations, 1999).

Other points worthy of consideration:

In addition to the athletic performance enhancement witnessed by both the

author of this article and New Zealand's Dr. Hellemans (Nb. Kiwi Olympian,

and top three ranked triathlete in the world, Hamish Carter has been using

the device extensively since 1998). Soviet researchers have also found IHT

to be useful as an adjunctive treatment for a variety of maladies as diverse

as depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease and female

infertility! See www.go2altitude.com for a more information on the technique

there.

REFERENCES:

Browne A., Lachance, V. and Pipe A.: The ethics of blood testing as an

element of doping control in sport. Med. Sci Sports Exerc. 31(4): 497-501,

1999.

Cedaro R.: IHT: A case study (unpublished observations, August 1999).

Hellemans J.: Intermittent Hypoxic Training. Pilot Trial (unpublished,

August-September 1998).

Levine BD., Stray-Gunderson J. Living High-Training Low: Effect of Moderate

Altitude Acclimatization with Low Altitude Training on Performance. J. Appl.

Physiol.: 83(1): 102-112, 1997.