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Training for a New “High”

Lots of athletes and exercisers claim they get a certain “high” out of hard work outs or pushing their bodies to new heights or “personal bests.” However, nothing compares to the type of stamina and endurance you build in your body through altitude training.

What is altitude training? It’s the type of training that many Olympians experience – training at heights well above sea level.

The basic theory is this – if you can learn to train and compete at a level where there is less oxygen available to your blood and muscles, then, when you return to “sea level,” you should be more of a first-class competitor in your sport, whether it’s running, swimming, cycling or another endurance sport. In fact, many of the best athletes in the world live at high altitudes (5000 – 7,000 feet or 1500 – 2100 meters) above sea level and travel to sea level for competitions where their endurance is greater because of their high altitude living and training.

Dr. John Hellemans, a well-known sports medicine practitioner, coach and altitude consultant in New Zealand, has a keen interest in altitude training and its overall effect on health and athletic performance. He states, “Scientists estimate performance benefits from altitude training to be between one and three percent, which is significant for an elite athlete. It is also accompanied by an amazing feeling of fitness and general wellbeing.”

Dr. Hellemans offers this advice to those who are just beginning attitude training:

“Recovery is everything at altitude. Generally your recovery is a bit slower so nutritional measures (including hydration) and rest become even more important to enhance that process. Many athletes lose their appetite at altitude initially and again this needs to be monitored carefully. Dehydration is also not uncommon and frequent weighing should be part of the monitoring process.”

As with any type of sport or training program, your body adjusts to changing conditions better when your nervous system is functioning at peak levels. The best way to accomplish this is through adherence to your chiropractic adjustment schedule to keep you in the tip-top shape you need to be in to compete in anything from the Olympic Games to the game we call “life.”