High Altitude Training

Ever wonder why Olympic athletes travel to high elevation training camps to prepare for the big event? Today I was taught the science behind this technique and exactly why high altitude training can be so effective.

As a basic background, it would be known that our blood is make up of white and red blood cells, platelets and plasma.While white blood cells are associated with our immune system, red blood cells have the characteristic functions of shuttling oxygen and carbon dioxide and facilitating a cellular exchange on these otherwise insoluble gases. Within the red blood cells (RBCs) is a heterotetramic protein termed hemoglobin. Hemoglobin has a ferrous iron (Fe) group within a heme feature which allows hemoglobin to bind oxygen and sequester it from the external environment. Now hemoglobin has a moderate affinity for oxygen binding making it an ideal transit protein for the association/dissociation of oxygen in cells. In other words, hemoglobin can bind to oxygen and then release it towards the target location.

Here's the punch line.

At high altitude there is typically less oxygen density, ie. less oxygen. This means that going from san diego to denver CO, could mean that your body and cells are getting roughly 10% less oxygen which is not a good thing. To counterbalance the phenotypical effects the high altitude environment is having on you body, 2,3-bisphophoglycerate concentrations are increased in the blood. What this does in decrease hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen making it easier for oxygen to detach from the heme group and thus attach to the hypoxic cells. The increase of this compound within the body is enough to compensate for the relative lack of oxygen in the atmosphere and in fact oxygen diffusion is retained to basal levels.

Long story short, high-altitude training helps as develop ourselves to absorb oxygen as an enhanced rate. So, if you train in Denver for a couple months and then compete in San Diego, you are bound to have a distinct advantage.

Just some food for thought.