“Live High–Train High” increases hemoglobin mass in Olympic swimmers

Abstract

In conclusion, 3-4 weeks of classical LHTH is sufficient to increase Hbmass but exerts no effect on swimming-specific VO2peak. LHTH may improve performance more than SL training.

Altitude training causes haematological fluctuations with relevance for the Athlete Biological Passport

“…In two of three samples, an evident decrease in RET% upon return to sea‐level seems responsible for the increased OFF score while in the last sample a concomitant minor increase in [Hb] found place. Whereas sea‐level training resulted in unaltered [Hb], altitude training significantly increased [Hb] towards the end of the training intervention as described in a previous paper which normalized upon return to sea‐level. The cause of this include an increase in total Hb mass as well as a plasma volume reduction, which likely also contributed to the increase in Hct in light of only minor increases in RBC and MCV.…”

“…Specific distance for the various intensities over the period was for the sea‐level control group: recovery 87 km, aerobic 412 km, anaerobic 70 km, sprint 20 km; and for the LHTH group: recovery 82 km, aerobic 422 km, anaerobic 61 km, sprint 25 km. For a more comprehensive description of intensity zones the reader is referred to previously published data …”

“…A detailed description of the study design and training intervention can be found in a previous paper from the same study. [30] In short, ten swimmers from the Danish 2012 Olympic swimming team (5 female, 5 male) completed an LHTH training camp and ten swimmers from a national swimming club competing at international and national elite level (6 female, 4 male) were selected for a control sea-level training camp (CON). The study was approved by the Danish National Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics according to the Helsinki Declaration.…”

Relationship of aerobic and anaerobic parameters with 400 m front crawl swimming performance

“…Together, these results demonstrate that even in long distance performances, the peripheral factors, which are related to anaerobic threshold (i.e., aerobic capacity and LMS), are more important than the central factors, which are related to aerobic power (e.g., $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\text{2PEAK}}$) [23, 24]. Moreover, although $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\text{2PEAK}}$ values have been shown to be sensitive to training applied in young swimmers [1], this parameter presented no change in high-level swimmers after 4 weeks of altitude training (live-high train-high), even with increased haemoglobin mass [25]. Thus, $\stackrel{.}{\text{V}}{\text{O}}_{\text{2PEAK}}$ appears to be a parameter which is not strongly correlated with performance or sensitive to training in high-level swimmers.…”

Performance Enhancement: What Are the Physiological Limits?

“…32). Specifically, although LHTH confers a hematological advantage, as demonstrated by an increase in Hb mass observed in collegiate athletes (64), Olympic swimmers (10), and cross-country ski Olympic medalists (Table 1), these changes did not necessarily improve exercise performance (10,64). Nonetheless, LHTH remains the most popular altitude-training method, likely due to numerous anecdotic reports from world-class athletes showing outstanding competitive results following LHTH (e.g., Table 1).…”