The strengths and weaknesses of altitude trainings

Altitude training is a new form of training that has been introduced to elite athletes however almost everyone can try it. It involves exercising above 2000m sea level and can be an incredible way to work out. Whilst at a higher height, your body is forced to work harder and create more red blood cells to supply oxygen to your working muscles. It may sound complicated but to summarise, the higher you go, there is less oxygen right? So your body and its incredible systems will counter act this to make you become one of best endurance athletes in the world.

This form of training has several benefits as it will significantly improve your cardio and make you able to exercise for a very long period of time. It is even known to lower the chance of cancer and heart disease! 

However, this form of training comes at quite a cost with various downsides. Such as accessibility. There isn’t many local places where you can simply reach such a high altitude without travelling somewhere quite far which is usually expensive. It can also cause something known as ‘altitude sickness’ e.g Hypoxia.

Many athletes today seem to work out using the usual training methods. This can be through continuous or weight training but isn’t it time to try something new and fun. Nothing else can compare to how hard you work at altitude, This new and well thought form of training is a high risk high reward way to make you a high performance athlete and help your endurance in whatever sport you do. So next time you ever find yourself 2000m above sea level and with lots of energy, go for a run and see how much harder your body needs to work.