The Secret of Altitude Training and the AFL Footballer
It seems to be the buzz training technique employed by some AFL Football Clubs over the past few years, so much so that Collingwood Football Club have got an altitude training room at their training base at the Lexus Centre. So I thought I would do a bit of research into why clubs think it is so helpful to their players’ fitness levels and performance.
Well here is what it is all about:
Athletes that train at higher altitudes can theoretically improve the capacity at which they are able to exercise. Because there is lower level of oxygen the body acclimatizes to that level, this is where the real benefit is, as a result of the body acclimatising the body improves its ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, the more oxygen the body can deliver the better the performance. The training of an AFL Footballer means that their bodies must use oxygen to generate energy (because training lasts longer than a few minutes). Without the supply of oxygen the muscles may seize up and become damaged. Altitude training can produce more red blood cells; these cells are the ones that carry the oxygen around the body.
There are other benefits aside from this and they include: An increase in the number of small blood vessels, an increase in buffering capacity (ability to manage the build up of waste acid) and changes in the microscopic structure and function of the muscles themselves. And scientific studies have shown that altitude training can produce increases in speed, strength, endurance, and recovery.
Opponents of altitude training argue that an athlete’s red blood cell concentration returns to normal levels within days of returning to sea level and that it is impossible to train at the same intensity that one could at sea level, reducing the training effect and wasting training time due to altitude sickness. With the advent of altitude simulation systems that are portable, however, none of these detrimental side effects should be a problem.
This is where Collingwood Football Club is ahead of the rest with the development of its own altitude training room. The Pies fitness guru David Buttifant said “So what we’re able to achieve while we’re away for two and a half weeks, it would probably take us five or six weeks (back in Melbourne), so we’re able to shorten and condense our training, and we get some very positive effects going into the season.” Considering the Pies have made some marked improvements over the past 2-3 years, they are confident their previous trips to Arizona have certainly been beneficial in improving player’s fitness levels.
Although the Pies are playing their NAB Cup game in Dubai as part of their training camp, one gets the feeling they will not be concerned if they lose that game, strengthening the case of getting rid of the NAB cup once and for all. Mick Malthouse has alluded to the fact that while they are there to play a game the focus of their time there will be in preparing the players for the rest of the season.
“So as much as our immediate thing is when we go and play in Dubai, we’ve got to make sure the reason for the camp is not just to play in Dubai, the reason for the camp is to be ready to play for the whole season.”
It will be interesting to see what the effects of the altitude training in South Africa have on the Pies in 2008, they are a huge chance and this just may help them get over the top of the other teams.
Time will tell.
