scholarly journals Effect of altitude training camps in different altitude on hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration in elite female runner

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-240
Author(s):  
P. Červinka
2008 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 63-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris E. Cooper

Optimum performance in aerobic sports performance requires an efficient delivery to, and consumption of, oxygen by the exercising muscle. It is probable that maximal oxygen uptake in the athlete is multifactorial, being shared between cardiac output, blood oxygen content, muscle blood flow, oxygen diffusion from the blood to the cell and mitochondrial content. Of these, raising the blood oxygen content by raising the haematocrit is the simplest acute method to increase oxygen delivery and improve sport performance. Legal means of raising haematocrit include altitude training and hypoxic tents. Illegal means include blood doping and the administration of EPO (erythropoietin). The ability to make EPO by genetic means has resulted in an increase in its availability and use, although it is probable that recent testing methods may have had some impact. Less widely used illegal methods include the use of artificial blood oxygen carriers (the so-called ‘blood substitutes’). In principle these molecules could enhance aerobic sports performance; however, they would be readily detectable in urine and blood tests. An alternative to increasing the blood oxygen content is to increase the amount of oxygen that haemoglobin can deliver. It is possible to do this by using compounds that right-shift the haemoglobin dissociation curve (e.g. RSR13). There is a compromise between improving oxygen delivery at the muscle and losing oxygen uptake at the lung and it is unclear whether these reagents would enhance the performance of elite athletes. However, given the proven success of blood doping and EPO, attempts to manipulate these pathways are likely to lead to an ongoing battle between the athlete and the drug testers.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla A. Hackworth ◽  
Linda M. Peterson ◽  
Dan G. Jack ◽  
Clara A. Williams ◽  
Blake E. Hodges
Keyword(s):  

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 1965-1978 ◽  
Author(s):  
FERRAN A. RODRÍGUEZ ◽  
XAVIER IGLESIAS ◽  
BELÉN FERICHE ◽  
CARMEN CALDERÓN-SOTO ◽  
DIEGO CHAVERRI ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cruise Malloy ◽  
Robert Kell ◽  
Rod Kelln

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has recently made a decision to allow the use of hypoxic tents amid a significant amount of controversy over the morality of their use for athletic training purposes. Currently, altitude training is considered moral, but other means of improving aerobic performance are not; for example, blood doping. Altitude training and blood doping have similar results, but the methods by which the results are achieved differ greatly. The controversy lies in how the use of a hypoxic device falls within WADA’s philosophy, which will then dictate future policy. This paper discusses the influence of a hypoxic environment on human physiology, altitude training’s influence on athletic performance, the concept of authentic physiology, and moral behaviour that is the foundation for logical debate.


2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel W. Haun ◽  
Norman W. Kettner ◽  
Terry R. Yochum ◽  
Richard L. Green

1998 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 1448-1456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert F. Chapman ◽  
James Stray-Gundersen ◽  
Benjamin D. Levine

Moderate-altitude living (2,500 m), combined with low-altitude training (1,250 m) (i.e., live high-train low), results in a significantly greater improvement in maximal O2 uptake (V˙o 2 max) and performance over equivalent sea-level training. Although the mean improvement in group response with this “high-low” training model is clear, the individual response displays a wide variability. To determine the factors that contribute to this variability, 39 collegiate runners (27 men, 12 women) were retrospectively divided into responders ( n = 17) and nonresponders ( n = 15) to altitude training on the basis of the change in sea-level 5,000-m run time determined before and after 28 days of living at moderate altitude and training at either low or moderate altitude. In addition, 22 elite runners were examined prospectively to confirm the significance of these factors in a separate population. In the retrospective analysis, responders displayed a significantly larger increase in erythropoietin (Epo) concentration after 30 h at altitude compared with nonresponders. After 14 days at altitude, Epo was still elevated in responders but was not significantly different from sea-level values in nonresponders. The Epo response led to a significant increase in total red cell volume andV˙o 2 max in responders; in contrast, nonresponders did not show a difference in total red cell volume or V˙o 2 maxafter altitude training. Nonresponders demonstrated a significant slowing of interval-training velocity at altitude and thus achieved a smaller O2 consumption during those intervals, compared with responders. The acute increases in Epo and V˙o 2 maxwere significantly higher in the prospective cohort of responders, compared with nonresponders, to altitude training. In conclusion, after a 28-day altitude training camp, a significant improvement in 5,000-m run performance is, in part, dependent on 1) living at a high enough altitude to achieve a large acute increase in Epo, sufficient to increase the total red cell volume andV˙o 2 max, and 2) training at a low enough altitude to maintain interval training velocity and O2 flux near sea-level values.


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