I've heard that elite athletes use altitude training. Would it benefit me?
Altitude training has been used by endurance athletes for several decades as a means to improving aerobic capacity. At higher altitudes, where the pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere is lower, your body responds by stimulating the production of red blood cells.
This effectively increases your body’s ability to transport oxygen and thus boosts endurance performance. The best news is that there is some evidence to suggest that non-elite athletes, who have lower levels of haemoglobin (the protein found in red blood cells) to begin with, may experience a bigger and more rapid increase in haemoglobin than elite athletes do.
Training at altitude also has the additional benefit of being able to train hard in beautiful surroundings, away from the distractions of life at home.
Louise has been running for over 20 years, with the last 16 of those at International level. She has represented Grea...