Increased Sports Performance Determined by the Altitude Factor among Senior Mountain Runners
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18662/rrem/16.2/853Keywords:
altitude, VO2max, Bruce Protocol, mountain running, sports performance increaseAbstract
Background: Although quality is one of the oldest ways to increase sports performance, a precise protocol of acclimatization and participation in competitions is not yet established, studies in the field not being able to specify exactly a methodologist is ideal. The purpose of this research is to study whether the sports performance of mountain runners increases after performing an altitude training program and whether a VO2max higher conditions the obtaining of superior results in mountain running races. Methods: The paper is based on a case study performed on a selected 7 male subjects, mountain performance runners from the National Team of Romania, subjected to three tests: initial in plain conditions, intermediate in altitude conditions and final in plain conditions. The tests involved performing the Bruce protocol to identify the VO2max value and to go through a route specific to the short-distance mountain running test in maximum effort conditions. Results: Hypoxic effects of altitude determine the obtaining of one hour VO2max inferior comparative with wave times obtained in conditions of flat. SpO2 decreases during effort regardless of altitude or flat, but at altitude the values fall below the physiological limit of 95% and return to physiological limits 15 minutes after effort regardless of flat or altitude. It was also found that following an altitude training camp, the sports performances of the mountain runners increased: the place in the general classification at the National Championship was better and the VO2max had higher values in FT compared to IT. However, an excellent VO2max does not condition a higher place in the ranking of specialized competitions. Conclusions: The training camps at altitude are an efficient method of maximizing the sports performances in mountain running, provided that they are performed according to a specific duration of at least 4-6 weeks and an optimal acclimatization.
References
Alanis, A., Salas, O., Salas, K., Quintero, I., Carranza, Y., & Salazar, L. (2022). Playing at altitude. Performance of a Mexican professional football team at different level of altitude. Apunts Sports Medicine, 57(215), 100391.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apunsm.2022.100391
Albertus-Cámara, I., Ferrer-López, V., & Martínez-González-Moro, I. (2022). The effect of normobaric hypoxia in middle-and/or long-distance runners: Systematic review. Biology, 11(5), 689. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11050689
Baranauskas, M. N., Fulton, T. J., Fly, A. D., Martin, B. J., Mickleborough, T. D., & Chapman, R. F. (2022). High intraindividual variability in the response of serum erythropoietin to multiple simulated altitude exposures. High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 23(1), 85-89. https://doi.org/10.1089/ham.2021.0154
Beidleman, B. A., Staab, J. E., Muza, S. R., & Sawka, M. N. (2017). Quantitative model of hematologic and plasma volume responses after ascent and acclimation to moderate to high altitudes. American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 312(2), R265-R272. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpregu.00225.2016
Billaut, F., Paradis-Deschênes, P., & Richard, P. T. (2022). Utilization of ischemic preconditioning for athletes competing and training at altitude: applications and perspectives. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 4(4), 346-357.https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-022-00166-0
Björklund, G., Swarén, M., Born, D. P., & Stöggl, T. (2019). Biomechanical adaptations and performance indicators in short trail running. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, 506.https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00506
Cerda-Kohler, H., Haichelis, D., Reuquén, P., Miarka, B., Homer, M., Zapata-Gómez, D., & Aedo-Muñoz, E. (2022). Training at moderate altitude improves submaximal but not maximal performance-related parameters in elite rowers. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 931325. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.931325
Darwish, A., Frere, A. F., Abdelsamie, M., Awady, W. E., & Gouda, M. (2022). Intracoronary epinephrine versus adenosine in the management of refractory no-reflow phenomenon: a single-center retrospective cohort study. Annals of Saudi Medicine, 42(2), 75-82. https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2022.75
de Oliveira-Nunes, S. G., Castro, A., Sardeli, A. V., Cavaglieri, C. R., & Chacon-Mikahil, M. P. T. (2021). HIIT vs. SIT: what is the better to improve VO2max? A systematic review and meta-analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(24), 13120. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413120
Deldicque, L. (2022). Does normobaric hypoxic resistance training confer benefit over normoxic training in athletes? A narrative review. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 4(4), 306-314. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-021-00159-5
Dempsey, J. A., Powell, F. L., Bisgard, G. E., Blain, G. M., Poulin, M. J., & Smith, C. A. (2014). Role of chemoreception in cardiorespiratory acclimatization to, and deacclimatization from, hypoxia. Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(7), 858-866. https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01126.2013
Doutreleau, S. (2021). Réponses physiologiques et pathologiques à l’altitude. Revue des Maladies Respiratoires, 38(10), 1013-1024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmr.2020.12.007
Dragos, O., Alexe, D. I., Ursu, E. V., Alexe, C. I., Voinea, N. L., Haisan, P. L., Panaet, A. E., Albina, A. M., & Monea, D. (2022). Training in hypoxia at alternating high altitudes is a factor favoring the increase in sports performance. Healthcare, 10(11), p. 2296.https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10112296
Dunn, M. (2018). Does high-altitude training improve athletic performance? Evidence-Based Practice, 21(9), 92-93. DOI: 10.1097/EBP.0000000000000103
Fernández-Lázaro, D., Mielgo-Ayuso, J., Santamaría, G., Gutiérrez-Abejón, E., Domínguez-Ortega, C., García-Lázaro, S. M., & Seco-Calvo, J. (2022). Adequacy of an altitude fitness program (living and training) plus intermittent exposure to hypoxia for improving hematological biomarkers and sports performance of elite athletes: A single-blind randomized clinical trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 9095. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159095
Ferretti, G., Fagoni, N., Taboni, A., Vinetti, G., & di Prampero, P. E. (2022). A century of exercise physiology: key concepts on coupling respiratory oxygen flow to muscle energy demand during exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 122(6), 1317-1365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-022-04901-x
FRA. (n.d.). Department-technical. https://www.fra.ro/departament-technical/seniors/
Furian, M., Tannheimer, M., & Burtscher, M. (2022). Effects of acute exposure and acclimatization to high-altitude on oxygen saturation and related cardiorespiratory fitness in health and disease. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 11(22), 6699. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11226699
Girard, O. (2022). Editorial–contemporary use of altitude training to reach new heights. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise, 4(4), 291-292. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-022-00202-z
Girard, O., Brocherie, F., Goods, P. S. R., & Millet, G. P. (2020). An Updated Panorama of "Living Low-Training High" Altitude/Hypoxic Methods. Frontiers in sports and active living, 2, 26. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.00026
Greiwe, J., Gruenke, J., & Zeiger, J. S. (2022). The impact of mental toughness and postural abnormalities on dysfunctional breathing in athletes. Journal of Asthma, 59(4), 730-738. https://doi.org/10.1080/02770903.2021.1871739
Grzebisz-Zatońska, N., Poprzęcki, S., Stanula, A., Sadowska-Krępa, E., & Gerasimuk, D. (2022). Physiological and somatic principal components determining vo2max in the annual training cycle of endurance athletes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 3951. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073951
Hair, J.F., Hult, G.T.M., Ringle, C.M., Sarstedt, M. (2017) A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). 2nd ed, Sage Publications Inc.
Hall, J. E., Guyton, A.C., Cuculici, G.P., Gheorghiu, A.W. (2018). Treatise on the physiology of man: Guyton and Hall. 13th ed.. Callisto Medical Publishing House.
Hamlin, M. J., Lizamore, C. A., & Hopkins, W. G. (2018). The Effect of natural or simulated altitude training on high-intensity intermittent running performance in team-sport athletes: A meta-analysis. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(2), 431–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-017-0809-9
Harbour, E., Stöggl, T., Schwameder, H., & Finkenzeller, T. (2022). Breath tools: a synthesis of evidence-based breathing strategies to enhance human running. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 813243. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.813243
Kelley, E. F., Cross, T. J., & Johnson, B. D. (2022). Inspiratory threshold loading negatively impacts attentional performance. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 959515.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.959515
Lemieux, P., & Birot, O. (2021). Altitude, exercise, and skeletal muscle angio-adaptive responses to hypoxia: a complex story. Frontiers in Physiology, 12, 735557.https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.735557
Li, C., Humayun, M., Walker, G. M., Park, K. Y., Connors, B., Feng, J., Pelliteri Hahn, M. C., Scarlett, C. O., Li, J., Feng, Y., Clark, R. L., Hefti, H., Schrope, J., Venturelli, O. S., & Beebe, D. J. (2022). Under‐oil autonomously regulated oxygen microenvironments: a goldilocks principle‐based approach for microscale cell culture. Advanced Science, 9(10), 2104510.https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202104510
López-García, S., Muriel-Isidro, J., Ruibal-Lista, B., Maneiro, R., & Amatria-Jiménez, M. (2022). Review of the organizational structures of the trail running, skyrunning and mountain running modalities in Spain. Sustainability, 14(19), 12401. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912401
Lukanova-Jakubowska, A., Piechota, K., Grzywacz, T., Ambroży, T., Rydzik, Ł., & Ozimek, M. (2022). The impact of four high-altitude training camps on the aerobic capacity of a short track pyeongchang 2018 olympian: A case study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7), 3814. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073814
Mancera-Soto, E. M., Ramos-Caballero, D. M., Rojas J, J. A., Duque, L., Chaves-Gomez, S., Cristancho-Mejía, E., & Schmidt, W. F. (2022). Hemoglobin Mass, Blood Volume and VO2max of Trained and Untrained Children and Adolescents Living at Different Altitudes. Frontiers in physiology, 13, 892247. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.892247
Mongin, D., Chabert, C., Extremera, M. G., Hue, O., Courvoisier, D. S., Carpena, P., & Galvan, P. A. B. (2022). Decrease of heart rate variability during exercise: An index of cardiorespiratory fitness. Plos one, 17(9), e0273981. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273981
Mujika, I., Sharma, A. P., & Stellingwerff, T. (2019). Contemporary periodization of altitude training for elite endurance athletes: a narrative review. Sports medicine, 49, 1651-1669. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01165-y
Pardo Albiach, J., Mir-Jimenez, M., Hueso Moreno, V., Nácher Moltó, I., & Martínez-Gramage, J. (2021). The relationship between VO2max, power management, and increased running speed: towards gait pattern recognition through clustering analysis. Sensors, 21(7), 2422. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21072422
Patel, P. N., & Zwibel, H. (2022). Physiology, Exercise. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
Pilotto, A. M., Adami, A., Mazzolari, R., Brocca, L., Crea, E., Zuccarelli, L., Pellegrino, M. A., Bottinelli, R., Grassi, B., Rossiter, H. B., & Porcelli, S. (2022). Near‐infrared spectroscopy estimation of combined skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and O2 diffusion capacity in humans. The Journal of Physiology, 600(18), 4153-4168.https://doi.org/10.1113/JP283267
Płoszczyca, K., Langfort, J., & Czuba, M. (2018). The effects of altitude training on erythropoietic response and hematological variables in adult athletes: a narrative review. Frontiers in physiology, 9, 375. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00375
Pühringer, R., Gatterer, H., Berger, M., Said, M., Faulhaber, M., & Burtscher, M. (2022). Does moderate altitude affect VO2max in acclimatized mountain guides? High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 23(1), 37-42. https://doi.org/10.1089/ham.2021.0081
Radak, Z., Zhao, Z., Koltai, E., Ohno, H., & Atalay, M. (2013). Oxygen consumption and usage during physical exercise: the balance between oxidative stress and ROS-dependent adaptive signaling. Antioxidants & redox signaling, 18(10), 1208-1246. https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2011.4498
Sarstedt, M., Hair, J. F., Pick, M., Liengaard, B. D., Radomir, L., & Ringle, C. M. (2022). Progress in partial least squares structural equation modeling use in marketing research in the last decade. Psychology & Marketing, 39(5), 1035-1064.https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21640
Selinger, J. C., Hicks, J. L., Jackson, R. W., Wall-Scheffler, C. M., Chang, D., & Delp, S. L. (2022). Running in the wild: Energetics explain ecological running speeds. Current Biology, 32(10), 2309-2315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.03.076
Sinex, J. A., & Chapman, R. F. (2015). Hypoxic training methods for improving endurance exercise performance. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 4(4), 325-332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2015.07.005
Storz, J. F., & Scott, G. R. (2019). Life ascending: mechanism and process in physiological adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 50, 503-526. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110218-025014
Sullivan, J. M., & Gorlin, R. (1967). Effect of 1-epinephrine on the coronary circulation in human subjects with and without coronary artery disease. Circulation Research, 21(6), 919-924. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.RES.21.6.919
Thompson, P. D., Arena, R., Riebe, D., Pescatello, L. S., & American College of Sports Medicine (2013). ACSM's new preparticipation health screening recommendations from ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription, ninth edition. Current sports medicine reports, 12(4), 215–217. https://doi.org/10.1249/JSR.0b013e31829a68cf
Toyomura, J., Mori, H., Tayashiki, K., Yamamoto, M., Kanehisa, H., & Maeo, S. (2018). Efficacy of downhill running training for improving muscular and aerobic performances. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 43(4), 403-410.https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2017-0538
Vilcant, V., & Zeltser, R. (2023). Treadmill stress testing. StatPearls Publishing.
WMRA events and membership https://www.wmra.ch/about-us/documents
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 The Authors & LUMEN Publishing House
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant this journalright of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work, with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as an earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Revista Romaneasca pentru Educatie Multidimensionala Journal has an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
CC BY-NC-ND
