Colin Griffin ‘Altitude Training Centre in Ireland’

1. The Altitude Centre Ireland

2. • Leading Altitude specialist company in the UK
and Ireland
• Clients include: UK Athletics, English FA,
English RFU, Liverpool FC, Manchester City FC,
Tottenham Hotspur FC, The Brownlee brothers
• An innovator in the world of simulated
altitude training for both acclimatisation,
performance and rehab purposes.

3. Altitude & Hypoxia
What is altitude & Where does it start?
• Low altitude:1250m (4,000ft)
• Moderate altitude : 1250-3000m (4,000-10,000ft)
• High altitude: 3000-6000m (10,000-20,000ft)
• Severe altitude: 6000m+ (20,000ft+)

4. Altitude & Hypoxia
At Altitude:
• Less oxygen is taken up by the body
• The body has to work harder
• The body is under greater STRESS
• Over time the body adapts to withstand the stress
What is hypoxia:
Inadequate supply of oxygen to respiring tissue (Kent 1998)

5. Altitude & Hypoxia
The result:
• Increases in haemoglobin (Hb) and thus in the blood’s
ability to carry oxygen
• Higher efficiency in the respiratory gas transfer in the
lungs
• Increases in peripheral use of oxygen in the muscles.

6. How do we simulate altitude?

7. Simulated altitude technology
Sleep System
Exercise mask system Intermittent Hypoxic Exposure (IHE)

8. Simulated altitude technology
• Create a hypoxic environment in a room, chamber
• Suitable for gyms, house, universities, hospitals

9. Our Products
• Manufactured by Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems
• Patented technology (European Patent EP0959862 )
• Full Product liability and 3 year warranty
• Sole Distributer of Hypoxico manufactured products in the
UK and Ireland

10. Patented technology

11. 2 key altitude projects in Ireland
The Altitude House - Residential The Altitude Gym – Simulated
altitude training facility at the altitude training facility at Delta
University of Limerick Sports Dome in Limerick

12. The Altitude House at University of Limerick

13. Just a normal house inside

14. The Altitude House
• Research Facility – UL Education & Health Science Faculty
(Professor Phil Jakeman)

15. The Altitude Gym

16. The Altitude Gym
• Irelands first and only simulated altitude training
facility
• 9m x 4m chamber
• Capacity for 15 users
• Spin, Crossfit, Boxfit classes
• Personal Training
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pre-acclimatization sessions

17. The Altitude Gym

18. The Altitude Centre Ireland Team
• Richard Pullan – Director
• Colin Griffin - Director (Ireland)
• Rachel Turner – Altitude Performance
Specialist & Altitude House Co-ordinator
(University of Limerick)
• Andrew O’Neill – Sports Scientist, S&C Coach
(Delta Sports Dome)

19. Health
Sport
Mountaineering

20. Mountaineering
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is the effect of high altitude on humans caused
by acute exposure to altitude. Commonly occurring above 2,400 metres
Mild AMS
• Headaches//fatigue//stomach upset//nausea//pins &
needles
Moderate AMS
• Severe headaches//vomiting//decreased coordination
(ataxia)
Severe AMS
• Shortness of breath at rest//inability to walk//decreasing
mental status//fluid build up in the lungs//Impaired cognitive
function

21. Mountaineering
• AMS susceptibility consultation
• Pre-acclimatize
• IHE (Intermittent hypoxic exposure)
• IHT (Intermittent hypoxic training)
• Sleep system
• Provide advice and resources for successful
summit

22. Sport
• Endurance
• Speed/Power
• Rehabilitation

23. Approaches to Altitude training

24. Live High Train Low (LHTL)
Sleeping at simulated altitude

25. Live High Train Low (LHTL)
• Provides the benefits of altitude (cardiovascular and
metabolic)
• Avoid the need for decreased training intensity associated
with LHTH strategies
• Avoid the negative effects of chronic exposure
• Low is typically <1250m and high is moderate altitude
(1250-3000m)

26. Simulated v Natural Altitude
• Moving from high to low altitude places
stress on athletes and can cause fatigue
• Technical developments in altitude simulation
equipment (oxygen extraction; altitude tents)
avoids the above problem

27. LHTL – Haematological benefits
• Increased levels of EPO
• Increased levels of Hb
 Levine et al (1991) Stray-Gunderson et al (1998)
 Both studies were 27 days in length.
 Training at 1250 and living at 2500
• Research into this form of training has suggested that an
optimum hypoxic dose is required to achieve benefits
 12hrs/day at 2500m for 3 weeks (Clark et al 2009)
 Can be achieved by sleeping in an altitude tent or chamber.
 Adaptations have been reported to last for 2 weeks after LHTL (Burgniaux et
al 2006)

28. LHTL – Non-Haematological benefits
Exercise economy
Decreased oxygen cost of ventilation
Increased CHO oxidation
Improved lactate exchange and removal
Improved muscle buffering capacity

29. LHTL – Performance benefits
• Improvements of 1-1.5% in events between 45s-17min (Hahn
et al 2001; Gore et al 2007)
• 1.1% increase in 3000m time & 3% increase in VO2max in
those living at 2500m and training at 1250m (Levine at al
1991)
• Improved sea level performance (velocity at VO2max and at
ventilatory threshold) in those training 1250m and living at
2500m for 4 weeks compared to those training and living at
sea level (Levine & Stray-Gunderson 1997)
• Also, improved 5 km performance time lasted for 3weeks
post LHTL

30. LHTL – My own experience
• A good responder to altitude
 April 22nd 2012 Hb 14.5 Hct 43% May 10th 2012 Hb 16.4 Hct 47.5%
 21 days at 2500m-3600m in the Altitude house
 15 hours exposure per day
 4.30 per km 1.2 mmol 4.20 per km 1.1 mmol
 May 13th IAAF World Cup: 3.52.55- second fastest time ever (32 degs heat) and
Olympic qualification
 Use pre and post altitude training camp and right up until 48 hours before
competition
• As a coach?

31. LHTL Summary
Proposals for LHTL (Hahn 2001)
• Optimal altitude for erythropoetic effect – 2200-2500m
• Optimal altitude for non-haematological parameters –
3100m
• Optimal duration 4 weeks for erythropoesis
• Less than 3 weeks for beneficial peripheral adaptations
• Minimum dose for simulated erythropoesis – 12h/day
• For peripheral adaptations much shorter exposure
seems possible.

32. Live Low Train High

33. LLTH
• At sea-level (normoxia) the body is close to
100% saturated (SpO2) with oxygen
• In order to receive a benefit from simulated
altitude training, the SpO2 must drop bellow
92%
 Triggers physiological and muscular adaptations
which can enhance athletes conditioning

34. LLTH - Conditioning
• Increase in run time to exhaustion of up to 35% over
6 week period (Dufour et al. 2006)
• 2 hours a day IHT at 2500m for 10 days had up to
7% greater increase in VO2 max and mean maximal
power output compared to those doing same
training at sea-level (Meeuwsen et al. 2001)
• Up to 21% increase number of sprints to exhaustion
in RSA test. Subjects did 7 x 10 sec sprints x 3 sets
for 4 weeks at 3000m. (Faiss 2012)

35. LLTH - Strength
• Resistance training under hypoxic conditions
improves muscle strength and induces muscle
hypertrophy faster than under normoxic conditions
(Nishimura et al. 2010)
• Muscle de-oxygenation that occurs in hypoxia
increases rate of metabolite/growth hormone
anabolic accumulation which in turn increases
motor neuron recruitment(Kon al. 2010)
• Rate of phosphocreatine (Pcr) hydrolysis is faster in
hypoxia than in normoxia (Katayma et al. 2011)

36. Hypoxia for Rehabilitation

37. Hypoxia for Rehabilitation
• Hypoxia increases capillarization and blood flow (Rowell et. al,
1996)
• Many reports of increased Osteoblast (Warren et. al, 2001) and
testosterone (Guey-Shyang Hwang, 2009) activity
• Anecdotal reports by Sports Doctors indicate quicker bone healing
time utilising hypoxic training during rehabilitation.
• There is a requirement for further research in this area.
• LLTH for injury rehabilitation:
• Reduce muscoskeletal load while achieving fitness stimulus
• Maintain optimal body weight whilst injured
• Minimise fitness and time lost to injury

38. Hypoxic training for Team Sports
Emerging evidence that hypoxic training can provide benefits in
the following areas:
1. Speed endurance
2. Strength development
3. Concurrent training gains
4. Injury Rehabilitation

39. Hypoxic training for Team sports
• Mid field players regularly cover distances in
excess of 10 km in a game
• The endurance required to cope with this will
require a large aerobic capacity
• Players still need to be explosive to compete for
aerial balls and make important tackles

40. Hypoxic Training for Team Sports
• British Premier League and UEFA competitions
result in high frequency of matches
• Large squads to rotate players in order to manage
fitness, fatigue and injuries but key players will be
required more often
• Support staff strive to find ways to minimise fatigue
and injuries while maximising fitness and readiness

41. Health
Potential benefits/uses of simulated altitude in medicine:
• Treatment of spinal cord injuries
 Altitude shown to stimulate nerve growth
• Treatment of EI asthma
• Treatment of heart failure
• Treatment of diabetes
 Glucose metabolism

42. Health & Safety
• Risk Assessment:
• Pre-Altitude Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAARQ) prior to use
of facility
• Further examination by qualified physician if required
• Physiological Monitoring
• Heart rate
• Oxygen Saturation Percentage (SpO2)
• Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE)

43. Day Training Course in Hypoxia and hypoxic training
Day Training Course
REPs Level 2 Accreditation
8.30 - 9.00 am Registration
09.00 - 09.10 am Welcome and Introduction
09.10 - 10.30 am Lecture 1 : The scientific basis for hypoxic training
10.30 - 10.45 am Tea - Coffee Break
Lecture 2 : The physiological response to hypoxic
10.45 - 12.00 pm
training
12.00 - 12.45 pm Lunch (Provided)
Technical session 1: The practical application of
12.45 – 14.30 pm
hypoxic training
Technical session 2: Design and Implementation of
14.30 - 15.30 pm
a hypoxic training programme
15.30 – 15.45 pm Feedback/ Q&A / Closing Remarks
15.45pm Close and Certificates

44. Summary
• Simulated altitude provides a safe cost and time effective substitute for a
natural altitude training camp
• Can help prolong or enhance benefits of altitude for several weeks upon
return from a training camp or in between competition
• Used to pre-acclimatize for a trip to high altitude
• Mountaineering
• Altitude training camp
• Competition at altitude venue
• Benefits not just limited to endurance sports – team sports, S&C, Speed
oriented sports/events
• Useful tool for injury rehabilitation
• Uses in Health and Medical fields

45. Acknowledgements
Rachel Turner, Harvey Galvin