🤔 I have done my PhD on the effects of altitude training on exercise performance. While sleeping for weeks at altitude, but training near sea level might be a good strategy to boost performance (live high, train low), I have always been very sceptical about the other approach; live low, train high. With this approach the training sessions are done at altitude, but the athlete sleeps at sea level. We never found any beneficial effects and overall data is inconclusive.
👉 Anyways, this does not mean that changes in the environment where the athlete trains cannot affect performance.
💡 Take a look at this classic heat acclimatization study. Well-trained cyclists had to train for only 10-days in the heat or cold. Before and after different physiological and performance parameters were meticulously tested.
👀 The athletes who trained in the heat increased maximal oxygen uptake AND time-trail performance. The athletes who did the same training, but in the cold, did not improve. Impressive if you ask me. Later studies have confirmed these results.
✅ I you want to have an edge, consider training in the heat.
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Full read: PMID: 20724560
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