Is altitude training completely legal?

Question

I've been told that athletes are only allowed to spend so long training at altitude a year. Is this true? Also, where is a good place for altitude training?

Answer 1

i thought it was completely legal

but if your not sure, try and find something on google

Answer 2

why do you think that the kenyans and ethiopians are way ahead of everyone in middle distance running, they live in the high altitudes, it's natural for them

Answer 3

Altitude training should be done under supervision by a trained professional. Because of the amount of oxygen available at higher altitudes.

Answer 4

Altitude training is legal.  The only restriction I've heard is that atltiude tents aren't permitted at the Olympics.

The current theory is to live at altitude but train at sea level. i.e. your body acclimatizes to living at altitude but you return to sea level for training because it is still possible to do harder workouts at sea level.  The ideal location is one where you live at 6000 to 7000 feet but then have access to training facilities at sea level or no higher than 3000 feet.  Jack Daniels, a big proponent of altitude training, believes that Flagstaff, AZ is the best place in the US for altititude training.

See http://home.nau.edu/highaltitude/

However, many top athletes train at Mamouth Lakes, CA.  Colorado is also a popular destination.

Instead of moving, some athletes live at sea level and purchase an altitude chamber. Alberto Salazar has a high altitude house in Oregon. The runners there sleep at night with reduced oxygen to simulate high altitude.  They use systems like.

http://www.higherpeak.com/index.html

http://www.altitudetraining.com/

The reality is that unless you are an Olympic athlete looking for the last .5% of improvement, you do not need to do altitude training.  Research has shown that about half the runners respond positive to altitude training and get maybe a 1% improvement.

For more information.  See

http://www.sportsci.org/traintech/altitu...

Answer 5

I know Olympic swimmers spend time in Los Alamos,NM.  It's at roughly 7500' altitude.  They use the Larry Walkup Aquatic Center (the name may be a little bit off, but that's what I've always heard it called) because they have an Olympic sized pool.  I imagine runners & bicyclists would use the Santa Fe (7000')/Los Alamos area for training because of the mountains.  The thinner air builds up the red blood cells which increase endurance.