Rethink needed over how altitude affects athletes

5 June 2015

Rethink needed over how altitude affects athletes

An athlete’s performance may be affected by altitude at a level hundreds of metres lower what was previously thought, a new study suggests.

Lincoln University Associate Professor Mike Hamlin was one of the authors of the “Effects of altitude on performance of elite track-and-field athletes” which examined 132,104 performances of 1889 athletes at 794 venues.

He presented the data last week at the American College of Sports Medicine in San Diego.

Bob Beamon soaring through the thin air of Mexico City, at 2000 metres above sea level, to set a world long jump record at the 1968 Olympics highlighted the effects of altitude on performance.

Altitude has also become part of training as athletes seek high venues to encourage their bodies to produce more oxygen carrying blood cells to improve performance back on the flat.

However Associate Professor Hamlin says just when those effects kick in may need to be revisited.

In middle-and long-distance runners altitudes as low as 150-299m can impair performance.

“They start to get substantial decreases in longer distance running performance at altitudes as low as 300-600m,” he says.

“Most would have thought that this would not happen until much higher altitudes like 1000m.”

Results indicate that altitudes as low as 500-999m provide a small beneficial effect on 100-400m running performance in men, while beneficial effects were clear for women’s sprinting only at altitudes of 1500m and above.

Field events varied.

“Hammer throw performance for men was likely to be enhanced to a small degree at altitudes between 500 to 1499 m while venues at 1000 m or more above sea-level have a small but clear impairment on discus throwing ability in men, he says, as the discus loses lift.

It could also affect training choices.

“All the research to date suggest that if you want to use altitude to improve performance you need to go to altitudes of at least 2000m up to 2800m, but this research indicates something is happening at much lower altitudes and so you may not have to go as high as previously thought.”

The findings had other implications.

Athletes, coaches and administrators should be aware of the potential for such performance change with variations in the altitudes of athletic venues.

“If you were a triple or long jumper, hammer thrower, or sprinter and wanted to set a world record in your sport you could choose a meet that was at altitude because altitude has a positive effect on these events generally through decrease air density,” he says.

However if you were a middle to long distance runner you would want to avoid performing at any altitude above about 300m as altitude has a detrimental effect on these performances, probably through the reduction of oxygen available to the athletes.

He says the results of this study would also appear to confirm athletics statistician’s practice of designating performances achieved at altitudes of more than 1000m with an “A” to indicate the performance was achieved at altitude, with respect to women’s sprints, men’s and women’s triple and long jump.

“However reconsideration of this designation is required in other events due to a beneficial effect occurring at a lower altitude in men’s 100 and 400m sprints, and men’s hammer throw,” he adds.

Ends

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