Many multi-speciality gyms these days are fashioned with a single floor placed on a higher plane. Hence, the oxygen level decreases in that zone which in turn enables an exerciser to lose calories at a greater rate. Experts say that high altitude training is an interesting regime to include in one’s daily fitness diary.
High altitude training
In fact high altitude training is not a new trend. It was first used by Olympians to improve their anaerobic (without or less presence of oxygen) capacities.
When we do high intensity training, there is a lot of oxygen demand and the supply is less. This leads to an oxygen debt and to counter this situation, the body uses up glycogen which is stored in our muscles. So, the higher the glycogen, the more is the anaerobic threshold.
We experience less oxygen as we climb higher. A similar condition can also be created in an exercise studio and high altitude training is quite a trendsetter on this score. More and more people are being attracted towards this training method.
The best way to incorporate this training is to plan periodic cycles with the help of a fitness professional and then after a couple of months, switch over to some other form of workout only to repeat it again.
Incidentally, there are no specific exercises in high altitude training, this is because it’s done with the help of cardio machines like the treadmill, the elliptical etc. Applied in a controlled room with low oxygen levels, there are no free-hand exercises in this method of training as it’s extremely important to record how many calories one can burn, the heart rate and other such details with the aid of machines.
Mostly a treadmill or a cross trainer is used to assist in this training. If you can’t access a low oxygen chamber, then make do with a normal treadmill or a cross trainer. You can do interval training to help you to reach your anaerobic threshold. For example, sprint for 60 to 90 seconds and then jog for 90 to 120 seconds. Recover your heart rate and repeat the cycle for 40 minutes.
In resistance training, you may select exercises like squats, lunges and calf raises. Do four sets of each exercise out of which, two sets can be performed for eight to 10 reps and the remaining two sets for 30 to 40 reps.
Note that any resistance training exercise has to be done under strict supervision and so the resistance has to be adjusted accordingly.
Advantages
It increases red blood cells and VO2 max (The amount of oxygen consumed).
It is a good change in the training routine to challenge one’s muscle power.
It’s a good way to boost the body metabolism
Disadvantages
If you are training with resistance and your rep range varies from six to eight reps, then you are already increasing your anaerobic threshold. In that case, this training will not be very useful for you.
This type of training has shown a lot of negative effects on the immune system as it increases the stress hormone cortisol which is an indicator of overtraining.
People with medical conditions will not be able to undergo this routine.
