Have been wondering about this for a while. Is there any benefit for a runner to live at altitude if he is on EPO? In other words - is it safe to assume that runners like Ryan Hall or the Kenyans who live at altitude don't do EPO (not talking about other drugs).
Also noticed that in the first half of the 2000's, when LA won his TdF titles, he never trained at altitude, during his comback (when EPO testing become more prevalent) he went to Colorado for training.
Yeah, go ahead and assume that.
It's probably not a safe assumption. However, it is not a safe assumption to think that altitude training increases red blool cell count, or that this is necessary to improve performance.
No, bad assumption.
The Eddie Hallebuych EPO article a few months ago talked specifically about althetes getting and using EPO at Albuquerque, NM. Albuquerque is at 5,300 ft.
$ bills wrote:
No, bad assumption.
The Eddie Hallebuych EPO article a few months ago talked specifically about althetes getting and using EPO at Albuquerque, NM. Albuquerque is at 5,300 ft.
5,300 feet does not qualify as altitude training.
Altitude Training wrote:
Have been wondering about this for a while. Is there any benefit for a runner to live at altitude if he is on EPO? In other words - is it safe to assume that runners like Ryan Hall or the Kenyans who live at altitude don't do EPO (not talking about other drugs).
Also noticed that in the first half of the 2000's, when LA won his TdF titles, he never trained at altitude, during his comback (when EPO testing become more prevalent) he went to Colorado for training.
If this is a serious question you are remarkably uninformed.
Ideally, one trains at altitude and uses EPO (and other drugs, but esp, EPO or variants thereof).
2nd best is simply using EPO.
Far, far behind is training at altitude.
Training at altitude while doping became a lot more important when drug testing for EPO was introduced. That forced people like LA to use smaller doses of EPO and compensate by using blood doping, which benefits far more from altitude training.
lol lol lol lol wrote:
If this is a serious question you are remarkably uninformed.
Ideally, one trains at altitude and uses EPO (and other drugs, but esp, EPO or variants thereof).
Yes, serious question.
Why? I always thought that training at altitude gives you the same benefits as EPO but altitude makes training harder, i.e. you can't run that fast. Why would they combine both?
Altitude Training wrote:
I always thought that training at altitude gives you the same benefits as EPO but altitude makes training harder, i.e. you can't run that fast. Why would they combine both?
A couple of reasons.
First of all, the fact that altitude makes training harder can be a very good thing for runners, as one can achieve the cardiovascular benefits of training while imposing less mechanical stress on the body.
Second, living at altitude can presumably improve all the systems that allow one to extract O2 from blood and use it efficiently--capillarization, enzymes, etc. Increased hematocrit is the most important adaptation, but not the only one.