Altitude training = Running in heat?

Wouldnt the person trained in heat just think 55 degrees is too cold to run in? I suck at running in the cold so i could see this being a bad thing.

Benji Durden posted something on this, I remember. Something about how heat acclimitization training (he trained in sweats in Atlanta!) mimics effects at altitude.

My feeling (not supported by facts) is that running in heat would increase your mental toughness rather than your physical endurance. Does anyone know if there are any physical adaptations that would occur from running in heat? I imagine that it would just make you tired more quickly. That could make you tougher OR not allow you to reap the same benefits that you could from training for the same amount of time in cooler conditions. ie. You wouldn't be running as fast/far for a one hour run as you would if you were in cooler conditions.

Dweez wrote:

Benji Durden posted something on this, I remember. Something about how heat acclimitization training (he trained in sweats in Atlanta!) mimics effects at altitude.

Durden then knows nothing about altitude or heat acclimation.

Part of the acclimation process to heat is to expand plasma volume; altitude (at least initially) does just the opposite while potentially increasing red cell count/mass.

Mtn Dew wrote:

Altitude running helps one run with less oxygen.

Wrong. As long as we assume that this hypothetical runner is not in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the oxygen content does not vary with altitude. That's right: the depths of Death Valley and the summit of Mt. Everest have the same concentration of oxygen (~20.93%). It is the partial pressure of oxygen that decreases with altitude.

P,O2 = P,barometric * O2 concentration

This is a common mistake. It amazes me how many people who claim to know about altitude training believe this fallacy.

running in heat helps your body become more efficient at cooling itself off which wil help you out no matter where you run

absolute nonsense wrote:

Mtn Dew wrote:

Altitude running helps one run with less oxygen.

Wrong. As long as we assume that this hypothetical runner is not in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the oxygen content does not vary with altitude. That's right: the depths of Death Valley and the summit of Mt. Everest have the same concentration of oxygen (~20.93%). It is the partial pressure of oxygen that decreases with altitude.

P,O2 = P,barometric * O2 concentration

This is a common mistake. It amazes me how many people who claim to know about altitude training believe this fallacy.

Ignoring YOUR ignorance implying that I know about altitude training (which I don't), can you explain why altitude training works?

Wrong. As long as we assume that this hypothetical runner is not in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the oxygen content does not vary with altitude. That's right: the depths of Death Valley and the summit of Mt. Everest have the same concentration of oxygen (~20.93%). It is the partial pressure of oxygen that decreases with altitude.

P,O2 = P,barometric * O2 concentration

This is a common mistake. It amazes me how many people who claim to know about altitude training believe this fallacy.[/quote]

Where did anyone say that the relative [] of oxygen decreases as one goes up in altitude? What I think people are talking about is something that you basically acknowledge above- that there is less oxygen per liter of air respired at altitude due to the decreased partial pressure of the gas. Hence, training at altitude requires that you perform in an oxygen depleted environment.

Mtn Dew wrote:

absolute nonsense wrote:

Wrong. As long as we assume that this hypothetical runner is not in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the oxygen content does not vary with altitude. That's right: the depths of Death Valley and the summit of Mt. Everest have the same concentration of oxygen (~20.93%). It is the partial pressure of oxygen that decreases with altitude.

P,O2 = P,barometric * O2 concentration

This is a common mistake. It amazes me how many people who claim to know about altitude training believe this fallacy.

Ignoring YOUR ignorance implying that I know about altitude training (which I don't), can you explain why altitude training works?

altitude training works specifically because the partial pressure of oxygen is less. it has nothing to do with the oxygen content. the partial pressue effects the amount of binding that oxygen will do to hemoglobin. less pressure = less binding, thus you will able to carry less O2 in your blood. as you live, and work out at higher altitudes, your body has a number of compensation mechanisms to deal with the less oxygen that is presented to it. one of those adaptions is to increased the amount of hemoglobin - by stimulating EPO to make more red blood cells.

training at altitude per se may not be the best thing. you'll be making more EPO, and thus more RBC, but the quality of training you are doing might be lessened, and hurt your overall fitness.

thus the live-high, train-low, theory.