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If you frequently follow sports news, you might notice headlines like the following appearing from time to time:

Yunnan builds China's largest high-altitude football training base

Chinese men's basketball team gathers and heads to Kunming for high-altitude training

Rowing team heads to Huize, Yunnan for high-altitude winter training for the seventh time

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Seeing this, you might start to wonder

High-altitude? What's special about high-altitude?

Why do athletes all rush there?

Actually, for some top endurance athletes both domestically and internationally, heading to high-altitude areas for training before major competitions is quite common. It's no exaggeration to say that they are either at high-altitude or on their way there.

For example, take the following athlete:

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A quick search on Baidu shows there are over 2,700 news articles about Sun Yang's high-altitude training, and the interval between his last two high-altitude training sessions was less than six months.

So why do these top-level athletes prefer high-altitude training? What benefits does high-altitude training bring? In this issue of 'Unexpectedly,' Let's Go will explore this topic with everyone.

What is high-altitude training?

High-altitude training refers to athletes choosing to train for several weeks in high-altitude areas, typically between 1,500 meters and 2,400 meters above sea level. Some countries have even established specialized high-altitude training bases in these areas and consider high-altitude training an important method before major competitions.

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The origin of high-altitude training

The origin of high-altitude training dates back to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The host city was at an altitude of 2,240 meters. As the competition progressed, people quickly noticed that athletes in short-distance events, which rely on explosive power, performed as expected, with some even breaking world records. In contrast, most long-distance athletes couldn't showcase their true abilities and performed poorly.

People began to speculate that this was due to the high altitude of Mexico City: endurance events were significantly affected, while short-distance sprint events were not negatively impacted and even saw slight performance improvements. This speculation was soon confirmed.

Benefits of high-altitude training

The excellent performance of short-distance athletes at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics was mainly attributed to the reduced air resistance in high-altitude areas. The poor performance of long-distance athletes was due to the reduced maximum oxygen uptake. At high altitudes, as atmospheric pressure decreases, the partial pressure of oxygen in the air also decreases, meaning less oxygen is available for your body to use. When athletes compete or train in such environments, their breathing rate and heart rate increase, affecting their performance.

However, if you stay in such an environment for a long time, your body will start to work harder to adapt. When your body realizes that the oxygen level is not what it is used to, it begins to produce more red blood cells to transport oxygen to your muscles. Your kidneys release a hormone called erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production. The increase in red blood cells helps to raise the maximum oxygen uptake, allowing your body to obtain and use the maximum amount of oxygen during intense exercise.

Top athletes, after adapting to high altitudes, gain more red blood cells, enabling their blood to carry more oxygen. When they compete at lower altitudes, the extra oxygen available naturally enhances their muscle strength.

Additionally, due to changes in athletes' breathing rate and heart rate, some of the oxygen dissolved in the blood vessels is less easily absorbed by the body due to low air pressure. This causes blood vessel volume to increase, blood vessels to dilate, and vessel walls to thicken, allowing more blood to pass through, thereby better training the cardiovascular system of the athletes.

Understanding the above knowledge and principles, it's no surprise why middle and long-distance runners from Kenya and Ethiopia are so formidable:Both countries are located on the East African Plateau, at altitudes between 1,500 and 2,500 meters, where the air is relatively thin. Athletes who train in such environments for long periods naturally have higher endurance than athletes from other regions when they compete at lower altitudes..

Although high-altitude training changes athletes' physiological competitive advantages, some athletes who require specific skills cannot systematically train at high altitudes. Therefore, some athletes with the means choose to live and sleep at high altitudes but train at lower altitudes.

To facilitate better training for athletes, there is also specialized equipment that simulates high-altitude environments.

High-altitude training mask:This equipment is now quite common in some gyms,The high-altitude training mask provides a certain amount of air resistance, making you exert more effort to inhale, thereby training your lung muscles,enhancing lung capacity, diaphragm strength, and increasing cardiac load..

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They are also available for sale on Taobao.

Hypoxic sleeping chamber:This is designed to allow athletes to experience 'high-altitude living, low-altitude training,' but it might be more aptly called a tent.

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Finally, Let's Go warmly reminds all dear winter fans not to rush to high-altitude areas for intense training after reading this article. We are not professional athletes and do not have specialized coaches to guide us. It's better to gradually improve step by step.

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