Powering up your cycling performance, with hypoxic training
Here at The Altitude Centre, we have seen first hand the benefits that training at altitude can provide for health and wellbeing, acclimatisation, and sporting performance. But we wanted to find a way of showing you just how much of a difference it can make to your sporting performance, in just 6 weeks…
Now don’t think we haven’t seen the flaws in this case study. We know that it’s not scientifically controlled, but that’s not what the team at Bike Radar were looking for. They wanted to see first hand, and show you guys, in a fun and informative way how training at altitude (via home rentals, or at ourCity HQ) can help boost your numbers on the bike.
So how did they do it? The team at Bike Radar got in touch to see how it could be done. We knew the answer to their question, so we offered to give them the chance to try out a block of 6-weeks of altitude training from home with our rental kits, in conjunction with their usual rides, to see what sort of performance gains could be made.
The Testing
As you’ll hear in the video below, we took Joe through a few of the tests we complete during our Power Profiling service, testing his 20-minute Threshold (FTP), his 5s max power, and some 30s repeated wingates to test anaerobic capacity!
This one is a workout in itself, so fresh legs are definitely recommended (Joe can vouch for that!)
The Results
Name: Joe Norledge
Pre-Training
Weight: 63 Kg
Sea level FTP: 324W (5.14 W/Kg)
Altitude FTP:286W (4.53 W/Kg)
Post-Training
Weight: 63 Kg
Sea level FTP: 354W (5.62 W/Kg) – A whopping 9.3% improvement over 6 weeks, and a new personal best!
Altitude FTP: 310W (4.92 W/Kg) – Joe also saw an 8.4% improvement in his altitude FTP!
As the results show, Joe hit some dizzy heights, with a new 20-min PB on the sea level FTP test, suggesting that the added stimulus of training at altitude helped to take him further than he has ever gone before!
We also saw very similar performance improvements from our in house case study, and Joe’s results only strengthen the evidence on show!
Train Like Joe!
If you’d like to train like Joe, and see how we can take your performance to the next level by training at 2700m, book in for our Power Profile and get yourself in the chamber to see the results!
Power Profile includes:
– Pre-Testing at The Altitude Centre
– Post-Testing at The Altitude Centre
– FTP Testing
– 6s Max Power
– 3-min Threshold power
– Anaerobic Capacity
– Fatigue Index
From the Profile we can identify your strengths and weaknesses, and provide training recommendations to improve each score!
If training at our London HQ in the chamber isn’t possible, why not give one of our rentals a go like Joe!
The Gold standard technique for altitude training, has always been thought to involve sleeping at altitude. You can maintain your training intensity at sea level, while gaining the physiological benefits that sleeping at altitude provides. Unfortunately, logistically that just isn’t as easy to complete as it may sound – I mean, we can’t all take a 3-4 week holiday in the mountains just for training now, can we! But the good news is that huge performance benefits are there to be had from training at altitude – so you don’t necessarily need 3-4 weeks in the mountains to take your performance, quite literally, to the next level.
Here at The Altitude Centre we do provide Sleep systems, for rental or for purchase, to allow you to sleep at altitude in the comfort of your own home.
If you’re unsure of what system, or type of training is best for you and your event, please get in touch on 020 7193 1626, or drop us an email to [email protected]!
#AimHighTrainHigh
