Tennis Lessons: Altitude Training for Tennis

Is altitude training a good thing for tennis?

In my recent article 'Roger Federer Makes Some Incredible Revelations at the Italian Open!' I expressed some astonishment at Roger Federers declarations in Rome and questioned the course his career and training methods are taking. That was not unfounded and here I will explain, why?

To find out if there are any palpable advantages to altitude training for tennis, we need first to understand, what is altitude training?

In basic terms altitude training starts at 2000 m and above, where there is less oxygen, it is a serious challenge to athletes but, it may not pose a threat to individuals just walking and not exercising.

Why would athletes take risks with their lives? Performance gain!

- They seek the legal increase of red blood cells in their bodies which in turn increase athletic performance.

- It takes up to 2 weeks for an athlete to adapt to altitudes up to 2'300m.

- The amount of stress on the athlete highly reduces physiologic function* and the capacity to exercise intensely.

- There is substantial  decrease in maximum cardiac output and a decreased maximum heart rate this hampers athletes from high performance training at high altitudes. (So athletes train at sub-maximal levels of intensity.)

- Some athletes experience an increase in the number of blood cells in the first two days at altitude, but for most athletes it takes longer periods and some do not benefit greatly from it. It varies from individual to individual.

- The kidneys who are responsible to excrete base do not do it efficiently at higher altitudes which results in a lower tolerance to lactic acid or reduced performance in anaerobic or semi-anaerobic (tennis) sports.

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of altitude training for tennis players?

Advantages:

- Increase of amount of red blood cells, this is legal doping. (while some athletes use blood doping or injections of EPO the hormone erythropoietin which produce the same results or better than altitude training, but this is illegal and dangerous!)

- Increase in aerobic capacity (Increased capacity to work harder for longer periods and recover faster)

- When at lower altitudes or sea level a better renal function with base release to allow the increased red blood cells to be more efficient at unloading oxygen to the tissues. (Better performance)  

Disadvantages:

- Training tennis at high altitudes will have a negative affect on timing (the ball travels much faster and bounces much higher)

- Tennis balls are lighter (even high altitude balls) and less controllable.

- If you have to play soon at lower altitudes and use different balls it can be tough to adapt.  Under pressure spraying of balls outside the court can happen with added lack of confidence.

- The decrease in maximum cardiac output and a decreased maximum heart rate will hamper tennis players from making maximum efforts therefore not being able to do their best.(detraining!)

- Because base excretion from renal function is highly reduced and therefore the threshold of lactic acid creation lowers, cramping or severe muscle pain will occur which in turn will minder athletic performance.

- Due to the lack of oxygen at altitude tennis players (athletes) will instinctively and physiologically protect themselves leading to improper use of techniques, less intense training which results in detraining.

- Some athletes will experience great loss of appetite which in prolonged stays at higher altitudes can result in the loss of muscle mass which in turn may hinder performance.

What is the best way to legally increase your red blood cells without doping and decrease in training performance?  

The solution is pretty simple and the Chinese found it.

- Sleep at high altitude and train at low altitude or sea level.  There are studies that suggest a 'train-low, sleep high' approach has its advantages. Training is carried out at low altitude -- to push anaerobic threshold, and VO2 max -- while sleeping is at high altitude so that the hypoxic stress (breathing oxygen reduced air) increases red cell mass.

There are also methods of performing high intensity training physically at high altitude, but athletes have to train attached to air highly enriched with oxygen, with masks and on stationary bicycles.  Of course you can imagine the nightmare it would be to try to do this on the tennis court.

Since the principle of sleeping in high altitude and training at low altitude or sea level can be a logistic headache and very expensive, some athletes stay at sea level and use reduced air pressure chambers with reduced oxygen.

What are some of the factors you should take into account if you are going to train in high altitude?

- Never, ever attempt it alone, without medical supervision or a Coach who knows altitude training in depth.

- Always consult your medical team or Doctor and make a check-up before starting.

- A high carbohydrate and low salt diet should help you adapt better for high altitude training.

- Under Doctors supervision and prescription, Iron supplements should be taken to help increase red blood cell production.

- Megadosis of vitamins are not suggested and can be dangerous because they will overload and stress your endocrinal system as well as other negative effects.

- The dryness of mountain air will lead to a greater loss of fluids so hydrate (drink water) more often

- Alcohol (I should not be talking about this, top athletes to be, just do not drink) should be avoided.

- Keep close tabs on your heart rates, fatigue levels, weight and your general mood day by day.

Now that we have a better understanding of altitude training, I come back to Roger Federer.

Even if Roger Federer was up in the hills and not at 2000m or above but, at around 1000m or slightly above, with Pierre (Paganini, fitness coach), that pre-supposes adaptation factors I mentioned above which would be detrimental to Roger, both; at the altitude training camp (detraining) and in Rome which has an elevation: +20 M (66 FT) or sea level (timing and physiological adaptation).

Another factor, any decent Coach (especially in Switzerland, a country of skiers and mountain people), knows that after a period of training in altitude however short it may have been, within 3 or 4 days of getting back to low altitude playing, due to the physiological and the stress adaptations on the athletes body we can count on a sure breakdown in the athletes performance.  We saw it bluntly in Rome, when Federer got seriously challenged (pushed physically) by Djokovic in the second set and how it all went in the third.

Anyway some experts believe that best duration at altitude training above 2300 m is roughly 4 weeks and the benefit realized has its strongest showing 14 to 16 days after the return to sea level and that is when competition should happen!

Roger Federer is a valiant individual and a great talent, but no one can perform at his best after that kind of training!  To me the whole thing sounded pretty much as desperation and a grab for solutions without careful thought or knowledge of consequences.

It could be that Roger will later benefit from the '4 days' training 'up in the hills, tucked away', but even that theory sounds implausible to me, there are no short term solutions or silver bullets in athletic training and things like EPO and blood doping are illegal, dangerous and out of the question!. 

So, what was lost physically in Roger Federers case of 'mononucleosis' can only be recovered through re-doubled long term training efforts and not by '4 day' panaceas.

As far as altitude training for tennis there are several factors to take into account and three of the most relevant are:

- Does the player have the level which justifies such an investement?

- Is a 2% to 3% increase in red blood cells in a period of 4 weeks, worth the risk?

- Can less risky sea level or low altitude methods be used?

It is for athletes, coaches and doctors to make their own decisions in concensus.

Sergio Cruz

* Decrease in maximum cardiac output a decreased maximum heart rate and kidney excretion to restore acid base. And many other organ functions are reduced.

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