MasterBlast: Is Altitude Training Obsolete?

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The following is a translated and summarized from an article by Kurt B. Haugli appearing in Aftenposten, September 6, 2018. Translation and summary by Inge Scheve exclusively for AXCS membership.

Are current XC formats making altitude training obsolete on the hyper-elite scene?

Sprint finishes, mass starts, constant surges. The current cross-country formats and Norwegian success at recent Olympics and World Championships are contributing to make altitude training somewhat old fashioned in Norwegian elite circles. The recent successes of altitude skeptics including superstars Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Ragnhild Haga and Simen Hegstad Krüger have contributed to the decision.

“There is nothing dramatic about this, and this is not an experiment,” says national team director Vidar Løfshus.

The concept of altitude training, which has been established as a pillar of elite endurance sports for more than 30 years, is scratched in favor of lowland training and a different training focus. While the Norwegian national teams recently concluded a training camp in Livigno, Italy, at 1800 meters above sea level, this camp was not about gaining an altitude effect. It was simply about training in a location that that the athletes enjoy and where the teams know they can complete solid workouts. The duration of the camp is not enough to reap any altitude effect. The switch from altitude-based dryland training has been a slow process, but this season marks a significant change. The entire men’s all round team skips all altitude camps. Only Therese Johaug and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg are sticking to the old regime: with several long camps at altitude both leading up to the season and during the season.

The sport is changing

The evolution of cross-country skiing is one of the driving factors of this trend and why the Norwegian national team is reconsidering their training methods.

“The development of the sport requires different properties in the athletes, including more focus on speed and tighter finishes. This is a major consideration for the changes we are making,” Løfshus says. At altitude, it’s crucial to train at low intensity, which makes it hard to practice explosiveness. Several athletes have burnt entire seasons on being too eager at altitude, Petter Northug being one of them. Løfshus also points to several scientific studies that question the usefulness of altitude training. But the most conclusive evidence against the practice is the stellar performances of the athletes who did not join the national team for the altitude camps last season.

Of the five skiers who earned individual medals at the 2018 Pyeong Chang Olympics, only Marit Bjørgen had completed a traditional altitude training program. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Ragnhild Haga and Simen Hegstad Krüger did not go to these altitude camps, and all earned gold medals at the 2018 Olympics.

“Johannes, Ragnhild and Simen did really well last season. We will continue what they did for this upcoming season,” Løfshus says.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby also skipped a lot of the altitude training prior to the 2018 Olympics. He is one of the national team veterans who now started to doubt the altitude training. “There are different requirements in the sport now. Previously, there was one objective: to be the fastest up the hills. I think there are many reasons to train at altitude, but I also see that there are many reasons not to,” Sundby says.

A culture established over time

For decades, the Norwegian national teams have completed several long camps at altitudes above 2000 meters each season. This was a part of the Norwegian success, starting with the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. “The 1992 Olympics was the start of a systematic altitude program, and Val Senales, Italy, was established as the central location for these fall camps. The glacier on the border between Italy and Austria features miles of groomed trails at 2800 meters above sea level. The annual camps established a training culture centered around altitude training, which contributed to the Norwegian success throughout the 1990s and beyond,” says Øyvind Sandbakk, Sandbakk is the head of the physiology research and development at the Norwegian Olympic Development Center (OLympiatoppen) and professor with the Norwegian Universtity of Science and Technology (NTNU), and one of the main advisers on exercise science and performance to the Norwegian national team coaches.

He is not concerned about skipping the altitude camps prior to the 2019 season. But he does warn against abandoning altitude training leading up to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, where the athletes will compete at 1800 meters above sea level. Performing at that elevation will require extensive acclimatization to altitude.

“If the national teams enter the Beijing Olympics without any altitude training prior to the Games, that would be gambling. It might work for a few racers, but from experience, systematic altitude training delivers real effects,” Sandbakk says.

Skeptics

While Sandbakk doesn’t worry about the upcoming season, there are those who are critical of the national team’s training plans.

“I don’t want to criticize their decisions, but I wonder if they have considered the consequences and what they might miss out on. I’m not just thinking about the actual altitude effect, but also escaping the media and other distractions that take away from their training. During the three 3-week altitude camps that take place from late summer until late October, which is quite a large chunk of the this period, the athletes are allowed to focus only on their workouts, eating and recovery. That makes a huge difference, says Petter Soleng Skinstad, who is the cross-country expert commentator with the Norwegian broadcasting station TV2.

NRK expert commentator Fredrik Aukland is also not convinced about the decision. “Altitude training has been one of the biggest components of the Norwegian success ever since the 1980s,” Aukland says, adding that systematic altitude training over time is crucial to performing at high elevations.

Skinstad also points out that he finds it curious that the Norwegian cross-country teams are abandoning a training method that just about all elite endurance athletes in the world swear by. “Have the Norwegian cross-country coaches seen something that nobody else has,” Skinstad asks.

The results from the 2019 FIS World Championships in Seefeld, Austria -- located about 1200 meters above sea level -- may or may not settle this emerging debate. --