IRELAND’S first residential altitude training centre has opened at the University of Limerick. The state-of-the-art facility provides elite sportspeople the opportunity to undertake altitude training while also availing of the world-class sports facilities on campus at UL. The project has been undertaken and funded by Plassey Campus Centre. Athletes from all endurance sports; athletics, swimming, rowing, cycling, triathlon, boxing and team sports such as rugby, football, hockey can benefit from altitude training.
With no natural high altitude site available in Ireland, many Irish athletes have been forced to travel abroad to training at considerable financial cost.
Professor Phil Jakeman, director of the centre, explains altitude training:
“The success of this mode of performance enhancement is underwritten by the fact that altitude training has been used by virtually every medallist competing in endurance-based sports over the past 10 years.
“Currently, the most effective training programme involves ‘living’ at an altitude of 2000m to 3000m for a period of 14-28 days. “This is normally achieved by athletes travelling abroad to high altitude camps away from their normal training environment and support structures.
“Athletes residing at this altitude find it impossible to maintain their sea-level training programme and therefore, must undertake a daily trek to an altitude below 1500m to train, returning to altitude again overnight. “Furthermore, this type of residential altitude setting provides only one altitude, a one-size-fits-all approach that defies best practice in terms of specificity of training”.
The National Altitude Centre at UL comprises of seven bedrooms, a shared living space which can cater for up to seven athletes at any given time. The facility has installed an hypoxic air conditioning system that allows independent control of the ‘simulated altitude’ in each room, thereby optimising the altitude response for each athlete. The system is capable of simulating an altitude range from sea level to 5000m”.
