To train elite Kenyan athletes, David Shenk comments on the important factors needed: “high-altitude training and mild year-round climate are critical, but equally important is a deeply ingrained culture of asceticism” (105). Discuss why altitude plays a role in athletic training. Consider this: contrary to popular belief, the percentage of oxygen in air does not change at higher altitudes compared at sea level; however, there is less air pressure, making air thinner. How does that affect humans’ mechanism of negative pressure breathing—and how will your body adapt to this? Predict some of the dangers of high altitude training, and why some athletes choose to adapt the strategy of “Live High, Train Low” rather than “Live High, Train High”. In other words, explain why oxygen conserving adaptations and endurance training are antagonistic at higher altitudes, making intense workouts incredibly difficult to carry out (Hint: Think Bohr shifts!). Lastly, how can this problem be slightly reduced (Hint: Think back to Cellular Respiration unit—there are two types of respiration!). Remember to relate your answers to a theme.
~Linda Xu (lindaxu22@hotmail.com)
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ReplyDeleteThe Argument-High Altitude Athletic Training RESPONSE
ReplyDeleteKenyans perform so well in long distance running because of multiple reasons. Shenk states on page 104, “Sports geographers point to many crucial ingredients in Kenya’s competitive surge but no single overriding factor.” In order to be a good athlete, one must train and train continuously. He or she must also train at high altitudes. It is an advantage for athletes to train at high altitudes due to the thin air, but also a disadvantage. The air at higher altitudes is considered thin because there is less oxygen to breath. Kenneth Baillie of altitude.org states, “At sea level, because air is compressible, the weight of all that air above us compresses the air around us, making it denser. As you go up a mountain, the air becomes less compressed and is therefore thinner… So although the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere is the same, the thinner air means there is less oxygen to breathe.” Baillie is saying that there is less compressible air and less oxygen to take in from that air that can be beneficial and harmful to athletes. High altitude training is beneficial to athletes because the athlete is exposing himself or herself to an environment with less oxygen causing the body to acclimatize to the high altitude. In order for one to get acclimated, his or her body must go through many changes, and these changes improve the delivery of oxygen to muscle cells. The reason he or she wants to acclimate themselves to a high altitude environment is because once he or she travels to sea level, or a place with a lot more oxygen, then his or her performance will be enhanced drastically. change would be the release of the hormone erythropoietin, which is produced and secreted by the kidney. A negative feedback mechanism senses the low level of oxygen going to body tissues and calls for the release of EPO (Campbell 914). EPO stimulates the production of erythrocytes or red blood cells. The purpose of the release of EPO and the increase amount of red blood cells is because red blood cells specifically hemoglobin carry oxygen. So, EPO tells the femur (bone marrow) to make red blood cells, and if there are more red blood cells in the bloodstream, then there is more oxygen being transported throughout the body to the body cells. When you are at a high altitude with thin air, you are going to need all the oxygen you can get.
There are also disadvantages to training higher altitude. Acclimating to such an environment involves strenuous activity along with multiple weeks spent dedicated to such a difficult task. Also according to Alistair Simpson of altitude.org, increasing the amount of red blood cells will make the blood more viscous thus making the blood flow sluggish. This makes it harder for your heart to pump round the body, and can actually decrease the amount of oxygen getting to where it is needed.
Part 1 kjdesai5@mac.com Krish Desai
Breathing is so difficult at higher elevations because the air is a lot thinner than the air at sea level is. The air is less dense at high altitudes because there is less oxygen for the body to take in and its more closer to space where there is no air at all. Mammals who perform negative pressure breathing or just pulling in air into the lungs have difficulty breathing at high elevations because the less oxygen. If one at a high elevation breaths the same breath as a person at sea level, then the one at sea level will get more oxygen. So, in order to get the same amount of oxygen as someone at sea level, one will have to breath multiple times. This is more grueling on ones body and it requires more energy. Also, this situation is most likely a right Bohr shift because you are working out, so your hemoglobin’s affinity to oxygen decreases because the muscle cells of the body really need to minimal oxygen in the high altitude environment. Any type of shift is not good because that is disrupting homeostasis and the correct affinity necessary for hemoglobin to oxygen.
ReplyDeleteExercising at a high altitude can be related to the biology theme of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the ability of the body or a cell to seek and maintain a condition of equilibrium or stability within its internal environment when dealing with external changes. When at a higher elevation the body must adapt and return to the homeostatic set point and the human body does this by erythropoietin and along with other things including “an increase in the number of small blood vessels, an increase in buffering capacity (ability to manage the build up of waste acid) and changes in the microscopic structure and function of the muscles themselves (http://www.altitude.org/altitude _training.php).” All these things change to basically level out the environmental changes. Also, if there are too many red blood cells from the release of EPO, then the kidney is told by the medulla to stop producing and secreting EPO.
http://www.altitude.org/altitude_training.php
http://www.altitude.org/why_less_oxygen.php
Part 2
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Krish Desai