Posted: July 17, 2004

Science of Sport: Cancellara Legal Doping with thin air

BERN. Fabian Cancellara (23) wants to get further with thin air. He swears on the performance enhancement due to a high altitude trainings facility.

The altitude changes the outside conditions, which is especially important to professional athletes due to the effect of the oxygen partial pressure, which reduces with increasing altitude. The outside pressure under which our blood assimilates oxygen is to low what makes it harder for the body to take it in. everyone can notice this effect when skiing, hiking or climbing in the mountains. Breathing and moving gets harder than under normal circumstances.

The mobile unit GO2Altitude produces virtually identical high altitude air, the professional cyclist Cancellara inhales oxygen reduced air every day for 60min during his recuperation phase in which he alternates with three min thin air and five min normal air (21% Oxygen). Most athletes’ use the high altitude phenomenon for their training, this method allows the athletes to train high altitude under normal conditions. This training stimulate increase in the red blood cell count, which helps athletes to assimilate and distribute the oxygen faster in their body. This type of training helps athletes to perform more intensely over a longer period of time under harder conditions and minimized muscle pain due to reduced lactic acid production within the athlete’s muscles.

The Swiss committee against doping allows these machines for training and declares them as unobjectionable.

For the full story in German: www.go2altitude.com/newsletters/Fabian_Cancellare_Tour_de_France.pdf (PDF File).