Viewing entries by
Tara Benedict
The benefits of altitude training are for everybody, so the training protocols can be many and varied depending on if you are climbing Kilimanjaro to training for a triathlon or cycling event. Or you want to use IHT or IHE for the benefits of weight loss or reducing episodes of asthma.
Once a consultation is booked we can then best recommend and prescribe an individualised programme that best suits your goals.
Training during a very cold, wet and windy NZ winter is never much fun, so having the option to replace 2 of my outdoor sessions with 2 nice, warm and dry Altitude sessions was absolute bliss. It is also much safer than trying to ride on Auckland’s streets during the day (getting up at 5am is no longer an option). Additionally, being a new mum, my ‘spare’ time was (and still is) very limited, the Altitude is a really great use of an hour – I honestly felt like I’d done 2-3 hours afterwards.
Regular altitude training sessions have allowed me to train and race smarter and harder. Within the first few weeks I noticed improvements in my time to exhaustion on the bike as well as increased fitness. I attribute altitude training with recent gains in race results and a strong performance at age group world championship events.
I feel I recover better after hard training sessions, I can do longer intervals, and I'm back in the A team at school. I'm asthmatic but after I'd completed my first round of sessions last year I found I didn't need to use my inhaler as often during training or racing.
Altitude sessions have been great to use in recovery from an injury when you can’t train at normal loads/weight. With an injury I was able to do active bike sessions at lower loads, but still found that with the altitude I got the same benefits as if I have done a hard interval session. Both in training and racing it has given me an increase in power at a lower effort.
As a busy self employed, mother of three I wanted to use my time wisely, I knew it wasn’t only about running further….but smarter. As I didn’t have years of endurance base under my belt, I thought there must be better ways than just building fitness on the hard urban pavements. I had heard about the positive effects of Altitude Running, did some online research and found what I was looking for in my local area. I had to give it a try!
I'm stronger, fitter, faster (for my age) - altitude training also provides confidence to push that bit harder.
Estafana's strength and improvement has been down to altitude training and endurance nutrition. The results truly do speak for themselves.
