Question

One of the favorites to win a marathon to be held at sea level has been invited by a sponsor to train in Bolivia (Very high altitude place) for three weeks before the race. The sponsor has has promised to fly him to the race a day before the race. Based on your understanding of hemoglobin function would you advice the athlete to accept the invitation or continue with his/her plans to train at low altitude

Answer 1

I would advise him/her to continue with his/her plans to train at low altitude. Because when we go to high altitude place, the amount of hemoglobin in the blood increases. This is due to the acclimatisation to high altitude. When the amount of hemoglobin increases in blood , the oxygen carrying capacity increases. So we are training in this boosted condition.  After training in this condition and then coming to low altitude , the amount of hemoglobin would decrease and it would affect the performance of the athlete in a negative manner and would affect the athlete adversely. Because there is no sufficient amount of hemoglobin to carry the oxygen if he performs as he trained in the high altitude place.