Changes in Training Characteristics and Functions for Swimmers

during a “DuoBa-KunMing” Altitude Training

Yuhong Wen, Yu Ge, Mengxue Zhang

and Yi Peng

Swimming Section, Beijing Sports University, Beijing, China

Keywords: Altitude Training, Swimming, DuoBa, KunMing, Training Characteristic, Function.

Abstract: It’s rare to see studies on altitude training (AT) carries out continuously in 2 altitudes. This study followed a

10 weeks swimming training program that included 2 weeks training in DuoBa (2366M) and another 2 weeks

in KunMing (1890M). The training characteristics and swimmers’ functional changes were studied in seven

swimmers during the training program, just before swimmers participated in the Chinese 12th National

Games. Blood samples, heart rates and weights were collected and analyzed for physiological index.

Conclusion: (1) The training before plateau was mainly about moderate -high intensity aerobic training. In

Duoba, low-moderate and moderate intensity aerobic training was priority. In KunMing, high intensity

aerobic and anaerobic training was increased. After the plateau, recovery and conditioning adjustment are the

main part. (2) This AT has non-significant effect on athletes’ HR level; the body weight has significant

decreased after 3 weeks in plateau and recovered to the common level after a week return to the plain. The

athletes’ hemoglobin and blood testosterone increase significantly in plateau. (3) The great results of all seven

swimmers in the National Game shows that this pattern of AT is an effective way for improving swimmers’

performance.

1 INTRODUCTION

Altitude training can bring athletes simulation of

hypoxia and training load, which was regarded as an

effective training way to improve performance. The

purpose of altitude training before a major

competition is to promote athletes’ peak performance.

The decrease of training intensity after altitude

training will improve performance significantly

(Roberts et al., 1992). Normally altitude training is

performed in a period of time in one location with

high sea levels. In this study, a different pattern was

adopted which separated the altitude training in 2

different locations with different altitudes. It was

aimed to find a more effective way of altitude

training for elite swimmers before an important

competition.

2 METHOD

7 elite swimmers from Beijing Sport University

(BSU) were studied. All of them have participated in

the swimming competition of Chinese 12

National

Game, which represented the most important events

with highest performance levels in China. Among

the subjects, there were 2 freestylers, 2 flyers, 2

backstrokers and 1 breaststroker. All of them had

experienced altitude training before.

Table 1: Basic information of the subjects (n=7).

Sex Age (y) Height (cm) Weight (kg)

Training

time (y)

Male 21.57±2.44 183.57±5.03 78.89±6.72 8.29±4.31

The altitude training took place in four different

locations (Table 2) for 10 weeks. Blood samples

were collected and analyzed for blood testosterone

(T), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), hemoglobin (HB)

on 7:00-7:30 every Monday during the period and

after the meet. BHR and weight were recorded every

morning. Eppendorf-6124 semi automatic

biochemical analyzer and blood urea kit produced by

BIO SINO were used.

Wen, Y., Ge, Y., Zhang, M. and Peng, Y..

Changes in Training Characteristics and Functions for Swimmers during a “DuoBa-KunMing” Altitude Training.

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Spor t Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2015), pages 121-125

ISBN: 978-989-758-159-5

121

Table 2: 4 phases of the altitude training.

Phase Purpose Location Altitude (M) Period (W)

1 Preparation Beijing 44 3

Extra high

altitude

Duoba 2366 2

Moderate high

altitude

Kunming 1890 2

4 Tapering Harbin 128 3

3 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

3.1 Training Characteristics

Sports’ training is an important part of competitive

sports activities, which is the special organized

sports activities, aiming at improving the athletes'

competitive ability and sports performance (Tian et

al., 2000). Volume and intensity are two factors that

the coaches need to mainly focus on, especially

when the altitude changed. Volume for swimmers is

usually shown as miles.

3.1.1 Changes in Miles

Training load is a method using the physical exercise

as basic means to make the training stimulation work

on athletes’ body (Wu et al., 2001). The changes of

miles during the altitude training aere showed in

figure 1.

Figure 1: Changes of miles.

Miles increased during the 1

2 weeks, which

was a traditional way for altitude training. Then

decreased to make subjects keeping good mental and

physical condition. Miles decreased in the 3

week

and increased in the following 2 weeks. Miles

decreased in a great amount in the 6

and 7

weeks,

while intensity improved significantly, so that

swimmers’ ability could be developed at the most

rage. Miles continuously decreased in the last 3

weeks, so that swimmers’ physical function could be

gradually recovered and peak performance released

in the competition.

3.1.2 Intensity

6 degrees intensity sorts were used to establish load

levels, including aerobic low (EN1), lactate

threshold (EN2), VO2max (EN3), lactic acid

tolerance (SP1), lactic acid production (SP2) and

power (SP3). Changes of miles and intensity were

showed in Table 3.

Table 3: Changes of miles and intensity.

Week

miles

(M)

EN1

(%)

EN2

(%)

EN3

(%)

SP1

(%)

SP2

(%)

SP3

(%)

1 44850 75.92 11.15 3.12 3.79 0.22 5.8

2 59900 51.59 29.72 10.68 5.51 0 2.5

3 51350 55.02 26.87 4.87 7.59 1.46 4.19

4 39100 75.58 20.46 0 0 0 3.96

5 61400 51.87 39.58 6.19 0 0 2.36

6 45600 61.4 11.19 20.61 1.97 0.55 4.28

7 43350 67.53 16.49 9.92 1.62 0 4.44

8 38400 60.42 24.22 9.1 0 3.13 3.13

9 36850 66.55 16.83 7.87 5.83 0.95 1.97

10 30750 69.51 20.49 2.44 2.6 2.6 2.36

In Week 2 and 3, percentage of EN2, EN3 and

SP1 were larger than in Week 1, which means the

training arrangement is preparing for the hypoxia

environment of the plateau.

In Week 4 and 5, aerobic intensity training were

the majority part and SP3 training had been added

into the training session at the same time, so that

swimmers’ aerobic capability could be improved as

long as speed ability maintained. In Week 6, EN3,

SP1 and SP2 were highest among the four phases. In

Week 7, the amount of aerobic training was

increasing and the intensity was decreasing, the

fatigue could be relieved so that swimmers could

prepare for the pre-competition training phase.

Week 8 emphasize on EN2, week 9 focus on SP2.

The main purpose of post-altitude training is to

recover and adjust, so swimmers could participate in

the competitions in their best competitive

conditioning. During this phase, training for pace

and speed need to be held with decreasing miles.

3.2 Physiological Index

Physiological index is an important index to evaluate

swimmers’ physical condition. The research

followed swimmers’ BHR and weight to monitor

their physical condition and study the changes’

pattern.

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122

3.2.1 BHR

The heart rate in the morning while people wake up

and lie quietly is called as BHR. When the training

volume is suitable, BHR should be stable; without

any other factors that could affect BHR, if the

fluctuation increase for a period of time, the reason

could be physical fatigue caused by over-trained

(Wang et al., 2002).

Table 4: Changes in BHR (n=7).

Phase 1 Phase2 Phase3 Phase4

53.36 ± 3.09 55.10 ± 2.30 56.88 ± 3.97 52.60 ± 2.70

Resting heart rate can directly reflect the

condition of cardiovascular. BHR in the altitude

training can reflect swimmers’ physical conditioning

(Ga and Liu, 2004). Table 4 shows that BHR in

DuoBa is higher than that in plain, which showed

plateau’s hypoxia environment caused the speed of

body metabolism to increase (P>0.05). In general,

the subjects’ BHR did change in different phases but

without significant difference (P>0.05), which

means this pattern of altitude training didn’t affect

BHR significantly.

3.2.2 Weight

Long term altitude training may cause lean body

weight and fat decrease significantly, and the range

of the decrease was closely related to the altitude.

One study showed that after living in the 4300

meters plateau for 8 days, weight would drop by 3%;

and after living in the 5300-8000 meters plateau for

three months, body weight decreased by 15%.

(Wang et al., 2002). Weight loss will directly affect

sports performance and may result in strength

decrease. Thus it is very necessary to control weight

in altitude training.

Table 5: Changes in body weight (n=7).

Phase1 (kg) Phase2 (kg) Phase3 (kg) Phase4 (kg)

78.89 ± 6.72 78.76 ± 6.91 77.94 ± 6.83 78.70 ±6.87

Table 5 showed that body weight of the subjects

did not lose significantly (P > 0.05) after 2 weeks in

mountain. However, weight lost in the 3

week in

mountain (P < 0.05). Weight began to recover in

sea level training following the mountain.

Throughout the whole period, body weight

significantly decreased only after 3 weeks trained in

the plateau and the weight restored after 1 week left

from the plateau, which mean subjects capacity did

not decrease because of weight loss.

3.3 Hemogram Index

3.3.1 T

T is a male hormone in the body, which has a strong

assimilation effect. (Zhang et al., 2010).

Table 6: Changes of T level (n=7).

Before

Altitude

Training-3

(mmol/L)

Altitude

Training-2

(mmol/L)

Altitude

Training-3

(mmol/L)

After

Altitude

Training-

(mmol/L)

After

Competitio

(mmol/L)

525.14±

106.66

576.43±

104.06

663.76±

133.61

630.2

±132.58

641±

122.54

After training on the plateau for 2 weeks, the T

levels were significantly higher than that of the plain

(P<0.05), and after 3 weeks, T levels increased

continuously comparing with that 2 weeks (P<0.05).

Karvonen et al., (1990) studied that T falled after 15

days training in the 1860 meters height for 5 national

level male sprinters. Another research showed that 6

swimmers T decreased after training in the height of

1890 meters (P<0.01) (Qian et al., 1993). Zhao et al.

(1997) showed that after altitude training, T level

national rowing team’s significantly decreased (Zhao

et al., 1997). The research of Feng et al., (2000)

showed that during the 4 weeks altitude training

(1917 meters), T level of 6 elite male middle and

long distance runners decreased (Feng et al., 2000).

All the research results above are opposite to the

result in this study. The specific reason could be

related to the training intensity, or the result shows

that the pattern of 2 weeks training in 2366 meters

height and 2 weeks training in 1890 meters height is

better for holding and improving the level of T

during athletes training in altitude.

When coming back to the plain from the plateau,

the seven swimmers’ T level still holds in a relatively

high level. Their T level were apparently higher than

that before the altitude training, even after the

competition (P<0.05).

3.3.2 Bun

BUN is usually used as the index to value protein

decomposition (Zhang et al, 2010). The changes of

swimmers BUN showed in Table 7.

Changes in Training Characteristics and Functions for Swimmers during a “DuoBa-KunMing” Altitude Training

123

Table 7: Changes in BUN (n=7).

Before

Altitude

Training-3

(mmol/L)

Altitude

Training-2

( mmol/L)

Altitude

Training-3

(mmol/L)

After

Altitude

Training-1

(mmol/L)

After the

competition

(mmol/L)

5.43 ± 1.95 7.34 ± 1.87 5.86 ± 0.50 6.75 ± 0.84 3.99 ± 0.60

After training in altitude for 2 weeks, BUN

increased significantly (P < 0.05), means training

load in Duoba was huge, decomposition metabolism

of body and protein catabolism increased, body

reaction is significantly higher than that in plain.

Because BUN is an important indicator of the

evaluation of sports load and fatigue degree, the

results could suggest that when trained in Duoba,

swimmers are more likely to feel fatigue. BUN

decreased significantly when swimmers moved to

the relatively low altitude, Kunming, which was

consistent with the decrease of the training load in

this phase.

3.3.3 HB

HB is often used for measuring the concentration of

HB during the training so to value swimmers’

nutritional status and physical function (Zhang et al.,

2010). HB directly affects the body's ability of

obtaining oxygen and aerobic metabolism (Gao and

Liu, 2004).

Table 8: Changes in HB (n=7).

Before

Altitude

Training-3(

g/L)

Altitude

Training-

2(g/L)

Altitude

Training-

3(g/L)

After

Altitude

Training-

1(g/L)

After

the

compet

ition(g/

149.14 ±

10.35

161.16

±6.89

164.09 ±

7.85

163.57 ±

6.35

153.57

± 8.52

HB significantly improved (P<0.05) after

training in altitude for 2 weeks, and after 3 weeks

training in altitude, HB increased more(P<0.05)

compared with that in 2 weeks; this result is similar

to researchers’ results like Zhao and Xue (2011),

Qian and Wang (2004), which means swimmers had

a good adaptation to the plateau environment, the

aerobic endurance was developed. But in this aspect,

the results of this study are not consistent with some

of the researches. Some researchers believe that

during the early phase of altitude training, HB will

improve significantly, but decline later (Liu and Liu,

2006; Fan, 2008; and Wei, 2007). The different

opinion indicates that there is still controversy about

the changes of HB in the later phase of altitude

training. In this study, subjects moved to a relatively

low altitude from the third week, caused HB

increased significantly later (P<0.05).

Ma et al., (2013) suggested that 2 weeks after the

four-week altitude training in 1900 meters, HB of

seven cyclists was 0.8% lower (Ma et al., 2013).

Even in 5 weeks after altitude training, HB was still

higher than that before.

3.4 Performance

Subjects competed in the National Swimming

Championship in May 2013. The purpose of this

altitude training was preparing for the 12th National

Game that held in September 4, 2013. It is

meaningful to compare the results of the two games,

because the interval between the two games is only

three months and the main training method is this

altitude training.

Table 9: Comparison of major events’ time in 2 games

(n=7).

Championships’

Time (seconds)

National Games’

Time (seconds)

D-value(%)

55.99±4.32 55.70±3.98 0.005

*D-value：reduction value.

Although the times didn’t improve hugely, this

training mode has its positive significance. Altitude

training is like a double-edged sword, applying

before competition is risky. One research suggests

that (Feng, 2009) altitude training is related with

many problems which needs to be further studied.

Currently coaches still use the traditional mode (Li et

al., 2009; Brooks et al., 1991). There are lots of

failed cases of altitude training before. However,

subjects competition results improved, which

indicated a success. Furthermore, subjects in this

study are in high competitive level and had

experienced altitude training, the results suggested

that this pattern of altitude training is helpful for

improving advanced swimmers’ competition

performance in a short time.

But it’s only experimented once and all different

situations could happen in training, so the

significance of this altitude training need to be

further researched and analysis for proving.

4 CONCLUSION

(1) The training characteristics of this pattern of

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124

altitude training were: the training before plateau

was in relatively huge volume and intensity,

which consisted mainly of moderate -high

intensity aerobic training; In Duoba,

low-moderate and moderate intensity aerobic

training was priority; In KunMing, high intensity

aerobic and anaerobic training increased; After

the plateau, recovery and conditioning

adjustment were the main part—volume

decreased but pace and speed were hold.

(2) This pattern of altitude training brings no

significance influence for swimmers’ BHR; body

weight decreased significantly after training in

altitude for three weeks and recovered to the

plain level after one week left plateau. T and HB

were raised significantly in mountain.

(3) The performance of the subjects in the National

Game shows that this pattern of altitude training

is effective.

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