Proper nutrition is the key to success in any athletic endeavor. With the help of this comprehensive nutrient guide on supplements for high altitude training, you will learn how to fuel your body with the best nutrients for supplementation.
High altitude training is a great way to boost your VO2 max and improve your athletic performance. However, the air is thinner at high altitude. For this reason, your body needs more oxygen to function properly, and you'll quickly get out of breath and be at high risk of altitude sickness or lessened performance
Adjusting to high altitude running or training is very difficult. Keep reading below, we'll talk about supplements for high altitude training and some of the top different nutrients that could improve your high altitude training efforts.
Athletes and coaches have been using high altitude training for decades to improve their athletic performance.
At higher altitudes there's less oxygen available than at sea level. This means that there are fewer molecules of oxygen per breath available for your body to use during exercise — which means that you have to work harder just to perform at the same intensity as you would at sea level.
As a result of this increased workload during exercise, your body adapts by increasing its ability to deliver oxygen more efficiently throughout the body — hence why many people refer to high altitude training for high altitude running or biking (also see hydration chews for running), high altitude marathons, or even sea level athletic competitions.
High altitude training refers to any location above 2,500 meters (8,000 feet). This includes mountains such as Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) or Mount Everest (29,029 feet), but also extends to locations like Denver (5,280 feet), Flagstaff (6,909 feet), and Mexico City (7,350 feet).
When you go to high elevation, your body needs to adapt. That's why people who live in the mountains or at higher altitudes have more red blood cells than sea level dwellers, which allows them to absorb oxygen more efficiently and deliver it to working muscles more quickly.
The benefits of high altitude training include:
Altitude training is a tried and true way to get an edge over the competition. But there's one big catch: If you train at high altitude without taking supplements, you're potentially in for a world of hurt and could set your body back.
This means you need to take the right nutrition to stay on top of your game. Taking supplements for high altitude training will help keep your body healthy, avoid altitude sickness, while also improving your performance.
Fortunately, we've done years of research on the best nutrients for high altitudes. Here are the top three nutrients that can help you perform at high altitude and avoid altitude sickness:
At Zaca, we formulated a chewable with all three of the top high altitude nutrients, including Glutathione, Hovenia Dulcis, and Glutamine. It was developed by Colorado mountain-goers and tested by customers at highest peaks throughout the Rocky Mountains. Our chewable is easy to take on-the-go and designed to boost high altitude performance and enhance training. Simply take a packet of chewables to rehydrate, replenish, and recover fast. Try Zaca chewable tablets today and optimize your performance in the mountains.
SOURCES:
1. All About High Altitude Fitness Training
https://www.healthline.com/health/altitude-training#how-to-train
2. Effect of high altitude (7,620 m) exposure on glutathione
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11320641/
3. Dihydromyricetin Improves Physical Performance under Simulated High Altitude
https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2014/11000/Dihydromyricetin_Improves_Physical_Performance.6.aspx
4. Anti-fatigue activity of Hovenia dulcis on a swimming mouse model through the inhibition of stress hormone expression and antioxidation
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23895162/
5. The Possible Importance of Glutamine Supplementation to Mood and Cognition in Hypoxia from High Altitude
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7760805/
