Should high altitude training be banned as well since it gives the same benefits as..

[Puya]

High altitude training is natural!!! It is not injected or artificially made. It is not 1 and the same as epo. Your body actually has to adapt and respond to the altitude naturally mind u...with epo your body adapts to artificial injections which makes it unnatural

End of thread. :

[camymcf]

Honestly I said this a long time ago. Why would anyone take EPO when you can get the same exact benefit (without any of the side effects) by doing high altitude training, or using an altitude simulator (like Ward and Chambers is doing)

The only reason for taking EPO is that you are too lazy to put in the work that most people who compete at the elite level do. Also Altitude training gets the same benefits as doping without worrying about side effects, failed test and public humiliation.

To answer your question though, no altitude training shouldn't be banned. It's a natural way to get you kidney's to produce the EPO substance that leads to more RBC productions (which in turn increases stamina etc).

Altitude training can have side effects though, such as suffering from altitude sickness, which can cause you to have to train at a much lower intensity or stop altogether for a period of time, so can be detrimental to training and fitness levels. Also an athlete cannot train at the same intensity because of the lack of oxygen in the air.

This is why the best way to increase RBC count is to live at altitude or live/sleep in a oxygen tent/chamber, and then do your training at sea level where the air is thicker and has a higher oxygen density, so that the athelte/fighter can train to the highest possible intensity and therefore improve their fitness levels as much as possible.

This is why people use EPO. It gives them the same, if not better results, without the lowered intensity of training and possible effects of altitude sickness. It also gives a higher increase in RBC count in most cases.