Hi, I’m Dr. Liehr, sports medicine physician with Tahoe Forest Health System. Today we’re going to be talking about acclimatization, specifically at altitude.
Do a brief overview of altitude sickness and how to approach your training safely. Acclimatization is your body’s process of adapting to a new environment or stress such as heat, altitude, humidity, or a new training load.
In other words, it’s how your heart, lungs, sweat glands, and muscles learn how to work more efficiently. Acclimatization to altitude is especially applicable to us here in Tahoe, where we’re at about 6,000 ft.
At altitude, your body needs time to adjust to lower oxygen levels. Early on, it’s normal to feel a little more short of breath or a little more fatigued than usual.
However, over several weeks, your body adapts by increasing red blood cells, which are the cells that help deliver more oxygen to your tissues. If you make rapid changes in elevation and training and start to develop headaches, nausea, dizziness, poor sleep, or a noticeable drop in exercise tolerance, you may be experiencing symptoms of altitude sickness.
These are signs that you’re doing a little too much too fast. The good news is that altitude sickness can be prevented with gradual exposure and smart training decisions.
So, here are a couple tips for when you first arrive at altitude. One, keep training easy.
Reduce both your volume and intensity. Two, hydrate consistently.
Don’t wait until you’re thirsty. Dry environments can increase our fluid loss even without us noticing it.
And three, prioritize sleep and recovery. Consider adding in a few extra recovery days during your training.
If symptoms worsen instead of improve, such as experiencing severe headaches, persistent nausea, confusion, or difficulty walking, that’s not normal. Stop what you’re doing and come see us at one of our top forest urgent cares.
I hope you found this information helpful. Overall, just respect the process and know that proper altitude acclimatization can improve both safety and performance.
Again, my name is Dr. Liehr. Thanks for watching.
