Challenging Running Dogma: Adaptive Training Over Rigid Protocols

Key Quotes

"if we think about altitude historically when we look at adaptation the made adaptation you get from altitude is when you go to altitude essentially what happens is your body makes up for lack of better terms for the lack of oxygen in the air by increasing your body's ability to carry oxygen in the blood or deliver oxygen to the muscles and that typically happens by improving the amount or increasing the amount of red blood cells or the hemoglobin so that your oxygen carrying cells in the blood."

Jonah Rosner explains that altitude training's primary adaptation is the body's response to lower oxygen levels by increasing red blood cells and hemoglobin. This enhances the blood's capacity to carry and deliver oxygen to muscles, a key physiological change for endurance athletes.

"but historically one of the issues we've seen with altitude is a few different things number one is you actually get a larger variety in responses not everyone responds well to altitude not everyone may get those adaptations and we see some variability there another thing is exactly like you mentioned if you go to altitude it's pretty hard to run fast at altitude without feeling crappy so you can make the argument that essentially you're running less fast so you're getting less stimulus from the lack of quality you can accumulate at altitude."

Rosner highlights two significant drawbacks of altitude training: inconsistent individual responses and the difficulty of maintaining training intensity. He notes that not everyone adapts well to altitude, and the reduced speed at higher elevations can limit the training stimulus compared to training at sea level.

"so essentially over the course of four to five weeks what can happen is at altitude your body will sense the lack of oxygen in the air it will increase the amount of red blood cell production or your hemoglobin so you have the ability to carry more oxygen into your muscles to kind of make up for that but historically one of the issues we've seen with altitude is a few different things number one is you actually get a larger variety in responses not everyone responds well to altitude."

Jonah Rosner details the physiological process of altitude adaptation, explaining that over several weeks, the body increases red blood cell production to compensate for lower oxygen. However, he cautions that this adaptation is not guaranteed for all individuals, as responses to altitude vary significantly.

"so essentially like runners were historically load up a day or two before the race on extra electrolytes thinking that similar to like carbohydrates where people carb load before a race right because you will store more of those carbohydrates typically as muscle glycogen and you have more of a muscle glycogen fuel tank on race day which is important and so the thinking was well can i store electrolytes and that i have more electrolytes on race day especially if it's going to be a hot race and what we see is now that electrolytes just especially from like a kidney level will filter through the body pretty quickly so typically you don't need to take extra electrolytes unless you're within four hours of the race."

Rosner explains that the common practice of "loading" electrolytes days before a race is largely ineffective, unlike carbohydrate loading. He clarifies that the body filters electrolytes quickly, meaning extra intake days in advance is mostly excreted, and suggests focusing on electrolyte consumption closer to the event.

"but the main thing is probably related to neuromuscular fatigue or just overall fatigue so essentially as your muscle and your body gets more fatigued over time there potentially is going to be this misfiring the wrong word but as the muscle fatigues it's just going to be more prone to cramps so the reason that a lot of cramping happens like at mile 20 mile 21 mile 22 that's when you're the most fatigued you're experiencing all this neuromuscular damage muscular damage and neuromuscular fatigue and when your body's fatigued you might get that mismatch between the brain signal what's happening at the muscular level."

Jonah Rosner identifies neuromuscular fatigue as the primary cause of cramps during races, rather than electrolyte imbalance. He explains that as muscles and the body become more fatigued, they are more susceptible to cramping due to potential miscommunication between the brain and muscle signals.