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• "A Practical Approach to Altitude Training" - Ed Burke Ph.D.

Changes in running performance following intermittent altitude exposure simulated with tents.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 37(5), Supplement abstract 262. Hinckson, E. A., & Hopkins, W. G. (2005).

Eleven male competitive runners and triathletes participated in a crossover study of usual training (control) and usual training with altitude exposure (altitude).
Altitude treatment consisted of 25 ± 3 d (mean ± SD) of sleeping in tents for 8.1 ± 0.6 hr per day, progressing from a simulated altitude of 2500 m to 3500 m above sea level. Washout period between control and altitude treatments was 4 wk.
Performance tests, scheduled 7 d after the control and altitude treatments, were three treadmill runs to exhaustion lasting ± 2, ± 4 and ± 8 min. Some athletes repeated the tests 5 d later.

RESULTS: Effects of altitude exposure on predicted 800, 1500 and 3000 m performance were enhancements of 1.0% (90% confidence limits, ± 1.3%), 1.4% (± 1.2%) and 1.8% (± 1.5%) respectively. Enhancements were greater in the six athletes carrying an I allele for angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE): 2.3% (± 1.4%), 2.2% (± 1.4%), and 2.1%, (± 2.2%) respectively. For a smallest substantial change in performance of 0.5%, chances of real benefit were likely (>75%) and chances of real harm were very unlikely (<5%) for all these effects. The effects were apparently unrelated to oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, which showed a trend towards a decrease in mean values for hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit following the altitude treatment relative to the control.