Living at Altitude + Podcast?

[John Fioravanti]

Hi Rip,

I’ll be moving to Summit County, CO for a full-time job in a few weeks and have been wondering about the effects of altitude on training and performance.

Checking the forum, seems like you’ve basically said (1) there’s no effective preparation beyond normal strength training and (2) little physiological adaptation occurs, you just get more comfortable breathing less. Sounds like a good time. Also saw Stef recommended cutting back tonnage for a few weeks. All those posts were for short-term trips though. I’ll be living at 9300 feet for a few years at least; anything useful to know for the long term? I’m guessing no, just adapt and train as normal.

More to my real question, I listened to your podcast on alcohol. It was very interesting; will be trying the apple cider thing once I get to CO and the leaves turn. The more I’ve been listening and reading the SS materials, the more I’ve gotten interested in the sciences. This interest was never sparked in school. As you mentioned in your academic prep article, seems like even a basic understanding of the sciences can really alter your perspective on the world.

Last night, I bought a used physical sciences textbook for 75¢ and was reading about wind and clouds. Seems like the reason for lower oxygen levels at altitude is because gravity is one of two atmospheric forces that acts on air (gas molecules). Gravity pushes it down. At this level of analysis: simple to understand, interesting, and useful to know.

You’ve mentioned doing a podcast on altitude and I’ve seen at least one other board member inquire about that. Would the science/your experience of altitude be worthy of a full podcast?

Do you have any other plans or interests in doing casual educational podcasts on other scientific topics? You may think you’re just chewin’ the fat, but I think these podcasts are important, especially for young people; they achieve what school often fails to do — sparking curiosity.

Thank you.

[Mark Rippetoe]

At 9300 feet, you're dealing with 72% of the atmosphere. The USAF wants you on oxygen at 10,000 feet. Training is hard at this altitude, but you'll get used to it. Sets of 5 feel like sets of 10. Your H&H will go up on your blood test, so don't worry about that when you see it.