Mj. Haykowsky et al., EFFECTS OF SHORT-TERM ALTITUDE TRAINING AND TAPERING ON LEFT-VENTRICULAR MORPHOLOGY IN ELITE SWIMMERS, Canadian journal of cardiology, 14(5), 1998, pp. 678-681
Short or long term athletic training has been associated with left ven
tricular (LV) morphological adaptations, including increases in wall t
hickness, cavity dimension and estimated LV mass. A limitation of prev
ious studies assessing the 'athlete heart' was that exercise training
was performed at sea level. Since the 1968 Olympic summer games a popu
lar method of maximizing athletic performance has been to use altitude
training (AT) as a means of improving sea level performance. However,
the effects of short term AT and taper training on LV morphology have
nor been well studied. Based on this limitation,the effects of three
weeks of intense AT (1848 m) or low level control training (CT) (1050
m) followed by two weeks of taper training were investigated in 15 eli
te swimmers between 16 and 21 years of age. Short term AT or CT traini
ng followed by two weeks of taper training was not associated with alt
erations in LV diastolic cavity dimension (AT pre 53.3+/-2.8 mm versus
post 52.6+/-4.3 mm; CT pre 52.9+/-3.7 mm versus post 51.2+/-4.0 mm),
ventricular septal wall thickness (AT pre 9.6+/-1.0 mm versus post 9.4
+/-1.1 mm; CT pre 8.4+/-1.2 mm versus post 8.6+/-1.1 tnm), estimated L
V mass (AT pre 186.4+/-45.8 g versus post 190.0+/-48.2 g; CT pre 159.1
+/-35.8 g versus post 160.1+/-40.8 g) or fractional shortening (AT pre
36.8+/-3.5% versus post 34.8+/-2.1%; CT pre 32.6+/-5.0% versus post 3
2.8+/-4.7%). However, a main time effect, independent of training inte
rvention, was observed for posterior wall thickness (pre 8.7+/-1.4 mm
versus post 9.3+/-1.1 mm, P<0.05). Therefore, with the except-ion of p
osterior wall thickness, short term AT followed by two weeks of taper
training appears not to be associated with alterations in LV morpholog
y or systolic function.