England Saxons players Graham Kitchener and Tom Wood of Worcester Warriors Rugby Club have been using the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences’ environmental chamber to help prepare them for their next tour. The players will be competing in the Barclays Churchill Cup in Denver, Colorado, at an altitude of approximately 1600 m (1 mile). Their coach contacted Sport and Exercise Laboratories Director Steve How and asked if the players could use the chamber to experience the conditions of competing at altitude. The players Saxons call up came at short notice and gave little time for a comprehensive acclimation program, which would require a number of weeks. However, they did complete a high intensity interval training session in the chamber that provided them with a good idea of the demands playing at altitude will have on their body.
Steve explained to the players that, ‘at altitude the air is thinner, meaning that every breath you take contains fewer Oxygen molecules. Consequently, to take in and use the required amount of Oxygen, you have to breathe faster, and your heart has to beat quicker. What may be relatively easy exercise at sea level will feel much harder at altitude as your body struggles to compensate.’
The players flew out on June 1st with their pool matches against Russia and USA taking place on June 9th and 13th, before the bowl, plate, and cup finals in New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena on June 19th.