Why wasn't there a live low-train high group?

Question

A study was done in 1998 by Dr. Benjamin Levine to explore the role of altitude training in athletic
performance. First he trained athletes at low altitude, then measured their finish times in a 5 kilometer run.
Then the athletes were placed into one of the following groups: I, living and training at high altitude; II,
living at high altitude and training at low; or III, living and training at low altitude. The athletes were then
retested in another low-altitude 5 K race. In this study, what are the control and experimental data? What
are the dependent and independent variables? The results are expressed as average change in speed of each
group. I: -3.4 sec., II: +13.4 sec., III: -26.7 sec. Graph and interpret the results. Did the results surprise you?
Why or why not? Propose some explanations for the lower performance by the live high-train high group.

Answer 1

The control data are the running times of the athletes after baseline training at low altitude. The experimental data
are the running times of the athletes after the additional training at various altitudes. The independent variable is
altitude; the dependent variable is running time. A bar graph showing the baseline and postaltitude training results
as a pair of bars for each group would be appropriate. The best training regimen was living high and training low,
and the worst was living low and training low. Many would probably predict the best performance by the group
that both lived and trained high, because they were constantly in a relatively hypoxic environment, which may
have produced the greatest increase in hematocrit. Training at high altitude clearly did not allow for the best
performance, possibly because the lower oxygen environment limited the ability to train at maximum potential.
Living low and training high would likely show the worst performance, because even sedentary living at high
altitudes produces an increase in hematocrit; only training at high altitude would be insufficient to produce an
altitude-related increase.