Dees in Darwin

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Beats

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Jul 9, 2008
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They will be producing daily articles on their Darwin trip, the first is here. A reasonably light hearted read by Matt Burgan, definitely piqued my interest on what's to come, there's also a video on the site.

In reality it's probably a financial decision, but it's interesting that they've gone for humidity over altitude.

I believe the main benefit of heat & humidity training is that it causes the body to acclimatise better. The average body temperature is approx. 37 degrees and your body will attempt to maintain it at this temperature, when too hot the body will shed excess heat through your skin. In temperatures above 35 degrees you lose little to no heat through your skin, rather you lose it through the evaporation of sweat. In humidity it is harder for your body to produce sweat as the air is so high in moisture (even if you think you're drenched in sweat a portion of it would be moisture drawn from the air). I guess the benefit is that you would sweat less as your body is conditioned to maintaining the average body temp in tougher temperatures, it would also make training in cooler weather seem comparatively easier. A quick google search found this article:

Many scientific studies have demonstrated that heat acclimation (or heat acclimatization) enhances the athlete's capacity to dissipate heat during intense exercise in the heat and, in doing so, increases endurance performance


I'm not overly sure of the benefits of altitude training. I believe it changes the red cell count and blood oxygen levels, with the theory that more oxygen increases performance.
 
Many have said that the benefits of altitude training don't really last more than a few months maybe, so if that's the case I'm certainly happy for the club to save cash and get other benefits (including community stuff) instead.
 

Spirit of 39

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One thing I believe about preseason training is that you try to simulate match conditions as much as possible. (E.g. time of day, climate, surroundings, etc.) I've never seen MFC play a game in freezing cold snowy mountains on a gridiron field. I have seem them play in hot, steamy conditions on an AFL field. (See Darwin)

Add this to the fact that we are maintaining and building on our presence in Darwin, then I think it's a no-brainer for the club.
 

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Many have said that the benefits of altitude training don't really last more than a few months maybe, so if that's the case I'm certainly happy for the club to save cash and get other benefits (including community stuff) instead.
Right. When I read that in the paper - that altitude training lets you train harder for a month or two, I couldn't believe it. Talk about incremental increases at a huge expense. All for Darwin. Looking forward to galleries of JV punching a saltwater crocodile in the face.
 
The Collingwood fitness staff (last year) stated that the main benefit of HAT was that they could compress the benefits of 4 weeks training into 2 weeks training and hence have more time to use towards structures and so forth. I don't know how much they meant this as they didn't want to give too much away but it makes sense. My main query with the Darwin training is the amount of kgs they are going to lose up there - they know what they're doing but I find it interesting.
 
I think what Darwin shows us is that we are still behind the bigger clubs - I have no doubt that if we could afford it we would do something similar to the Altitude training overseas.

But I'll back Misson, Craig and the team to get some good training done up there. They both know what they're doing and have a good track record so I'm inclined to think it will be beneficial. Plus you would think by the time they get back they'll go on their Xmas break as well which will be well timed.
 

Max Power 83

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The main benefits of training in a different climate, be it hot and humid or at altitude, are mental and the bonding aspect.

I've read studies that show that training at altitude doesn't do a thing for red blood cell count etc.
It's only only after living at altitude 24/7 for an extended period that you notice any benefit.

As for losing kg's - they won't lose anything that can't be replaced with a bottle of gatorade.

Darwin should, however, help a few of our guys harden the F*ck up.
 

ExTasDeeMan

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Call me cynical but high altitude training is a wank. Would much rather our players being able to kick the ball reliably to a target come round one than gain 0.0001% fitness by going overseas
Kind of agree - it seems like it is more of a team building exercise. However i'm no fancy sport scientist.
 

SPC 98

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I have been playing footy in Malaysia for the past 2 years in 34 degree temps with 96% humidity. I can assure you that it increases fitness bases.
 

Tommy D

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One thing I believe about preseason training is that you try to simulate match conditions as much as possible. (E.g. time of day, climate, surroundings, etc.) I've never seen MFC play a game in freezing cold snowy mountains on a gridiron field.

The Sunday twilight game against Adelaide at the G a few years back (2008 if my memory is correct) came pretty bloody close to playing in snow. It was f$%king freezing that night, what added insult to injury was that we lost that game too! So i freezed my nuts off for nothing.
 

SPC 98

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The Sunday twilight game against Adelaide at the G a few years back (2008 if my memory is correct) came pretty bloody close to playing in snow. It was f$%king freezing that night, what added insult to injury was that we lost that game too! So i freezed my nuts off for nothing.
Was at that game... was 6 degrees at 3pm..
 

bing181

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Call me cynical but high altitude training is a wank. Would much rather our players being able to kick the ball reliably to a target come round one than gain 0.0001% fitness by going overseas

Don't know if I'd call you cynical, the word ignorant comes to mind. Plenty of info available on the benefits of altitude training (and other types of training for that matter).

As for the rest of your post ... increased fitness and increased skills are not mutually exclusive.
 

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There are some on here who sook when a photo or article isn't up quick enough but the stuff they do put on the site is terrific, as evidenced by the Darwin articles. Burgan doesn't just give a few paragraphs on general stuff but goes over everything, giving us an excellent insight into what is going on. It sounds as though we are running some very, very professional training sessions and the players are well and truly on board. I shudder to think of how things were run back on the Bailey days, wouldn't have even gotten close to what we are doing now.
 
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Ando727

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The Collingwood fitness staff (last year) stated that the main benefit of HAT was that they could compress the benefits of 4 weeks training into 2 weeks training and hence have more time to use towards structures and so forth. I don't know how much they meant this as they didn't want to give too much away but it makes sense. My main query with the Darwin training is the amount of kgs they are going to lose up there - they know what they're doing but I find it interesting.

The only problem is that in two weeks, the increase in red-blood cells is very slight, and is more than offset by the exhaustion of two trans-continental flights and loss of sleep when adjusting to very different times zones in close succession. Training sessions are missed while players acclimatise to the time-zone. Two weeks at high altitude is literally worse than useless, in physiological terms. Maybe it's a nice team bonding exercise, but that's as far as it goes.
 

CWaffles

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Neelds comment was " can the defender kick a goal"

I assumed he is a running type back who got up the ground a bit
Yer I agree, Jack will most likely play as a running defender. I guess there is always an option to put him up forward for a bit during games to mix up the forward line.
 

rhaz

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Loving these videos. Would be really incredibly tough, but a terrific experience. Makes me wish I played AFL.
 

SPC 98

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Great videos.. good to watch, when you are bored at work!!

Boys look good.. So impressed with Dan Nicholson, just a superb trainer, who really sets the tone for the rest.. Gonna be a very good player once he gets some confidence on the field.

Also great to see Dom Barry working hard in the army course. Hope he can work his ar$e off and cement a spot on the wing! Would love a bit of X-factor, and i hate to say it, but he reminds me of the one 'whose name i shall not speak of'... if your confused, ask Troy Simmons 1st & 2nd vertebrae (2000 GF)
 

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