Andrew reaching new heights

COORACLARE man Andrew O’Neill is the director of a new fitness facility, The Altitude Gym, which will open at the Delta Sports Dome on the Ballysimon Road in Limerick next week.

The Altitude Gym is the first altitude training facility to open in Ireland and Andrew, who plays senior football with Cooraclare and is strength and conditioning coach with the Limerick senior footballers, said the gym is suitable for individual endurance athletes and elite and non-elite sports people. The gym can simulate varying levels of altitude, where sports people can undergo spinning sessions, cross training, rowing or circuit training in whatever altitude conditions are suitable to their needs.

“It’s a sealed room that reduces the oxygen content in the air, which simulates high altitude. You can simulate altitude anywhere from sea level up to 4,500m,” Andrew explained.

“When the body is exposed to reduced oxygen levels, it struggles to produce the same amount of energy, that it would normally. You increase your red blood cell count, which gives you the capacity to carry more oxygen, which means you can train and compete for longer,” he added.

Andrew revealed that Clare senior footballer trainer, Micheál Cahill, and county hurling trainer, Joe O’Connor, have both expressed an interest in their players using the altitude gym, while Munster rugby players, Paul O’Neill, Conor Murray and Mike Sherry, have trained there as has Olympian, Colin Griffin and Limerick footballer, John Galvin.

Andrew stressed the gym is not merely geared towards the elite athlete and that controlled altitude training can help a player recover from injury.

“You can do some sessions there that are low impact so a player can keep up their fitness levels, while they are out injured,” he said.
Similar facilities are used by several Premier League clubs in England. “We went over to see the altitude training facilities at Manchester City, Aston Villa and Spurs. They use it for their older players who might be starting their pre-season in a couple of weeks. The older players are not going to be able to do what the younger guys do so they might substitute a pitch session for an altitude session,” Andrew said.

More information on the gym can be found on www.facebook.com/TheAltitudeGym.