does elevation effect weightlifting?

[chrisolys]

i’m a student in colorado that just got back from winter break nearly two weeks ago. during the break i went back home to mississippi and continued working out as usual there (a couple movements changed because of the difference in machine selection but basically still the same). on one of my final workouts before returning to school i weighed in at 184.0 lbs. when i got back to school however, i was weaker in the same movements by 2-3 lbs, and i weighed in at 181.3 lbs. there’s no way i lost 3 pounds in the two days i took off of the gym from traveling, so is it just a factor of returing to the elevation of colorado?

 

[adviceplease]

@chrisolys A 2.7 lb weight fluctuation is not significant and could be chalked up to differences in the scales or what you had to eat the day before. As for lifting, I'd imagine higher elevation could affect your strength and working capacity until you acclimate to it.

 

[mommajulesberry]

@adviceplease plus commercial gym plates are probably off by a bit regardless so see the big picture, maybe compare your home gym barbell lifts this winter break to your lifts next winter break etc

 

[dawn16]

@chrisolys Whenever lifting in high elevation I get tired a lot quicker due to the lack of oxygen.

 

[dworldsgreatest]

@chrisolys Training in higher altitude could be more challenging because of the decreased oxygen tension, so you would be fatigued easier than usual. This could be beneficial though because prolonged training in this environment would force your body to adopt and increase production of RBCs from increased erythropoietin (physiologic polycythemia). End point is that (theoretically) your blood would have more oxygen-carrying capacity allowing you to perform better when you return to sea level altitude.

In terms of weight however, this should not be an issue assuming that all other factors remain the same.