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Training in a hypoxic chamber

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GPSrow

Watty Friend (18)
My Dad is in training for a ride round Tasmania to raise money for the Starlight Foundation.

He has been struggling to fit enough riding in due to all the rain in Sydney recently so he has resorted to other training options. This excerpt was from his latest email update that I thought was interesting.



I find it amazing that Scots has a hypoxic chamber. I would have thought that sort of technology would be limited to places like the AIS.

clearly if they used it for rowing, it didnt work.

they should be breaking records by now?
 

TheKing

Colin Windon (37)
I don't know what the big deal is with the culture of semi-professionalism in high schools.

In the Queensland GPS we don't have anything like this yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if in the next 10 years that they did.

What do the kids do when they leave school? There are enough soft cock private school (and public school) kids running around as it is.

Teaspoon of concrete mixed with some hard work anyone?

People that label private schoolboys as soft cocks need to wake up to the fact that the majority of today's wallabies came through the very system you are ripping on.

Wallaby names are in bold, super players are not. Dare I say you could pick a pretty bloody solid wallaby side from these 'soft cocks'.

Please note these are only players that graduated after 2000 in Queensland, I haven't included the likes of Jason Little, Tim Horan, Elton Flatley, Tom Lawton, Steve Kefu, Ben Tune or any other established names.

I can only assume that the Sydney GPS has a similar number of players, Ben Daley is one who plays for the Reds.


Name
School
Professional Team
Year Graduated
Quade Cooper
Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)
Reds
2006
David Pocock
Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)
Brumbies
2005
Jake Schatz
Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)
Reds
2007
Aidan Toua
Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)
Reds
2007
Will Genia
Brisbane Boys College
Reds
2005
James Horwill
Brisbane Boys College
Reds
2002
Stephen Moore
Brisbane Grammar School
Brumbies
2000
Mitchell Chapman
Brisbane Grammar School
Waratahs
2001
Paul Alo-Emile
Brisbane State High School
Rebels
2009
Chris F'Sautia
Brisbane State High School
Reds
2010
Peter Hynes
Brisbane State High School
Reds
2000
Eddie Quirk
Brisbane State High School
Reds
2008
Matt To'omua
Brisbane State High School
Brumbies
2007
Ben Lucas
Gregory Terrace
Reds
2005
Matt Lucas
Gregory Terrace
Waratahs
2009
James Hanson
Gregory Terrace
Reds
2005
Digby Ioane
Gregory Terrace
Reds
2003
Liam Gill
Gregory Terrace
Reds
2009
Albert Anae
Ipswich Grammar School
Reds
2006
Rod Davies
Ipswich Grammar School
Reds
2006
Richard Brown
Nudgee College
Force
2001
Rocky Elsom
Nudgee College
Ex-Brumby/Waratah
2000
Hugh McMeniman
Nudgee College
Force
2001
James O'Connor
Nudgee College
Rebels
2007
Dom Shipperley
Nudgee College
Reds
2008
Kimami Sitauti
Nudgee College
Rebels
2009
Joseph Tomane
Nudgee College
Brumbies
2007
Jarrad Butler
The Southport School
Reds
2008
Jonathan Lance
The Southport School
Reds
2007
Luke Morahan
The Southport School
Reds
2007
Robert Simmons
The Southport School
Reds
2006
James Slipper
The Southport School
Reds
2007
Ben Tapuai
The Southport School
Reds
2007
Rex Tapuai
The Southport School
Force
2001
 

yourmatesam

Desmond Connor (43)
People that label private schoolboys as soft cocks need to wake up to the fact that the majority of today's wallabies came through the very system you are ripping on.

Pull your head in there tiger. I had the pleasure of attending private school (and had a great time while I was there) with some ex-Wallabies and current and ex-S15 and international players.

If you have visited these forums more than once I'm sure you too would have realised that there are plenty of private school characters knocking around on the boards at GAGR. Even to the point that I'd bet that the majority of people who post regularly on the forum have attended private school of some description.

That is the nature of rugby. It is embedded in the "private school, north shore" culture.

I spent the majority of my school years in the public system and whilst I enjoyed my time at boarding school, I did happen to come across a fair amount of soft cocks while I was there. Kids who had it all but didn't (and still don't) appreciate it. The cost of a hypoxic chamber at the Scots School would have been say $100,000 - my point is that these kids would gain just as much from training in the normal atmosphere as they would in a hypoxic chamber. And imagine what they could do if they trained hard?

The hypoxic chamber at the Scots school is a classic example of the old boy network gone wild. As Braveheart81 said, his Dad is training for a bike ride and because he's an old boy his Dad can use it for free. But rather than put that money into something that the whole school (or even community) can benefit from, the school (and I would nearly bet the old boys network at Scots) chose to put that money into a training aid that will get more use from the old boys than the students.

My point is that the hypoxic chamber is a waste of money, particularly on some toffy nosed Scots boys (and their Dads) to use as a training aid for rowing (or a bike ride) to gain a minimal advantage. I also think that the sense of entitlement that some up and coming rugby players (and athletes in general) possess can be attributed in part to the installation of such fancy equipment at a school. Get back to basics.

NSW Waratahs ring a bell?

I love rugby and will be involved in the game until I die, but this sort of stuff just reeks of too much money, not enough substance.
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
My point is that the hypoxic chamber is a waste of money, particularly on some toffy nosed Scots boys (and their Dads) to use as a training aid for rowing (or a bike ride) to gain a minimal advantage. I also think that the sense of entitlement that some up and coming rugby players (and athletes in general) possess can be attributed in part to the installation of such fancy equipment at a school. Get back to basics.

NSW Waratahs ring a bell?

I love rugby and will be involved in the game until I die, but this sort of stuff just reeks of too much money, not enough substance.

Just want to like this bit.
If you mean by "soft cock" spoilt ungrateful brat - I'm with you all the way.
i always thought of rowing that it didnt matter much about anything except how much hard work you put in and even with carbon fibre everything i still think that's probably the case.
Rugby used to be like that.
Now I think everyone assumes there's a short cut - which is really all a hypoxic chamber is if you boil it down.
There are no short cuts - if you want to be good at something do it 10,000 times properly.
 

Rob42

John Solomon (38)
I went to one of these schools, and was certainly no elite sportsman. It was pretty frustrating to watch every year as a gleaming new carbon fibre boat was wheeled out for the glory of the 1st VIII, whilst plenty of other facilities being used by many more boys waited and waited for replacement. It gave you a pretty clear demonstration of the relative priorities of the school, even if it was all Old Boy money buying the new toys. Loved Cyclo's comment above - wouldn't you rather have a High Performance Unit in your maths faculty?
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
I went to one of these schools, perhaps not at the top of the list for sports-mania, yet loved my sport, as did most of the students, and I got to decent levels in a few. We had plenty of guys who were excellent at many sports, and they got there by hard work. And we competed OK.
Ultimately, education is supposed to be rounded and encompass academia, arts, music, social sciences and sports, amongst other aspects. None should be the sole focus.
Semi-professionalism is just wrong at this level, in my opinion. I don't want to get into the whole recruiting minefield, but that does not reflect the quality, rather the morality of the school.
Sportsmasters crowing at school advertorial nights about elite programs, while the academic results go downhill is just idiotic.
 

TheKing

Colin Windon (37)
I went to one of these schools, perhaps not at the top of the list for sports-mania, yet loved my sport, as did most of the students, and I got to decent levels in a few. We had plenty of guys who were excellent at many sports, and they got there by hard work. And we competed OK.
Ultimately, education is supposed to be rounded and encompass academia, arts, music, social sciences and sports, amongst other aspects. None should be the sole focus.
Semi-professionalism is just wrong at this level, in my opinion. I don't want to get into the whole recruiting minefield, but that does not reflect the quality, rather the morality of the school.
Sportsmasters crowing at school advertorial nights about elite programs, while the academic results go downhill is just idiotic.

I get your point, and Youmatesam's point (sorry If I overreacted, I misinterpreted what I perceived as an attack of private school rugby that was simply a generalisation.) but the increasing trend of semi-professionalism in schools doesn't neccessarily correlate with a decrease in academic success.

At Brisbane Grammar in Queensland, 2012's cohort won the insanely competitive Rugby competition in term 3, and went on to break the states OP record just weeks later with 51 OP Ones

It's all about moderation. The First XV Hooker Al Harper combined playing Firsts Rugby, rougbly 4 or 5 trainings a week plus the game on saturday with extreme academic success achieving an OP1. The average OP in the team was a 7 or 8 I've been told. (on a 1-25 scale).

While I can definately agree that this may not happen at Scots, or other schools around Australia, Rugby can be played with a professional attitude and work ethic in combintion with academic prowess.
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
While I can definately agree that this may not happen at Scots, or other schools around Australia, Rugby can be played with a professional attitude and work ethic in combintion with academic prowess.

I don't understand anybody to be saying otherwise.
Isn't the real point that showing any kid a short cut to success, or telling them that there is a short cut to success, is fraught with danger?
 

TheKing

Colin Windon (37)
I don't understand anybody to be saying otherwise.
Isn't the real point that showing any kid a short cut to success, or telling them that there is a short cut to success, is fraught with danger?

How could you call training in harder conditions a short cut to success? If it makes the work harder, doesn't that mean the boys are training harder?

Maybe my understanding of Hypoxic Chambers is incomplete, but isn't it essentially simulating going to train in the mountains to increase aerobic capacity, while staying in the school gym? I don't see how that makes it a shortcut fraught with danger. More of a time saving device, allowing boys to handle a professional approach whilst combining it with studies, which could only be seen as a positive to both the viewpoints of rugby first and academics first.
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
How could you call training in harder conditions a short cut to success? If it makes the work harder, doesn't that mean the boys are training harder?

Based on results: that's not how its being used.
I suspect that, at least psychologically, it is assumed that having the thing gives them an advantage.
 

yourmatesam

Desmond Connor (43)
Maybe my understanding of Hypoxic Chambers is incomplete, but isn't it essentially simulating going to train in the mountains to increase aerobic capacity, while staying in the school gym? I don't see how that makes it a shortcut fraught with danger. More of a time saving device, allowing boys to handle a professional approach whilst combining it with studies, which could only be seen as a positive to both the viewpoints of rugby first and academics first.

Again, back to the original point of what happens when they are in the real world? In the real world, you have to work hard to stay fit, it's nowhere near as easy as it is at boarding school.

The point is that this stuff is just wrong, schoolboy sport should be schoolboy sport, not semi-professional, it shows that someone somewhere has lost sight of the goal of schoolboy sport. Fun, fitness camaradrie, lessons in life, learning how to win and lose.
 

I like to watch

David Codey (61)
It's all about moderation. The First XV Hooker Al Harper combined playing Firsts Rugby, rougbly 4 or 5 trainings a week plus the game on saturday with extreme academic success achieving an OP1. The average OP in the team was a 7 or 8 I've been told. (on a 1-25 scale).
Training for rugby 4 or 5 times a week is not moderation.
They are Schoolkids FFS.
 

sportfan

Frank Row (1)
It's interesting to see that the top NRL and AFL teams are training in a simulated altitude rooms. Collingwood, Swans, St Kilda, Rabbitohs, Storm, Bulldogs, Tigers, Titans. They are using it for both athlete conditioning and for the ability to get injured players back full fitness quicker. When will we see professional rugby teams do the same?

Good on The Scots College for pushing boundaries and becoming the first school with an altitude room. The students will have a great opportunity to use equipment and techniques employed by world class athletes. The lessons in physiology alone would be of great benefit to an aspiring sports scientist.
 

sportfan

Frank Row (1)
Majority of equipment here and around the world is supplied by an Aussie company called Altitude Training Systems. A few of my cycling mates have purchased the portable systems they produce.
 

Rob42

John Solomon (38)
It's interesting to see that the top NRL and AFL teams are training in a simulated altitude rooms. Collingwood, Swans, St Kilda, Rabbitohs, Storm, Bulldogs, Tigers, Titans. They are using it for both athlete conditioning and for the ability to get injured players back full fitness quicker. When will we see professional rugby teams do the same?

/

Hopefully not until there's some decent evidence that simulated high altitude training for rugby-type athletes is worthwhile. The fact that AFL and NRL teams use them is not the highest recommendation, y'know. No problem with the use of hyperbaric chambers for soft-tissue injuries though - pretty sure that's well established to work.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Hopefully not until there's some decent evidence that simulated high altitude training for rugby-type athletes is worthwhile. The fact that AFL and NRL teams use them is not the highest recommendation, y'know. No problem with the use of hyperbaric chambers for soft-tissue injuries though - pretty sure that's well established to work.

I think high altitude training whether actual or simulated is proven to be effective in any sport.

It helps raise the red blood cell count allowing more oxygen to be carried through the bloodstream. This will have benefits on performance in all conditions.

I would say that there are potentially bigger benefits for rugby players because they actually have to play at altitude a couple of times a year so it can help prepare them for the conditions by being more used to exerting themselves in a lower oxygen environment.
 

Gagger

Nick Farr-Jones (63)
Staff member
Yeah, they have been trumpeting its merits to all and sundry at "prospective parent" nights and such. Reality is, it will benefit about 1-2% of the student body, and the principle of this type of semi-professionalism in schoolboy sport alarms me.
Meanwhile, their HSC results plummet.


How much does one of those cost? You'd really have to question priorities at that place
 
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