[Cracked Sidewalks] Marquette: Heavy Breathing?

[CrackedSidewalksSays]

Marquette: Heavy Breathing?

In an interesting article in this morning's Boston Globe, it's reported that Marquette is fidgeting with the team's lungs.

Inside an altitude chamber that simulates conditions at 9,000 feet above sea level, Marquette University guards Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal start pedaling stationary bikes. Realizing the challenge ahead, they look less than thrilled. Within minutes, Matthews and McNeal experience shortness of breath. Heart rates rise quickly. In five minutes, Matthews and McNeal have stressed their bodies far beyond what they could do on a bike outside the chamber.

After purchasing a customized altitude unit this summer for $41,700, Marquette became the first college basketball team in the country to integrate the hypoxic chamber into its training regimen, following the lead of professional sports franchises such as the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, and Phoenix Suns.

http://www.crackedsidewalks.com/2007/10/marquette-heavy-breathing.html

[The Lens]

And people think Tom Crean is going to leave MU.

Yeah right, how many other schools would green light this purchase?  And if they did, the hoops players would be in line with 95 football players waiting to use it.

[MUCrew]

That's really cool....what a great thing to integrate with the program.  We will probably be thanking Crean and his 'outside the box' approach (tae kwon do and now this) to training and getting these guys ready for the season.  I'd like to think that MU will always stay ahead of the curve while TC is here.

[rocky_warrior]

Only simulating 9000 feet -pansies! That's barely high enough for altitude sickness to set in 

[MUinCO]

Coming from someone who lives at 6300 feet...working out at 9000 is an absolute puker.  Good on them...make them even faster!

[ecompt]

Maybe that's why Iman rejected us. Couldn't take the pressure.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Maybe that's why Iman rejected us. Couldn't take the pressure.

or is afraid of heights.

[Dish]

Iman probably saw the guys biking in the chamber, other guys practicing tae kwon do, and thought to himself, "when do these guys play ball?"

(I'm kidding.)

[Big Papi]

And people think Tom Crean is going to leave MU.

Yeah right, how many other schools would green light this purchase?  And if they did, the hoops players would be in line with 95 football players waiting to use it.

Good point but I can also say that considering how much time TC put in to recruiting Shumpert and still losing out on him, why wouldn't he consider going somewhere else that is easier to recruit.

[Archie]

Good point but I can also say that considering how much time TC put in to recruiting Shumpert and still losing out on him, why wouldn't he consider going somewhere else that is easier to recruit.



Someplace easier like North Carolina? Oh wait --- they lost out to Georgia Tech also.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Why would he go to another school when he's got a hyperbolic chamber to help us recruit right here in Milwaukee.

[Marquette84]

And people think Tom Crean is going to leave MU.

Yeah right, how many other schools would green light this purchase?  And if they did, the hoops players would be in line with 95 football players waiting to use it.

Ohio State, for one.  They spent $75,000 on a hockey training treadmill that most NHL teams don't have. 

I just don't understand some of this criticism.  For years, people complained because MU didn't have first rate facilities.  Now they bitch because we do.  There is absolutely no pleasing some people.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

What fans complained about practice facilities? I'd like to hear that.

[bs4173]

I think it's a good purchase for the program, albeit an expensive one. A lot of professional cyclists and runners have these tents built in their homes and will sleep and work out in them. They've been proven to work very well for athletes' endurance. In fact, you can't do pro bike races in Italy if you use them, because they are an "artificial" way of increase blood counts. Also, Olympic speedskaters in Milwaukee's Petitt Center have used them. Granted, we're not trying to make jump-shooting Lance Armstrongs here, but Crean/staff should be commended for incorporating new things into training that have worked well in other sports.