Everest Base Camp awaits Scarlets

Scarlets today confirmed that the newest innovation at Parc y Scarlets is ready for business in time for the launch of the Guinness PRO12 campaign.

After months of planning and building work Parc y Scarlets is now home to a state of the art hypoxic chamber, which will push the players to their physical and mental limits. Last month Scarlets announced a new partnership that sees the region putting US based Sparta Performance Science’s pioneering software, SpartaTrac, to the test in West Wales.

Today’s announcement is further testament to the region’s continuous, and long-term, investment in the environment at Parc y Scarlets.

The final block of the region’s pre-season training regime will see Scarlets players reaching the dizzy heights of 5,500 metres above sea level, higher than Everest Base Camp without leaving West Wales’ terra firma, to ensure that the players are at their physical peak and fulfilling their maximum potential as another season gets underway.

The hypoxic altitude chamber, traditionally utilised by endurance athletes, will allow the Scarlets to improve performance as well as allow help injured players with their recovery and rehabilitation programmes.

The technology linked to altitude training represents the most advanced, natural performance enhancing tools available for improving all facets of performance, most notably fitness, recovery, and rehabilitation. By reducing the amount of oxygen in the air, it forces the cardio-respiratory systems to work even harder to deliver sufficient oxygen to working muscles.

Speaking about the latest innovation introduce at Parc y Scarlets, Huw Davies, Scarlets Head of Strength and Conditioning said; “Training in the hypoxic environment created by the chamber will result in physiological adaptations which should enhance the fitness levels of our players dramatically.”

“The addition of the hypoxic chamber will allow us to increase our training efficiency and density which will lead to better performances across the board.”

Scarlets Chief Operations Officer and General Manager of Rugby Jon Daniels said: “Once again we must thank our board of directors for their foresight and commitment in investing in the rugby environment. Just like the Sparta Software this initiative will benefit the Scarlets for years to come.

“Not only is it one of the largest Hypoxic Chambers in the UK, but we also believe the Scarlets will be the only rugby club in the UK to have this facility at its playing and training facility. Our vision is to create a Centre for Performance Excellence at Parc y Scarlets and this summer’s developments are two significant steps towards achieving that aim.”