Essendon players training at altitude in Boulder, Colorado have spoken of the difference felt in the body while undertaking exercise at a different altitude level.

Midfielder Jake Melksham said the altered conditions were making it harder to breath during the running sets the group were doing.

“I haven’t experienced any training like this, you just feel really short of breath as you train and it is really cold,” Melksham said from the group’s training base in Boulder.

“You are running a lot slower because you can’t get that oxygen in and the whole point of it is when you get back to sea level you are able to utilize all the oxygen you take in.”

“We have had five running sessions and you just feel that someone is giving you a big bear hug the whole time you are running and can’t get the air into your lungs.”

Melksham is not the only one noticing the difference with teammate David Zaharakis saying the group was surprised at how slow their times were early in the camp.

“You do feel it and you are probably about 20 or 30 seconds off your normal times at the start and you do feel the less oxygen in the air,” Zaharakis said.

“It has been good, we have done plenty of hikes and the normal training you would do back in Melbourne but you can feel the altitude does affect you.”

Melksham said as the camp has gone on the players have noticed the adaptations to their bodies and improvement in their training.

“From the first set of running that we did to the last, the longer you go the better you get,” he said.

“I have done a lot of the running with Brendon (Goddard) so far and that has been great for me.”

“He is one of those guys that people gravitate to and I think that is going to be an outstanding trend throughout the year.”

Essendon’s group of ten players currently training in Boulder, Colorado will return to the Club next Friday after spending three week’s training at altitude