The conditions in Colorado are a lot less forgiving than the kennel, as a group of 14 Western Bulldogs recently discovered during their two week pre-season camp in Denver last month.

The group of predominantly key position players pushed themselves mentally and physically at altitude and the change in environment was immediately felt, Michael Talia said.

“It is pretty tough at the moment… we went up to the amphitheatre and did some boxing for probably a good 45 minutes and that was solid,” Talia said.

“I think running up the amphitheatre stairs everyone was blowing by the end of it.

“Did some weights and skills at the end of (the day)… we’ve still got seven days to go and a lot more hiking to do.”

Talia compared the altitude training to breathing through a straw, taking numerous days to acclimatise to the change in oxygen levels.

“When you are running you just accumulate lactic acid a lot quicker, my legs were burning up a lot quicker running,” he said.

“[It] sort of feels like you are breathing through a straw, if I could put it one way.

“You are real wheezy – it’s sort of like you have asthma after your run, so you are constantly wheezing and you can’t get that breath in that sort of gets you back up and going after your exercise.”

Heading into his third year at the Bulldogs, the 20-year-old defender found the training sessions became easier with each day, despite the increase in volume and work load.

“The second hike we did was a lot better than the first,” he said.

“The first one was probably half the length I think it was 13km and the second one was 20km and I felt like the first one was a lot harder than the second one.

“I think I have acclimatised a bit but not fully yet – the running was pretty tough so I will see how I go.”