An extended Brisbane Lions travel party will return to Arizona in the pre-season with the Club confirming it will send 18 players to an altitude training camp in Flagstaff in November.

The Lions, who sent a senior group of five players to Arizona at the end of 2011, will this year take a squad comprised of their five-plus year players to experience a high-altitude training camp based largely at the Northern Arizona University.

The group will depart for the two and a half week training camp two days after returning to pre-season training in Brisbane on November 5.

Lions Strength and Conditioning Coach, Matt Hass, said that the success of last year’s camp had been the major influence in the decision to return to Arizona.

“Last year we just took the five players and it was a really successful camp,” Hass said.

“We had Blacky (Simon Black) running 3km personal bests, so obviously there were very good results coming off the back of it from a physical point of view.”

Hass also said that the more managed and specific build-up into the pre-season had helped last year’s group - Jonathan Brown, Simon Black, Jed Adcock, Daniel Merrett and Tom Rockliff - to sustain their physical performance levels throughout the duration of the 2012 season.

“That group have really steered clear from injury so from that point of view, the camp was a great success.”

Altitude training is fast becoming a staple of AFL Clubs’ pre-season training regime, with teams including Collingwood, Gold Coast, and North Melbourne all heading to higher ground to get the competitive edge.

In laymen’s terms, the lower partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude essentially drives more rapid improvements in aerobic capacity of endurance athletes and footballers alike. The body adapts to the relative lack of oxygen and consequently improves athletic capacity.

“The benefits of altitude training are proven, and we're looking to get some good results for our guys over there,” Hass said.

News, photos and video will be available on lions.com.au during the camp.