When it comes to training at altitude, Robbie Tarrant doesn’t quite know what to expect. That’s because for the second time in three years, the tall-forward has been hit with altitude sickness.

He first had it in 2010 on the club’s first trip to Utah and was lucky to avoid it last year, but after returning to Deer Valley late last week, he felt some familiar symptoms come on.

“I just felt a bit sick in my stomach and then it sort of went on for a little bit and I was really fatigued and had to stay in bed for the whole afternoon,” he told kangaroos.com.au.

“I had it in my first year as well so I knew a few hours into it what I was in for.”

Unable to participate in Sunday’s hike, Tarrant was instead left to try and recover in his room.

“It’s a pretty shocking feeling. It’s not like gastro where you know exactly what you’ve got. You get body cramps all over and headaches for like 24-hours.

“It’s a bit of headache, fatigue, stomach cramps…it’s pretty uncomfortable. It just takes away your appetite and you don’t want to drink either, so you can get pretty dehydrated and that’s what knocks you around the most.”

The 25-year old was a welcome sight at skills training on Monday and said he was getting back to normal.

“I’m not feeling a hundred per cent but I managed to get through most of the training today which was good. We’ll just have to take it easy for the first few days and then get back into it.”

Tarrant’s not the only player exercising caution with Ryan Bastinac also having to back off in order to allow his body to acclimatise.

The midfielder has had altitude sickness on the last two camps and is taking a different approach this year in order to avoid another setback.

“This time around it’s been pretty good, it’s been more the last couple of years that I’ve been really crook over here,” Bastinac said.

“The first year was the worst. Usually I’m up the front of the pack in the running but in that year I slipped right down the back which was different. It just felt like I couldn’t run to the best of my ability.

“Last year I got really crook and I was bed-ridden all day and then when I ran I was coughing non-stop, so I think I got a bit of altitude sickness the last two years.”

Understandably, Bastinac was hesitant about a return to Utah. However with the help of the medical team he’s been able to put the past behind him.

“Everyone adapts differently to altitude and I’m one of the unlucky ones who suffers from it.

“I was a bit nervous coming over this year and I just wanted to be better at managing it this time. I spoke to the doctor and he said they’d ease me into it and to just make sure I do the little things really well and build up slowly.

“Last year, when I did recover from being sick, I was pushing myself a bit too hard to try and keep up with all the boys so I won’t make that mistake again.”