Effects of Intermittent Hypoxic Training and Detraining on Ventilatory Chemosensitive Adaptations in Endurance Athletes

Abstract

It is well known that chronic exposure to hypoxia and sojourns at high altitude lead to an increase in the hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory responses (HVR and HCVR), as indexes of ventilatory chemosensitivities to hypoxia and hypercapnia. Similarly, recent studies, found that intermittent hypoxia at rest also induces an increase in HVR, whereas only a few studies have investigated the influence of intermittent hypoxic training, i.e., live low-train high, on ventilatory chemosensitivity; Levine et al. and Benoit et al. indicated that an enhanced HVR appeared after intermittent hypoxic training. We also have found that HVR tended to increase after intermittent hypoxic training in untrained subjects, but HCVR did not. However, surprisingly, no study has attempted to investigate ventilatory chemosensitive adaptations to intermittent hypoxic training in endurance athletes who have blunted ventilatory chemosensitivity, despite the fact that intermittent hypoxic training is commonly used by endurance athletes.