Effects of Mindful Breathing on Rapid Hypoxia Preacclimatization Training

Abstract

Rapid exposure at high altitude is likely to cause Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) of different levels. This paper designs a "quick acclimatization" method to make the volunteers adapt to 3,600 meters (m) after 2-day training and 3,900 m after 3-day training. Especially, we investigate the effects of mindful breathing on rapid hypoxia preacclimatization training. 8 young male volunteers were randomly divided into one treatment group and one control group. Peripheral Saturation of Oxygen (SpO2), Heart Rate (HR) and Respiratory Rate (RR) were recorded from the beginning to the end. We find that: (1) Hypoxic Preacclimatization Training Scheme (HPTS): at 3600 m, the increment of SpO2 was 3.18% after 2-day training (P < 0.01); at 3900 m, 8 volunteers got obviously higher SpO2 (2.65%, P < 0.05) and lower HR (–5.31 bpm, P < 0.05) after 3-day training. (2) Mindful Breathing Training Scheme (MBTS): at 3,600 m, the treatment group obtained better SpO2 level (2.21%) with obviously lower HR (–7.1 bpm) and unobvious higher RR (2.85 br/min) than control group after 2-day training; at 3900 m, the treatment group did not show a significant difference after 3-day training. Besides, the treatment group exhibited a comprehensive better performance over the control group at night, which obtained a higher SpO2 with lower HR and lower RR. In the comparison of different altitudes, the two groups had similar RR while the treatment group had a higher SpO2 (P < 0.05) and a lower HR (P < 0.001). In the dynamic comparison during mindful breathing training, SpO2 occurred remarkable differences: P < 0.05 every 15 minutes started from the 45th minute. We conclude that HPTS successfully helped volunteers adapt to the setting altitude in a short time. MBTS can induce significant phenomenon of sustained gain effect. It can effectively increase the acclimatization speed to quickly return to lower HR and RR and obtain higher SpO2. MBTS can enable beginners without any experience of mindfulness and breathing training to initially stimulate the trend of "energy-saving" acclimatization in 2–3 days.