SEA-LEVEL PERFORMANCE IS ENHANCED BY ACUTE INTERMITTENT HYPOBARIC HYPOXIA

Abstract

787 The goal of this project was to study to what extent intermittent exposure to altitude in a hypobaric chamber can improve performance at sea-level. Over a 10-day period, elite male triatletes trained two hours each day on a cycle ergometer placed in a hypobaric chamber (60-70% Heart Rate Reserve). Subjects trained at simulated altitude of 2.500 m (n=8) or at sea-level (n=8). Baseline measurements were done on a cycle ergometer at sea-level, which included an incremental test until exhaustion and a Wingate Anaerobic Test. Measurements were repeated 2 and 9 days after termination of the training period. Nine days after training in hypoxia, significant increases were seen in all important parameters of the maximal aerobic as well as the anaerobic test. A significant increase of 7.0% was seen in the mean maximal oxygen uptake per kg body weight (VO2max) (P<0.05), and the mean maximal power output per kg body weight (MPO) increased significantly with 7.4% (P<0.05). The mean anaerobic power (AnP) and the mean anaerobic capacity (AnC) increased both with 5.0% (P<0.05), and the Time until peak (Tpeak) decreased highly significantly with 37.7% (P<0.01). In the sea-level group, no significant changes were seen in the above mentioned parameters of both the maximal aerobic and maximal anaerobic test (resp. 3.5% increase in VO2max, 3.2%increase in MPO, 1.8% increase in AnP, 0.1% increase in AnC, and decrease in Tpeak of 13.7% at the second post-test). The results of this study indicate that intermittent hypobaric training can improve both the aerobic as well as the anaerobic energy supplying systems.