Simulated hypoxia does not further improve aerobic capacity during sprint interval training

Alan Richardson, Oliver Gibson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the use of hypoxic sprint interval training (SIT) for the improvement of aerobic capacity. METHOD: 27 participants (mean ± SD), age 21 ± 1 yrs, body mass 72.4 ± 9.7 kg and height 175 ±7 cm, completed an V̇O2peak incremental exercise test and time to exhaustion (TTE) trial (80% V̇O2peak) pre and post SIT. Participants were randomly assigned to either, control (CONT), normoxic (NORM) or hypoxic (FiO2: 0.15) (HYP) conditions. SIT involved 30s sprints interspersed with 4min rest. The number of sprints progressed from four to seven over six sessions separated by 1--2 days rest. Two--way mixed design ANOVA was performed to determine changes between conditions. RESULTS: V̇O2peak improved (p<0.05) pre to post SIT in NORM (11.2 ± 10.8 %) and HYP(10.9 ±6.2 %), but not CONT (0.7 ± 14.3 %). TTE post SIT was significantly improved from pre SIT in NORM and HYP but not CONT (CONT = 1 ± 6, NORM = 56 ± 25,HYP= 34 ± 25%, p < 0.05). Peak and recovery heart rate was lower in NORM (p<0.05) than HYP as SIT sessions progressed. SpO2 (%) was lower in HYP(86.1 ±4.3%) compared to NORM (97.1 ±0.7%), decreasing within al HYP sessions, and increasing with SIT. CONCLUSIONS: Hypoxic and normoxic SIT caused improvement in V̇O2 peak and TTE compared to a control. Hypoxic SIT did not cause further improvements, indicating hypoxia based SIT offers no additional benefit for improvement of endurance performance.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1099-1106
Number of pages8
JournalThe Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness
Volume55
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2015

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Simulated hypoxia does not further improve aerobic capacity during sprint interval training'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this