Effects of Intermittent Hypoxia on Running Economy

Abstract

We investigated the effects of two 5-wk periods of intermittent hypoxia on running economy (RE). 11 male and female middle-distance runners were randomly assigned to the intermittent hypoxia group (IHG) or to the control group (CG). All athletes trained for a 13-wk period starting at pre-season until the competition season. The IHG spent additionally 2 h at rest on 3 days/wk for the first and the last 5 weeks in normobaric hypoxia (15–11% FiO2). RE, haematological parameters and body composition were determined at low altitude (600 m) at baseline, after the 5^th, the 8^th and the 13^th week of training. RE, determined by the relative oxygen consumption during submaximal running, (−2.3±1.2 vs. −0.3±0.7 ml/min/kg, P<0.05) and total running time (+1.0±0.9 vs. +0.4±0.5 min, P<0.05) changed significantly between the IHG and CG only during the first 5-wk period. Haematological and cardiorespiratory changes indicate that the improved RE was associated with decreased cardiorespiratory costs and greater reliance on carbohydrate. Intermittent hypoxia did not affect RE during the second 5-wk period. These findings suggest that the effects of intermittent hypoxia on RE strongly depend on the training phase.

running economy - training phase - intermittent hypoxia

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