THE EFFECTS OF INTERMITTENT HYPOXIC TRAINING ON AEROBIC CAPACITY AND ENDURANCE PERFORMANCE IN CYCLISTS

Milosz Czuba¹, Zbigniew Waskiewicz², Adam Zajac¹, Stanislaw Poprzecki³, Jaroslaw Cholewa¹ and Robert Roczniok⁴

¹Department of Sports Training, ²Department of Team Sport Games, ³Department of Biochemistry, and⁴Department of Statistics and Methodology, Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Poland

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) with 95 % of lactate threshold workload (WR_LT) on aerobic capacity and endurance performance in well-trained cyclists. Twenty male elite cyclists, randomly divided into a hypoxia (H) group (n=10; age 22 ± 2.7years; VO₂max 67.8 ± 2.5 ml·kg^-1·min^-1; body height (BH) 1.78 ± 0.05 m; body mass (BM) 66.7 ± 5.4kg; fat free mass (FFM) 59.3 ± 5.1kg; fat content (FAT%) 11.3 ± 2.1%), and a control (C) group (n = 10; age 23.5 ± 3. 5years; VO₂max 67.7 ± 2.0 ml·kg^-1·min^-1; BH 1.79 ± 3.2 m; BM 69.2 ± 5.5 kg; FFM 63.6 ± 4.8 kg; FAT% 7.9 ± 1.94 %) took part in the research project. The training program used during the experiment was the same for the both groups. For three weeks, the subjects in H group performed 3 training sessions per week in normobaric hypoxia environment (IHT – O₂ = 15. 2%). During the elemental core of the IHT session, the intensity was set at 95% WR_LT for 30-min in 1^st microcycle, 35-min in 2^nd microcycle and 40-min in 3^rd microcycle. The same training procedure was provided in C group, yet the intensity of the main sessions were set at 100% WR_LT in the normoxia environment. The results indicate a significant (p < 0.05) increase in VO₂max,VO_2LT, WRmax, WR_LT and change in lactate concentration (∆LA) during incremental test in H group. Also a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in time of the time trial was seen, associated with a significant increase (p < 0.05) in average generated power (P_avg) and average speed (V_avg) during the time trial. The intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) applied in this research did not significantly affect the hematological variables considered: number of erythrocytes (RBC), hemoglobin concentration (HGB) and haematocrit value (HCT). Significant blood value increases (p < 0.05) were only observed in MCV in H group. This data suggests that intermittent hypoxic training at lactate threshold intensity and medium duration (30-40min) is an effective training means for improving aerobic capacity and endurance performance at sea level.Key words: Intermittent hypoxic training (IHT), hypoxia, aerobic capacity, endurance performance, cycling.

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Posted on August 24, 2012 by The Athlete Clinic

This entry was posted in Reviews, Training and tagged advances in science, Cycling Endurance exercise engineering Fatigue Profiling Heart Rate Monthly Testing Protocol Orthostatic Heart Rates Power sports and exercise engineering sports engineering Sports Exercise Engineerin, Hypoxic Training, lactate threshold, normoxic training, principles of training. Bookmark the permalink.

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