Effects of Repeated Hypoxic Exposure with High Intensity Interval Cycling in Trained Athletes

See, Jet Ming (2024) Effects of Repeated Hypoxic Exposure with High Intensity Interval Cycling in Trained Athletes. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

Hypoxic exposure with high intensity interval training has demonstrated an effective improvement in sports performance by inducing specific physiological adaptation, whereas the training effect's durability is limited after the removal of hypoxic stimulus. However, there is limited evidence regarding the influence of repeated exposure to hypoxic training on sports performance. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of repeated hypoxic exposure with high intensity interval training (HIIT) on trained athletes. Seventeen male trained athletes (age = 26.7 ± 5.9 yrs; height = 172.1 ± 8.7 cm; weight = 70.3 ± 10.1 kg; BMI = 23.7 ± 3.1 kg/m2) were recruited and they were categorized into two groups based on their previous hypoxic training experience: (i) Experienced Group, EG (n=10): participants who have experienced RSH training before, followed by a 4-weeks of washout period after the training programme; (ii) Non-experienced Group, NEG (n=7): participants who have no previous exposure to the RSH training programme. The participants underwent a 4-week cycling repeated sprint hypoxia (cycling-RSH) training program, during which jump performance, speed, anaerobic capacity, aerobic capacity, and repeated sprint ability (RSA) before and after the training were measured. Results showed that only aerobic capacity improved significantly in EG (p=.038) while the NEG showed significant improvement in measures (peak power: p=.017; average power: p=.002) and RSA (p=.011). After 4 weeks of training, there was no change in jump performance or speed, regardless of group. In conclusion, 4-weeks cycling RSH training cycling does not improve sports aerobic capacity, but it does not improve other anaerobic measures