Adequacy of an Altitude Fitness Program (Living and Training) plus Intermittent Exposure to Hypoxia for Improving Hematological Biomarkers and Sports Performance of Elite Athletes: A Single-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Diego Fernández-Lázaro, Juan Mielgo-Ayuso, Gema Santamaría, Eduardo Gutiérrez-Abejón, Carlos Domínguez-Ortega, Sandra María García-Lázaro and Jesús Seco-Calvo
Additional contact information
Diego Fernández-Lázaro: Department of Cellular Biology, Genetics, Histology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus of Soria, University of Valladolid, 42003 Soria, Spain
Juan Mielgo-Ayuso: Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Gema Santamaría: Department of Cellular Biology, Genetics, Histology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus of Soria, University of Valladolid, 42003 Soria, Spain
Eduardo Gutiérrez-Abejón: Pharmacological Big Data Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valladolid, 47005 Valladolid, Spain
Carlos Domínguez-Ortega: Department of Cellular Biology, Genetics, Histology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus of Soria, University of Valladolid, 42003 Soria, Spain
Sandra María García-Lázaro: Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology, and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus of Soria, University of Valladolid, 42003 Soria, Spain
Jesús Seco-Calvo: Physiotherapy Department, Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), Campus of Vegazana, University of Leon, 24071 Leon, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Athletes incorporate altitude training programs into their conventional training to improve their performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an 8-week altitude training program that was supplemented with intermittent hypoxic training (IHE) on the blood biomarkers, sports performance, and safety profiles of elite athletes. In a single-blind randomized clinical trial that followed the CONSORT recommendations, 24 male athletes were randomized to an IHE group (HA, n = 12) or an intermittent normoxia group (NA, n = 12). The IHE consisted of 5-min cycles of hypoxia–normoxia with an FIO 2 of between 10–13% for 90 min every day for 8 weeks. Hematological (red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, hematocrit, reticulated hemoglobin, reticulocytes, and erythropoietin), immunological (leukocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes), and renal (urea, creatinine, glomerular filtrate, and total protein) biomarkers were assessed at the baseline (T1), day 28 (T2), and day 56 (T3). Sports performance was evaluated at T1 and T3 by measuring quadriceps strength and using three-time trials over the distances of 60, 400, and 1000 m on an athletics track. Statistically significant increases ( p < 0.05) in erythropoietin, reticulocytes, hemoglobin, and reticulocyte hemoglobin were observed in the HA group at T3 with respect to T1 and the NA group. In addition, statistically significant improvements ( p < 0.05) were achieved in all performance tests. No variations were observed in the immunological or renal biomarkers. The athletes who were living and training at 1065 m and were supplemented with IHE produced significant improvements in their hematological behavior and sports performance with optimal safety profiles.

Keywords: hypoxia; athletes; blood biomarkers; sports performance; safety profile; altitude training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9095/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9095/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9095-:d:872028

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().