Altitude Training (Intermittent hypoxic training protocols)
About IHE/HIH altitude training protocols, alternative passive recovery/performance enhancing strategies in altitude...
Different altitude-training protocols exist and there are more to come, but something that could draw attention to athletes is the most time efficient ways to gain in endurance capacity or to use recovery strategies. At Physioinnovation we consult and help you getting the right type of altitude training protocols for your sport, the timing of your peak performance, recovery strategies and so on.
More from the sports science concerning the IHT/HIH protocols, that we also offer at AlpCamps Sports Institute
Recently, Bonetti et al., (2009) conducted a trial of intermittent hypoxic exposure (IHE). IHE is described as being brief exposure to altitude ( less than 3 hours) (Bonetti and Hopkins, 2009). It has been proposed that muscular changes such as increased muscular buffering and haematological changes such as increased levels of reticolucytes (immature red blood cells – the carriers of oxygen) and haemaglobine (mature red blood cells – the carriers of oxygen) induced by a IHE protocol could possibly increase endurance performance (Bonetti et al., 2009).
Results from a study conducted by Bonetti and Hopkins (2009) obtained 3 days after the 3-week protocol by the test group (18 males) compared with a control group (8 males): The test group showed a 4,7% increase in cycling peak power, measured via a so-called incremental ramp test, where subjects increased the resistance on the bike every 3rd minute until exhaustion. These measurements was encountered in WATT, a tool that could be used by cyclists I.e. (SRM power data etc…)
Lactate profile power was increased (4,4%) – This would suggest that one conducting a sport were there is a period of lactic acid building, such as heavy and sore muscles would be able to prolong his period in where he/she could work intensively.
Heart rate profile power (6,5%) was increased as well, which would suggest that I.e. running 19,5km/hr would be 6,5% less hard for the cardiovascular system. Conclusively, the results would suggest that the increased cycling performance were due to peripheral changes, such as increased muscular buffering which means a better distribution of lactate acid elsewhere in the body, since there were no changes in haematological parameters such as haemaglobine.
Practically, the implementation of this time-efficient altitude training, would suggest a break through for competitive athletes, since it can be difficult to implement long duration live high train low protocols (>12 hours a day above 2500metres >21 days) within hard training periods.
The ultimate increase in performance within cycling peak power attenuated by increasing peripheral parameters such as lactate removal and more hence increase the efficiency of the muscle fibre can be obtained by consulting wihtin altitude training, as we propose at Physioinnovation.
Lately Chui et al, (2012) discovered that IHT or here called HIH Hypobaric intermittent hypoxia affected the cardiovascular system by an anti-hypertensive effect, although the study was conducted on rats the correlation to IHE on humans could might well be the same.
References
: Bonetti, D.L., Hopkins, W.G., Lowe, T.E., Kilding, A.E., (2009), Cycling Performance FollowingAdaptation to Two Protocols of Acutely Intermittent Hypoxia, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, vol.4, p.68-83
Bonetti, D.L., Hopkins, W.G., (2009), Sea-level exercise performance following adaptation to hypoxia: a meta-analysis, Sports Med, vol. 39(2), p.107-27
Millet, G.P., Roels, B., Schmitt, L., Woorons, X., Richalet, J.P., (2010), Combining Hypoxic Methods for Peak Performance, Sports med
Fang Cui, Lu Gao, Fang Yuan, Ze-Fei Dong, Zhao-Nian Zhou, David D. Kline, Yi Zhang, De-Pei (2012), Hypobaric Intermittent Hypoxia Attenuates Hypoxia-induced Depressor Response, Plos one
By Physioinnovation