Altitude and hypoxia training--a short review

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Altitude Training

Background:

• Altitude training is popular for enhancing endurance performance at sea level.
• Hypoxia at altitude decreases maximal oxygen uptake, making training harder and stimulating adaptations.
• The effectiveness of altitude training depends on maintaining relative exercise intensity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the specific physiological effects and performance benefits of altitude training.
• To determine if altitude training offers advantages over sea-level training for endurance athletes.
• To analyze the impact of different altitude training protocols (hypoxia exposure, normoxia living) on physiological adaptations.

Main Methods:

• Review of investigations comparing altitude training with sea-level training using relative exercise loads (% of VO2max).
• Analysis of studies involving training in hypoxia while living in normoxia.
• Examination of studies where individuals live in hypoxia and train in normoxia.

Main Results:

• Only 3 out of 10 studies showed significant improvements in maximal performance, VO2max, or endurance with relative altitude training.
• Two studies indicated a non-significant trend towards improvement.
• Training in hypoxia combined with living in normoxia showed improvements in 2 out of 4 groups, with preliminary evidence suggesting living in hypoxia and training in normoxia may be more effective.

Conclusions:

• A small specific effect of altitude training on performance capacity appears to exist.
• This effect may be counteracted by negative factors, such as reduced stimulation of muscular metabolism.
• Various physiological changes during altitude exposure can have both positive and negative implications for training outcomes.