Effects of Heat-suit Training on Biological and Performance Characteristics in Elite Cyclists

Heat-suit Endurance Training Clinical Trial

— HeatME  

Official title:

Effects of Heat-suit Training on Training-associated Changes in Hemoglobin Mass, Muscle Characteristics and Endurance Performance in Elite Cyclists

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04611646
• Other study ID #: Trainome 2020#025
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 19, 2020
• Est. completion date: December 13, 2020

Study information

• Verified date: November 2020
• Source: Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall objective of the study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of heat-suit training on training-associated changes in hemoglobin mass, skeletal muscle characteristics and endurance exercise performance in elite cyclists

Description:

Endurance exercise performance depends on a range of determinants, including hemoglobin mass in blood and content of respiratory mitochondria in skeletal muscle. Low-intensity training (LIT) with heat exposure may be beneficial for development of these variables. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of LIT-training with heat suit (five times a week; 50 min per session) on hemoglobin mass and other blood characteristics in elite cyclists (males and females) compared to a non-heat-suit training control group, including subsequent investigation of the retrograde effects of ~one month of training without heat suit. The study will also investigate the effects of heat-suit training on endurance exercise performance/performance determinants and other muscle biological charateristics, and will investigate the basic characteristics of mitochondrial function and abundances in these highly trained athletes. Training sessions with heat suit (or lack thereof) will complement the habitual training routines of the participants.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 53
• Est. completion date: December 13, 2020
• Est. primary completion date: December 13, 2020
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 45 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• VO2max > 65 ml/kg/min (male participants)

• VO2max > 50 ml/kg/min (female participants)

• >7 hours of endurance training per week for the 6 months leading up to the study

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Heat-suit Endurance Training
• Non-heat-suit Endurance Training

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Heat-suit endurance training
Participants (elite cyclists) will conduct five 50-minute low-intensity cycling sessions with heat suit per week for five weeks. These sessions will complement their habitual training routines, which will consist of endurance training with intensities at or below lactate threshold. Participants will ingest 100 mg Fe2+ on a daily basis to support de novo synthesis of hemoglobin
• Non-heat-suit endurance training
Participants (elite cyclists) will conduct low-intensity cycling without heat suit for five weeks (volume- and intensity-matched to the heat-suit arm). Participants will ingest 100 mg Fe2+ on a daily basis to support de novo synthesis of hemoglobin

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Norway	Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences	Lillehammer	Inland Norway

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Norway, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Training volume	Self-reported training volume measured as time-spent in different exercise intensity zones	Throughout study completion (daily), an average of five weeks
Other	Iron intake	Self-reported intake of iron supplements	Throughout study completion (daily), an average of five weeks
Primary	Hemoglobin mass	Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Maximal oxygen consumption	Maximal oxygen consumption measured during an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Maximal aerobic power output	Maximal aerobic power output measured as mean power output during the last minute of an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Power output at lactate threshold	Power output at 4 mmol blood lactate concentration measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Gross efficiency	Contribution of total energy turnover to power output in the fresh and fatigued state	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Fractional utilization of VO2max (incremental test)	Fractional utilization of VO2max measured at 4 mmol blood lactate concentrations measured during an incremental cycling exercise test (with 5 minute steps)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Fractional utilization of VO2max (15-minute performance test)	Fractional utilization of VO2max measured during a 15-minute performance test	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Sprint performance	Mean power output measured during a 10-second all-out cycling sprint	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Performance during a 15-minute all-out cycling test	Mean power output measured during a 15-minute all-out cycling test	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Performance during a 40-minute all-out cycling test	Mean power output measured during a 40-minute all-out cycling test	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Maximal concentric force production	Maximal concentric force production measured using a seated leg press test	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Gene expression in skeletal muscle	RNA abundances in m. vastus lateralis measured using qPCR (e.g. messenger RNA and ribosomal RNA)	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle	The ability of muscle mitochondria (extracted from homogenate; m. vastus lateralis) to consume oxygen in vitro	Immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle	Mitochondria content in m. vastus lateralis measured using electron microscopy	Immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Total RNA content in skeletal muscle	Total RNA content in m. vastus lateralis (per unit tissue weight) measured using spectrophotometry	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Blood volume	Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Plasma volume	Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Red blood cell volume	Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Hematocrit	Hematocrit measured using centrifugation	Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Secondary	Hemoglobin mass	Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g)	Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2)
Secondary	Blood volume	Blood volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2)
Secondary	Plasma volume	Plasma volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2)
Secondary	Red blood cell volume	Red blood cell volume measured using CO rebreathing	Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2)
Secondary	Hematocrit	Hematocrit measured using centrifugation	Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2)