"Living Low - Training High" Methods and Physiological Responses in Well-trained Swimmers

Hypoventilation Clinical Trial

Official title:

Effects of Innovative "Living Low - Training High" Methods on Performance and Physiological Responses in Well-trained Swimmers.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06253039
• Other study ID #: RSH swimmers
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: February 2024
• Est. completion date: June 2024

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: Faculdade de Motricidade Humana
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

To overcome the lack of knowledge regarding the impact of different "living low, training high" methods on swimming performance, a 4-week intervention will be carried out to determine and compare the effects of three Repeated Sprints in Hypoxia (RSH) methods with each other and with a control group. Our goal is to characterize and compare the adaptations in swimming performance and in cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and muscle oxygenation responses that can arise after a 4-week training period of RSH and RSH-voluntary hypoventilation (VHL) performed in a ski-ergometer.

Description:

Recently, several new "living low training high" (LLTH) methods involving repeated sprints in hypoxia have shown promising results, especially in team sports. However, the underlying mechanisms remain mostly unclear, as does its effectiveness in improving swimming performance.

Hypoxemia can be induced by exposure to ambient hypoxia conditions, by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume, or by vascular occlusion (namely, blood flow restriction). Swimming performance is influenced by aerobic and anaerobic metabolism and could benefit from these different LLTH methods.

This project aims to compare the effects of repeated sprint training performed with a ski-ergometer 1) in a hypoxic chamber and 2) with voluntary hypoventilation on the performance of swimmers, as well as to characterize cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and muscle oxygenation adaptations that may contribute to the improvements achieved after four weeks of each of these types of training.

All groups will be evaluated before and after the supervised training period in three testing sessions in normoxia, separated by at least 24 hours within 7 days. Swimmers will perform: 1) time-trial (100 m front crawl) in the swimming pool to determine performance, V̇̇O2 peak, and lactate concentration following the test; 2) incremental test to exhaustion in the swim-ergometer to determine aerobic peak power, cardiorespiratory responses (V̇̇O2max, ventilatory thresholds), and maximal tissue deoxygenation; 3) time-trial test in the ski-ergometer (100 m) to access performance, muscle and pulmonary oxygen uptake kinetics, and the relative contribution of energetic systems.

Training sessions will be performed in the ski-ergometer and consist of 4 sets of 5x6s all-out sprints with 24s and 5 min of passive rest between the sprints and sets, respectively. In all testing and training sessions, pulse oxygen saturation will be measured for safety purposes.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 36
• Est. completion date: June 2024
• Est. primary completion date: April 2024
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 30 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Swimmers from both sexes;

• With regular participation in National Championships;

• More than five years of training experience;

• No recent exposure/acclimatization to altitude;

• No recent exposition to Blood Flow Restriction training.

Exclusion Criteria:

• athletes who had an acclimatization experience or exposure to altitude lasting more than 10 days in the last 6 months;

• pregnant or postpartum women;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Hypoventilation
• Hypoxia
• Normoxia

Intervention

Other:
• Repeated sprint
The group will endure four weeks (8 sessions) of the assigned training program in addition to the regular swimming training. Data collection sessions: All groups will be evaluated before and after the supervised training period in three testing sessions in normoxia separated by at least 24 hours within 7 days. Training sessions: will be performed in the ski ergometer and consist of 4 sets of 5x6s all-out sprints with 24s and 5 min of passive rest between the sprints and sets, respectively.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Portugal	Faculty of Human Kinetics	Lisbon	Cruz-Quebrada

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Faculdade de Motricidade Humana	Centro de Alto Rendimento do Jamor

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Portugal, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Ventilatory thresholds and maximum oxygen consumption	mL/kg·min	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period
Primary	Lactate concentration	mmol.L-1	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period
Primary	Muscle oximetry	Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period
Primary	Time-trial	seconds	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period
Secondary	Heart rate	bpm	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period
Secondary	Arterial oxygen saturation	Oxymetry (%)	Before and after 4 weeks of supervised training period