Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) Versus Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Aerobic Performance

Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center66 enrolled

Overview

Comparing the effect of HBOT and IHT on aerobic performance of athletes.

Enhanced physical performance is the goal of all professional and non-professional athletes. There are many intervention methods aim to enhance physical performance from 2 intervention related to change in the environment partial oxygen pressure have been demonstrated to have beneficial effect: IHT and HBOT. This study offers one of the two interventions to athletes with a pre and post intervention objective evaluation of the physiological performance - Maximal exercise test for evaluating VO2MAX and ventilatory thresholds, time to exhaustion, 30 seconds Wingate test, agility test, muscle biopsy, blood tests, brain MRI, cognitive tests and exercise cognitive test. After signing an informed consent form, eligible subjects will be randomized to one of the study groups at a ratio of 1:1. The IHT group will receive three hypoxic guided training sessions per week, according an individualized training protocol, 24 sessions in total. The HBOT group will receive 40 daily hyperbaric sessions, five days per week. Each session will include 90 minutes exposure to 100% oxygen at 2ATA with a five-minute air break every 20 minutes. Three times per week, as the IHT group, the HBOT group will have a guided training session, according an individualized training protocol. Both groups, IHT and HBOT, will have the same relative intensity guided training protocols for 8 weeks, to stimulate the same exercise load. The IHT group will train for 60 minutes, 3 times a week in a normobaric hypoxia environment, at O2 concentration of 15.2% that stimulates a 2500-2600m height. The HBOT group will train for 60 minutes after the HBOT sessions, 3 times per week, in a normobaric normoxic environment Physical performance evaluations will be conducted on 3 different times post interventions - a day last intervention, 3 weeks after and 2 months after - in order to analyze the long term effect of each intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Healthy Active Athletes

Interventions

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - HBOTDEVICE

Each session will include exposure of 90 minutes to 100% at 2 ATA, with 5 minutes air breaks every 20 minutes

Intermittent Hypoxic Training - IHTDEVICE

Each session lasts 60 minutes of 15.2% oxygen at 1.0 ATA. Subjects will be training according to individualized training protocol.

Eligibility

Sex: MALEMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 45 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Vo2max above 3500 ml or Vo2max/kg above 50 ml/kg 2. Age 18-45 3. Subjects are active aerobic athletes, training regularly more than 4 exercise sessions per week. 4. Subject willing and able to read, understand and sign an informed consent Exclusion Criteria: 1. Inability to attend scheduled clinic visits and/or comply with the study protocol 2. Active malignancy 3. Active smokers 4. Previous treatment of HBOT for any reason prior to study enrollment. 5. Chest pathology incompatible with pressure changes 6. Major orthopedic injury at the past 3 months 7. Inner ear disease 8. Lung pathology 9. The inability to perform an awake brain MRI 10. Claustrophobia 11. Previous neurologic conditions (e.g., Epilepsy, Brain tumors or s/p neurosurgery etc.) 12. Comorbidities and medications that rule out the subject

Locations (1)

The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh)

Zrifin, Israel

RECRUITING

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)

CPET determines the gas exchange dynamics that is expected to change through the intervention

Time frame: Baseline, 11 weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)

CPET determines the gas exchange dynamics that is expected to change through the intervention

Time frame: 8 weeks, 16 weeks

Time To Exhaustion

The test will be conducted on the SRM high performance ergometer on 105% of the maximal aerobic power

Time frame: Baseline, 11 weeks, 16 weeks

Wingate 30 seconds anaerobic test

The Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT) is conducted on the SRM high performance ergometer.

Time frame: Baseline, 11 weeks, 16 weeks

Muscle biopsy for mitochondrial function

Participants will undergo a muscle biopsy, muscle sample will be analyzed using the Oxygraph (Oroboros Inc, Austria) for oxygen respiratory function, as well as staining for mitochondrial proteins

Time frame: Baseline, 11 weeks

Blood test for evaluation of CBC

complete blood count

Time frame: Baseline, 11 weeks, 16 weeks

Blood test for evaluation of HIF-1α

Hypoxic inducible factor 1α levels

Time frame: Baseline, 7 weeks, 8 weeks, 11 weeks, 16 weeks

Blood test for evaluation of Telomeres length

Central Contacts

Shai Efrati, Prof

CONTACT

972-8-9779393 efratishai@outlook.com

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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