Active Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restriction or/and Systemic Hypoxic Exposure Does Not Improve Repeated Sprint Cycling Performance

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of active preconditioning techniques using blood flow restriction or/and systemic hypoxic exposure on repeated sprint cycling performance and oxygenation responses.MethodsParticipants were 17 men; 8 were cycle trained (T: 21 ± 6 h/week) and 9 were untrained but physically active (UT). Each participant completed 4 cycles of 5 min stages of cycling at 1.5 W⋅kg–1 in four conditions [Control; IPC (ischemic preconditioning) with partial blood flow restriction (60% of relative total occlusion pressure); HPC (hypoxic preconditioning) in normobaric systemic hypoxia (FIO2 13.6%); and HIPC (hypoxic and ischemic preconditioning combined)]. Following a 40 min rest period, a repeated sprint exercise (RSE: 8 × 10 s sprints; 20 s of recovery) was performed. Near-infrared spectroscopy parameters [for each sprint, change in deoxyhemoglobin (Δ[HHb]), total hemoglobin (Δ[tHb]), and tissue saturation index (ΔTSI%)] were measured.ResultsTrained participants achieved higher power outputs (+10–16%) than UT in all conditions, yet RSE performance did not differ between active preconditioning techniques in the two groups. All conditions induced similar sprint decrement scores during RSE in both T and UT (16 ± 2 vs. 23 ± 9% in CON; 17 ± 3 vs. 19 ± 6% in IPC; 18 ± 5 vs. 20 ± 10% in HPC; and 17 ± 3 vs. 21 ± 5% in HIPC, for T and UT, respectively). During the sprints, Δ[HHb] was larger after IPC than both HPC and CON in T (p < 0.001). The Δ[tHb] was greater after HPC than all other conditions in T, whereas IPC, HPC, and HIPC induced higher Δ[tHb] than CON in UT.ConclusionNone of the active preconditioning methods had an ergogenic effect on repeated sprint cycling performance, despite some specific hemodynamic responses (e.g., greater oxygen extraction and changes in blood volume), which were emphasized in the trained cyclists.

Commentary: Active Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restriction or/and Systemic Hypoxic Exposure Does Not Improve Repeated Sprint Cycling Performance

“…In summary, we would like to highlight the mechanistic value of combining experimental conditions as used by Aebi et al (2019), which may provide precise physiological responses to hypoxic vs. hyperemic preconditioning. Our commentary aims at highlighting the importance of clearly delineating modalities for the practitioner and for future research, and, from this perspective, WFR adds a specific, targeted, and feasible modality of preconditioning to the broader IPC and BFR literature.…”

“…We read with great interest the study of Aebi et al (2019) on the lively topic of hypoxic conditioning for sport performance. We congratulate the authors for their excellent work, which confirms, to some extent, some of our previous findings (Fortin and Billaut, 2019), and we also wish to comment on two points of importance: (i) the differences between ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and blood flow restricted exercise (BFR) as well as (ii) the importance of the practical nature of preconditioning protocols (i.e., warm-up) used in sport-oriented studies.…”

An Updated Panorama of “Living Low-Training High” Altitude/Hypoxic Methods

“…Intermittent hypoxic interval training (IHIT) is a method where hypoxia and normoxia are alternated during the same session (Millet et al, 2010 ). Hypoxic preconditioning (HPC), utilizing continuous or intermittent exposure to O 2 -deprived conditions, can also be superimposed to BFR to eventually augment the magnitude of the hemodynamic responses during realization of the subsequent exercise (Aebi et al, 2019 ). The combination of systemic hypoxia with vascular occlusion represents a promising mixture of hypoxic methods, for instance, BFR resistance exercise + RTH (Girard et al, 2019 ) or BFR aerobic exercise + RSH (Peyrard et al, 2019 ), for maximizing the training stimulus.…”

Muscle Oximetry in Sports Science: An Updated Systematic Review

“…The extent of notable changes in the muscle oxygenation levels measured with NIRS indicators in response to various physiological stressors (hypoxia, exercise intensity, exercise profile, training) was investigated in the following cases: repeated sprint training [14,15,34,107,157,165,168,172,188,191,192], high-intensity interval training [15,25,43,137,157,164,184], voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume versus normal breathing [17,34,88,89,151], inspiratory muscle training/pre-activation [45,97,100,112,113,140,152,181,187], blood flow restriction [12,14,147,149,191,192], intermittent bilateral cuff inflation of lower limbs with three 5/10-min ischemia-reperfusion cycles [53], hypoxia (normo-and hypo-baric) [14, 35, 59, 72, 76, 77, 90, 108, 123, 129, 130, 137, 142, 148-150, 168, 188, 191, 192, 200], ischemic preconditioning [38,46,…”