Thirteen days of “live high–train low” does not affect prooxidant/antioxidant balance in elite swimmers

Abstract

We investigated the impact of 13 days of "living high-training low" (LHTL) on the antioxidant/prooxidant balance in elite endurance swimmers. Eighteen elite swimmers from the French Swimming Federation were submitted to a 13-day endurance training and divided into two groups: one group trained at 1,200 m and lived in hypoxia (2,500-3,000 m simulated altitude) and the second group trained and lived at 1,200 m. The subjects performed an acute hypoxic test (10 min at 4,800 m) before and 1 day after the training period. Plasma levels of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), malondialdehydes (MDA), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and lipid-soluble antioxidants were measured before and after the 4,800 m tests. After the training, MDA and AOPP responses to the 4,800 m test were lower than before training for both groups (+10 vs. +2%; P = 0.01 for MDA and +80 vs. +14%; P = 0.01 for AOPP). Thirteen days of LHTL did not modify antioxidant status (FRAP and lipid-soluble antioxidants) despite intakes in vitamins A and E below the recommended daily allowances. The LHTL did not affect the antioxidant status in elite swimmers; however, the normoxic endurance training induced preconditioning mechanisms in response to the 4,800 m test.

Alterations in Redox Homeostasis in the Elite Endurance Athlete

“…There was no effect for protein oxidation over shorter training periods at sea level, or at altitude using the PC assay in alpine skiers [126], and for 13 and 18 days at training (LLTL *1,200 m) using the AOPP assay in swimmers [124] and cross-country skiers [49]. In contrast, 13 and 18 days of training under LHTL conditions markedly increased biomarkers of protein oxidation in swimmers (38 %) and cross-country skiers (130 %) [49,124].…”

“…Six studies reported on biomarkers of total antioxidant status using trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), total antioxidant score (TAS), total peroxyl radical-trapping potential (TRAP) or ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays, with no significant changes reported across training periods of 13-32 days in length at sea level or at low-level altitude in swimmers and middle-distance runners [49,123,124], between a pre-competitive phase and competitive phase in kayakers [129], or across an entire season in middle-distance runners [128]. However, a difference between seasons was observed for TAS [129].…”

“…Five of the eight studies were altitude studies [49,[123][124][125][126], and are discussed in more detail under Sect. 5.…”

“…The eight studies meeting the inclusion criteria used different methodologies for quantifying the extent of lipid peroxidation (CD, total isoprostanes, total peroxides, TBARS, lipid hydroperoxides and MDA) in different sports (distance running, triathlon, alpine and cross-country skiing, kayaking, and swimming) across different training phases and number of seasons, and thus varied in the period of observation. The findings for ARH in elite athletes across a micro-, meso-and macro-cycle can be broadly summarised in terms of changes in lipid peroxidation as follows: lipid peroxidation increases over a microcycle (5 days) of training in alpine skiers [126], increases or does not change over 13-18 days of live-high-train-low (LHTL) and live-low-train-low (LLTL) in middle-distance athletes and swimmers, respectively [123,124], decreases across 14 days of training in triathletes [127], no significant changes across 38 days of training (including 18 days LHTL) in cross-country skiers [49] and decreases overall across 7 months of training and competing [125] and a non-significant decrease of *10 % in middle-distance runners across the entire season [128]. However, there were considerable in-season variations across training phases and within individuals [125].…”

“…5. The duration of athlete monitoring ranged from a 10-to 32-day training period [49,123,124,126,127] to an entire season encompassing general, specific and competition phases [125,128], and one year across two seasons [129]. Two studies reported the analytical variability of the assays used [49,128].…”