title: Popularity of hypoxic training methods for endurance-based professional and amateur athletes.
abstract: Scientific debate continues into whether hypoxic training has any performance benefit for athletes, and although this type of training seems popular, to our knowledge little empirical evidence on its popularity with endurance-based athletes exists. To quantify the usage of hypoxic training in endurance-based athletes we asked 203 athletes (amateur = 108, professional = 95) to complete a 17-question survey during 2013-2014 season. Compared to amateurs, professional athletes were 4.5 times (3.0-6.8, odds ratio, 95% confidence limits) more likely to undertake hypoxic training. Live-high train-low was the most popular hypoxic training protocol for athletes (52% professional and 80% amateur) with live-high train-high also used (38% professional, 20% amateur). Compared to amateurs, professional athletes tended to use evidence-based hypoxic training methods, seek advice on hypoxic training from reliable sources and were generally more realistic about the potential performance gains as a result of hypoxic training. Almost one third (25-30%) of all athletes suffered illness during their hypoxic training. Compared to amateurs, professional athletes are more likely to undertake hypoxic training and tend to follow current scientific guidelines. Attenuation of the ill effects that occur during hypoxic training may be accomplished if athletes give more attention to monitoring stress and training levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal Sud, Facultat de Biologia, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: jesusalvarez80@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Herms
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal Sud, Facultat de Biologia, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: soniajulia@ub.edu.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Julià-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Tourism, Sport and Society, Faculty of Environment, Society and Design, Lincoln University, Christchurch, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand. Electronic address: michael.hamlin@lincoln.ac.nz.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hamlin
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia, Faculty of Lleida, University of Lleida, 25192, Complex de la Caparrella, s/n, Població, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corbi
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal Sud, Facultat de Biologia, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pagès
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Diagonal Sud, Facultat de Biologia, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: gviscor@ub.edu.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Viscor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology*; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Altitude training protocols; Elite athletes; Hypoxia; Performance