ReviewSleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung2012
Effects of high altitude training on exercise capacity: fact or myth.
Review in Sleep & breathing = Schlaf & Atmung, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of different dietary interventions for cardiopulmonary fitness at high altitude: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- A preliminary exploration of establishing a mice model of hypoxic training.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Non-enzymatic antioxidant blood plasma profile in the period of high training loads of elite speed skaters in the altitude.Sports medicine and health science · 2023Article
- Maximizing anaerobic performance with repeated-sprint training in hypoxia: In search of an optimal altitude based on pulse oxygen saturation monitoring.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Effects of exercise training with short-duration intermittent hypoxia on endurance performance and muscle metabolism in well-trained mice.Physiological reports · 2019Article
- Comparison of the effect of intermittent hypoxic training vs. the live high, train low strategy on aerobic capacity and sports performance in cyclists in normoxia.Biology of sport · 2018Article
- Is Empirical Research on Periodization Trustworthy? A Comprehensive Review of Conceptual and Methodological Issues.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2017Review
- Effect of Wearing the Elevation Training Mask on Aerobic Capacity, Lung Function, and Hematological Variables.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2016Article
- Short-duration intermittent hypoxia enhances endurance capacity by improving muscle fatty acid metabolism in mice.Physiological reports · 2016Article
- Effects of high altitude on sleep and respiratory system and theirs adaptations.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionHigh altitude training has become a mainstay in endurance sports, with live high-train low as the current protocol of choice. Athletes either live or sleep in artificial or natural hypoxic conditions with the aim to increase serum erythropoietin concentrations, which are thought to improve maximum oxygen uptake and thus exercise performance. DISCUSSION: Changes, however, are not very striking and only apparent in so-called responders, who are not a well-defined group and may be as little as 50% of the trained study population. Whereas some studies show minor improvement, others report no change or even worsening. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the proposed beneficial changes remain obscure and are far from being proven. There is an evident lack of sufficiently powered randomized, double-blinded studies, with training protocols that are identical for all groups and groups that are indeed comparable. Several studies discriminate between responders and non-responders, without clearly assessing the characteristics of the so-called responders. Until this has been done, it remains unclear if such a group really exists and how these subjects are characterized. This, however, would be of immense value, so protocols could be tailored to athletes' needs. Taken together, the current literature on natural or artificial hypoxia somewhat documents improved performance at high but not low altitude.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.