Effects of Interval Training Under Hypoxia on the Autonomic Nervous System and Arterial and Hemorheological Function in Healthy Women.

purposeThe present study verified the effects of interval training under hypoxia, a novel exercise modality for health promotion, on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and arterial and hemorheological function in healthy women.

methodsTwenty healthy Korean women (age: 19-29 [24.85 ± 3.84] years) were equally assigned to interval normoxic training (INT, n = 10; residing and training under normoxia) and interval hypoxic training (IHT, n = 10; residing under normoxia and training under 526 mmHg hypobaric hypoxia) groups. All participants performed 90-min of training sessions composed of 15-min of warm-up, 60-min of interval training, and 15-min of cool-down. The interval training sessions composed of 10 repetitions of interval exercise using a treadmill (5 min of exercise corresponding to 90-95% maximal heart rate [HR] and 1 min of rest). The training was performed 3 days per week for 6 weeks. All participants underwent body composition, HR variability, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), red blood cell (RBC) deformability and aggregation, and maximal oxygen uptake (VO

resultsThere were no significant differences in body composition between the groups. The IHT group showed a significant improvement in the ANS function (root mean square of successive differences, high frequency, and low frequency/high frequency ratio), arterial stiffness, arterial endothelial function (FMD), hemorheological function (RBC deformability and aggregation), and aerobic performance (VO

conclusionIn comparison with the interval training under normoxia, the interval training under hypoxia is a novel and effective exercise modality for promoting aerobic performance with the ANS and arterial and hemorheological function in healthy women.