The effect of different regimens of interval hypoxic training on the cardiorespiratory and hematological functions

Physiological changes in the human organism are observed in different regimens of interval hypoxia. They are dependent on several factors, including the strength of the hypoxic stimulus used (oxygen percentage of the air inhaled), time intervals of some hypoxic positions, duration of the periods of normal respiration, and the total number of the recurrent hypoxic exposures or the total duration of the hypoxic exposure during a day [1–4]. By changing the selected parameters of the hypoxic load, it is possible to exert the necessary effect on particular physiological functions and to directly affect the main metabolic reactions of the organism. This opens up new fields for the interval hypoxic exposures used as therapy for and preventive treatment of different diseases [5–8], and for improving human health and increasing labor productivity [9–13]. The sports training effect is caused by the combined effects resulting from changes in certain parameters of the physical load. When using artificially induced interval hypoxia, it is possible to provide different regimens of physiological effects as is done in sports training. That is the reason these regimens, proposed by the pioneers of this method, are called interval hypoxic training [14–18]. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of different regimens of interval hypoxia on the cardiorespiratory and hematological functions of athletes in order to use the data obtained to optimize interval hypoxic training.