The goal of this study was to determine the effects of repeated-sprint training in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) on running repeated-sprint ability (RSA) in team-sport players.
Twenty-one highly trained rugby players performed, over a 4-week period, seven sessions of repeated 40-m sprints either with VHL (RSH-VHL, n = 11) or with normal breathing (RSN, n = 10). Before (Pre-) and after training (Post-), performance was assessed with an RSA test (40-m all-out sprints with a departure every 30 s) until task failure (85% of the reference velocity assessed in an isolated sprint).
The number of sprints completed during the RSA test was significantly increased after the training period in RSH-VHL (9.1 ± 2.8 vs. 14.9 ± 5.3; +64%; p < .01) but not in RSN (9.8 ± 2.8 vs. 10.4 ± 4.7; +6%; p = .74). Maximal velocity was not different between Pre- and Post- in both groups whereas the mean velocity decreased in RSN and remained unchanged in RSH-VHL. The mean SpO ₂ recorded over an entire training session was lower in RSH-VHL than in RSN (90.1 ± 1.4 vs. 95.5 ± 0.5%, p < .01).
RSH-VHL appears to be an effective strategy to produce a hypoxic stress and to improve running RSA in team-sport players.