Effect of normobaric hypoxic exercise on blood pressure in old individuals.
PURPOSE
To test the hypothesis that the combination of endurance training and hypoxia leads to greater improvements in resting and exercise blood pressure in old sedentary individuals compared to endurance training only.


METHODS
We randomly assigned 29 old overweight participants (age: 62 ± 6 years, body mass index (BMI): 28.5 ± 0.5 kg/m2, 52% men) to single blind 8-week bicycle exercise in hypoxia (fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) = 0.15) or normoxia (FIO2 = 0.21). Brachial blood pressure was measured at rest, during maximal incremental exercise testing, and during a 30 min constant work rate test, at baseline and after the training period.


RESULTS
Work rate, heart rate and perceived exertion during training were similar in both groups, with lower oxygen saturation for participants exercising under hypoxia (88.7 ± 1.5 vs. 96.2 ± 1.2%, t(27) = - 13.04, p < 0.001, |g|= 4.85). Office blood pressure and blood pressure during incremental exercise tests did not change significantly in either group after the training program. Systolic blood pressure during the constant work rate test was reduced after training in hypoxia (160 ± 18 vs. 151 ± 14 mmHg, t(13) = 2.44 p < 0.05, |d|= 0.55) but not normoxia (154 ± 22 vs. 150 ± 16 mmHg, t(14) = 0.75, p = 0.46, |d|= 0.18) with no difference between groups over time (F = 0.08, p = 0.77, η2 = 0.01).


CONCLUSION
In old individuals hypoxia in addition to exercise does not have superior effects on office or exercise blood pressure compared to training in normoxia.


TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
ClinicalTrials.gov No. NCT02196623 (registered 22 July 2014).
['Hein|Markus|M|', 'Chobanyan-Jürgens|Kristine|K|', 'Tegtbur|Uwe|U|', 'Engeli|Stefan|S|', 'Jordan|Jens|J|', 'Haufe|Sven|S|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-4352']
D000368:Aged D001794:Blood Pressure D015444:Exercise D005260:Female D006339:Heart Rate D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010100:Oxygen D010101:Oxygen Consumption D016037:Single-Blind Method
Exercise Blood pressure Hypoxia Elderly