Effects of Heat-suit Training on Training-associated Changes in Hemoglobin Mass, Muscle Characteristics and Endurance Performance in Elite Cyclists
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Enrollment
- 53
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Hemoglobin mass
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The overall objective of the study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of heat-suit training on training-associated changes in hemoglobin mass, skeletal muscle characteristics and endurance exercise performance in elite cyclists
Detailed Description
Endurance exercise performance depends on a range of determinants, including hemoglobin mass in blood and content of respiratory mitochondria in skeletal muscle. Low-intensity training (LIT) with heat exposure may be beneficial for development of these variables. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of LIT-training with heat suit (five times a week; 50 min per session) on hemoglobin mass and other blood characteristics in elite cyclists (males and females) compared to a non-heat-suit training control group, including subsequent investigation of the retrograde effects of ~one month of training without heat suit. The study will also investigate the effects of heat-suit training on endurance exercise performance/performance determinants and other muscle biological charateristics, and will investigate the basic characteristics of mitochondrial function and abundances in these highly trained athletes. Training sessions with heat suit (or lack thereof) will complement the habitual training routines of the participants.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to 45 Years (Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- •VO2max > 65 ml/kg/min (male participants)
- •VO2max > 50 ml/kg/min (female participants)
- •>7 hours of endurance training per week for the 6 months leading up to the study
Exclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Arms & Interventions
Heat-suit training
Low-intensity endurance training with heat suit
Intervention: Heat-suit endurance training (Behavioral)
Non-heat-suit training
Low-intensity endurance training without heat suit
Intervention: Non-heat-suit endurance training (Behavioral)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Hemoglobin mass
Time Frame: Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1)
Hemoglobin mass measured using CO rebreathing (g)
Secondary Outcomes
- Sprint performance(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Performance during a 40-minute all-out cycling test(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Maximal oxygen consumption(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Maximal aerobic power output(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Gross efficiency(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Fractional utilization of VO2max (incremental test)(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Performance during a 15-minute all-out cycling test(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Red blood cell volume(Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2))
- Fractional utilization of VO2max (15-minute performance test)(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Blood volume(Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2))
- Hemoglobin mass(Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2))
- Power output at lactate threshold(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Mitochondrial respiration in skeletal muscle(Immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Plasma volume(Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2))
- Hematocrit(Changes from immediately after the intervention (T1) to one month after the intervention (T2))
- Maximal concentric force production(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Gene expression in skeletal muscle(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Mitochondrial content in skeletal muscle(Immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Total RNA content in skeletal muscle(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Blood volume(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Plasma volume(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Red blood cell volume(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))
- Hematocrit(Changes from before the intervention (T0) to immediately after the intervention (T1))