Christoulas Yiannis, Bourdas Dimitrios I, Michailidis Yiannis, Mavrovouniotis Ilias, Metaxas Thomas I, Christoulas Kosmas, Koutlianos Nikolaos A
Laboratory of Evaluation of Human Biological Performance, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 57001, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Section of Sport Medicine & Biology of Exercise, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Ethnikis Antistasis 41, 17237, Daphni, Greece.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2025 Mar;125(3):739-751. doi: 10.1007/s00421-024-05624-x. Epub 2024 Oct 14.
Repetitive maximal breath-holds (BHs or apneas) have been noted to induce advantageous hematological and blood buffering changes. Building on this, the hypothesis was formulated that the execution of repeated maximal BH efforts might lead to subsequent enhancements in performance during a time-to-exhaustion test.
This study investigated the acute effects of five static maximal breath-holding maneuvers conducted with face immersion in cold water (10 °C) on subsequent graded exercise test (GET) performance. Seventeen well-trained participants completed a GET on a motorized treadmill under two randomized cross-over conditions: baseline measurement (CON) and after five repeated maximal breath-holding efforts (EXP).
The GET protocol consists of incremental increases in speed until exhaustion. After the fifth breath-hold, participants in the EXP condition exhibited significant (P < 0.05) increases in hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, red blood cell count, and muscle deoxygenation, accompanied by a reduction in blood lactate concentration (4.09 ± 2.21%, 3.9 ± 1.76%, 3.96 ± 2.1%, 81.48 ± 23.83%, and 15.22 ± 17.64%, respectively), compared to CON. During GET, the EXP condition showed a significantly (P < 0.05) delayed onset time of the second ventilatory threshold (3.14 ± 5.85%) and (P < 0.05) increased time to exhaustion (0.75 ± 1.02%).
This evidence suggests that repeated maximal static breath-holding maneuvers enhance the oxygen delivery system by increasing the circulation of reserve red blood cells, heightened muscle oxygen deoxygenation, enhanced aerobic metabolism utilization, and postponing the transition from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism, implying a potential ergogenic effect. While pre-exercise breath-holding shows promise for improving time-to-exhaustion and optimizing subsequent distance running performance, further in-depth investigation is essential to fully elucidate the underlying mechanistic factors.
重复进行最大程度屏气（BHs或呼吸暂停）已被发现会引发有利的血液学和血液缓冲变化。在此基础上，提出了这样一个假设，即重复进行最大程度的屏气努力可能会在力竭测试期间导致随后的运动表现提升。
本研究调查了在冷水（10°C）中面部浸入进行五次静态最大程度屏气动作对随后的分级运动测试（GET）表现的急性影响。17名训练有素的参与者在两种随机交叉条件下在电动跑步机上完成了GET：基线测量（CON）和五次重复最大程度屏气努力之后（EXP）。
GET方案包括速度逐渐增加直至力竭。在第五次屏气后，与CON相比，EXP组参与者的血细胞比容、血红蛋白浓度、红细胞计数和肌肉去氧显著增加（P < 0.05），同时血乳酸浓度降低（分别为4.09±2.21%、3.9±1.76%、3.96±2.1%、81.48±23.83%和15.22±17.64%）。在GET期间，EXP组的第二次通气阈值的起始时间显著延迟（P < 0.05）（3.14±5.85%），力竭时间显著增加（P < 0.05）（0.75±1.02%）。
这一证据表明，重复进行最大程度的静态屏气动作通过增加储备红细胞的循环、提高肌肉氧去氧、增强有氧代谢利用以及推迟从有氧代谢向无氧代谢的转变来增强氧输送系统，这意味着具有潜在的促力效应。虽然运动前屏气有望改善力竭时间并优化随后的长跑表现，但进一步深入研究对于充分阐明潜在的机制因素至关重要。
