1. Title of PhD ProjectAn analysis of the longitudinal effects of intermittent normobaric hypoxia exposure on physiological, cognitive, training and performance variables in elite endurance athletes.

2. Supervisor(s) DetailsDr Giles Warrington, Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, Caroline MacManus (MSc), Antonia Rossiter

3. Aims of the ResearchThe aim of this project is to evaluate the cumulative effects of repeated intermittent normobaric hypoxia exposure on physiological and cognitive function, training and performance in a group of elite endurance athletes living and training at the National Altitude Training Centre (NATC) in the University of Limerick.

4. Short Justification/Rationale/Background to the ProjectAltitude/hypoxic training is a common practice used by many elite endurance athletes as part of their annual training plan. Despite its popularity the efficacy of using hypoxic exposure to enhance subsequent sea level performance remains controversial from a scientific perspective. The traditional model of altitude/hypoxic training involves athletes living and training (live high-train high) at moderate altitude (1,800-3,000m) for a number of weeks. More recently an intermittent model (live high-train low) has been adopted where by athletes live and/or sleep at moderate altitude and simultaneously train at lower elevations (<1500m). The live high-train low (LH-TL) model was original deployed using a “terrestrial” altitude environment however more recently the development of normobaric ‘altitude houses’ and commercially available ‘hypoxic tents’ has made access more widely available.

Whilst a number of studies have been published evaluating the effects of intermittent hypoxic exposure the majority have been for relatively short exposure times (5-24 days). Furthermore there is a dearth of longitudinal scientific data available investigating the cumulative effects of repeated bouts of intermittent hypoxic exposure on physiological and cognitive function, training and athletic performance.

5. Study DesignThe study will be undertaken over the course of the annual training cycle and involve repeated intermittent hypoxic exposure where by the participants will live and sleep (~18 hours per day) at a simulated altitude at the NATC whilst continuing to train at sea level. The bouts of intermittent normobaric hypoxic exposure will be separated by periods where the participants will live and train at sea level. During the periods of intermittent hypoxic exposure a number of physiological, cognitive, training and performance variables will be monitored including:

i) General Physiological, Cognitive and Training Variables: Body mass Body Composition Hydration status Resting heart rate (RHR), heart rate variability (HRV) Sleep (quality and quantity) Training load (session RPE) Wellness scores/POMs

ii) Haematological Variables

Arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) Blood gases Haemoglobin (Hb)/Haematocrit (Hct) Total Hb Mass

iii) Specific Physiological Tests and Performance Variables VO2 max Lactate profiling Economy Oxygen Kinetics Time trials

i) Participants & Procedures/MethodsParticipants will comprise of 12-15 endurance athletes (triathletes, swimmer, middle distance runners) based at the University of Limerick.

ii) Data Collection and AnalysisThe data will be analysed using appropriate descriptive (e.g. comparison of means with established baseline norms) and parametric statistics (e.g. ANOVA to assess interaction effects between variables and duration) using SPSS for Windows v22.0.