Xavier Woorons

• PhD
• Research Associate at University of Lille, Pluridisciplinary Research Unit Sport Health & Society (URePSSS)

Background Repeated-sprint training in hypoxia (RSH) induced through voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL) may represent a low-cost alternative to systemic hypoxia. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess the effects of RSH-VHL training interventions on sea-level physical performance compared to similar repeated-sprint tr...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of running repeated-sprint training with voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL) including prolonged end-expiratory breath holding (EEBH) on running repeated-sprint ability (RSA). Methods: Twenty semiprofessional male soccer players completed 12 sessions of repeated 50-m running sprints over a 6...

Training with voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) is a method which consists of repeating short periods of high-intensity exercises with end-expiratory breath holding interspersed with recovery periods in normal breathing. This method has been shown to induce a drop in arterial oxygen saturation down to about 75%, provoking a strong...

Purpose To investigate the effects of a repeated-sprint training in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL) including end-expiratory breath holding (EEBH) of maximal duration. Methods Over a 4-week period, twenty elite judo athletes (10 women and 10 men) were randomly split into two groups to perform 8 sessions of...

Purpose: To investigate the effects of a repeated-sprint training with voluntary hypoventilation at low (RSH-VHL) and high (RS-VHH) lung volume on repeated-sprint ability (RSA) in female athletes. Methods: Over a six-week period, 24 female soccer players completed 12 sessions of repeated 30-m running sprints either with end-expiratory breath holdin...

This study aimed to assess the physiological responses to repeated running exercise performed at supramaximal intensity and with end-expiratory breath holding (EEBH) up to the breaking point. Eight male runners participated in two running testing sessions on a motorized treadmill. In the first session, participants performed two sets of 8 repetitio...

This study aimed to assess the effects of an off-season period of repeated-sprint training in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL) on off-ice repeated-sprint ability (RSA) in ice hockey players. Thirty-five high-level youth ice hockey players completed 10 sessions of running repeated sprints over a 5-week period...

Purpose: The goal of this study was to assess the effects of repeated running bouts with end-expiratory breath holding (EEBH) up to the breaking point on muscle oxygenation. Methods: Eight male runners participated in three randomized sessions each including two exercises on a motorized treadmill. The first exercise consisted in performing 10-12 ru...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to establish a model to estimate the level of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and help determine the appropriate hypoxic dose in humans exercising in acute hypoxia. Methods: SpO2 values were collected in seven untrained (UTS) and seven endurance-trained male subjects (ETS) who performed six cycle incremental and...

Eight well-trained male cyclists participated in two testing sessions each including two sets of 10 cycle exercise bouts at 150% of maximal aerobic power. In the first session, subjects performed the exercise bouts with end-expiratory breath holding (EEBH) of maximal duration. Each exercise bout started at the onset of EEBH and ended at its release...

This study investigated the impact of repeated-sprint (RS) training with voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) on RS ability (RSA) and on performance in a 30-15 intermittent fitness test (30-15IFT). Over 4 weeks, 17 basketball players included eight sessions of straight-line running RS and RS with changes of direction into their usual...

Purpose: To determine whether high-intensity training with voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) in cycling could improve running performance in team-sport athletes. Methods: Twenty well-fit subjects competing in different team sports completed, over a 3-week period, 6 high-intensity training sessions in cycling (repeated 8-s exerci...

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of repeated-sprint (RS) training in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL) on physiological adaptations, RS ability (RSA) and anaerobic performance. Methods: Over a three-week period, eighteen well-trained cyclists completed six RS sessions in cycling either with RSH-VH...

Ten highly-trained Jiu-Jitsu fighters performed two repeated-sprint sessions, each including 2 sets of 8 x ~6 s back-and-forth running sprints on a tatami. One session was carried out with normal breathing (RSN) and the other with voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (RSH-VHL). Prefrontal and vastus lateralis muscle oxyhaemoglobin ([O2Hb])...

INTRODUCTION: Repeated-sprint ability (RSA) is an important fitness requirement in team sports. It has been shown that RSA is significant-ly improved after 6-8 sessions of repeated-sprint training in hypoxia (RSH) (Millet et al., 2017). In addition, voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) can induce levels of desaturation and muscle deox...

PURPOSE: 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. METHODS: Twenty-one highly trained rugby players performed, over a 4-week period, 7 sessions of repeated 40-m sprints eithe...

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the acute responses to repeated-sprint exercise (RSE) in hypoxia induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL). Methods: Nine well-trained subjects performed two sets of eight 6-s sprints on a cycle ergometer followed by 24 s of inactive recovery. RSE was randomly carried out either with n...

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of swim intensity on acute responses to dynamic apnoea. 9 swimmers performed one 50 m front crawl trial in four different conditions: at 400 m velocity (V400) with normal breathing (NB), at V400 in complete apnoea (Ap), at maximal velocity (Vmax) with NB and at Vmax in Ap. Peak heart rate (HRpeak...

EFFECTS OF HYPOVENTILATION TRAINING AT SUPRAMAXIMAL INTENSITY IN SWIMMING Woorons, X.1, Mucci, P.1, Richalet, J.P.2, Pichon, A.3 1: URePSSS (University of Lille, France), 2: Laboratory ’Hypoxia & Lung’ (University Paris 13, France), 3: MOVE (University of Poitiers, France) Introduction Recently it was demonstrated that swimmers could train unde...

Purpose : Repeated-sprint training in hypoxia (RSH) has been shown as an efficient method for improving repeated sprint ability (RSA) in team-sport players but has not been investigated in swimming. We assessed whether RSH with arterial desaturation induced by voluntary hypoventilation at low lung volume (VHL) could improve RSA to a greater extent...

Purpose: This study aimed to determine whether hypoventilation training at supramaximal intensity could improve swimming performance more than the same training carried out under normal breathing conditions. Methods: Over a 5-week period, sixteen triathletes (12 men, 4 women) were asked to include twice a week into their usual swimming session one...

This book is the result of several years of scientific research regarding an original and innovative sporting training method: hypoventilation training. Empirically applied in the 1950's by runners from Eastern Europe, among which the famous Czech athlete Emil Zatopek, hypoventilation training has been extensively utilized in swimming since the ear...

This study aimed to determine the cardiovascular responses during a prolonged exercise with voluntary hypoventilation (VH). 7 men performed 3 series of 5-min exercise at 65% of normoxic maximal O (2) uptake under 3 conditions: (1) normal breathing (NB) in normoxia (NB (0.21)), (2) VH in normoxia (VH (0.21)), (3) NB in hypoxia (NB (0.157), inspired...

Eight men performed three series of 5-min exercise on a cycle ergometer at 65% of normoxic maximal O 2 consumption in four conditions: (1) voluntary hypo-ventilation (VH) in normoxia (VH 0.21), (2) VH in hyper-oxia (inducing hypercapnia) (inspired oxygen fraction [F I O 2 ] = 0.29; VH 0.29), (3) normal breathing (NB) in hypoxia (F I O 2 = 0.157; NB...

Eight men performed three series of 5-min exercise on a cycle ergometer at 65% of normoxic maximal O(2) consumption in four conditions: (1) voluntary hypoventilation (VH) in normoxia (VH(0.21)), (2) VH in hyperoxia (inducing hypercapnia) (inspired oxygen fraction [F(I)O(2)] = 0.29; VH(0.29)), (3) normal breathing (NB) in hypoxia (F(I)O(2) = 0.157;...

The purpose of this study was to compare arterial and arterialized blood gases during normoxic and hypoxic exercise. In the same conditions, earlobe pulse oximetry O(2) saturation (Sp(O2)) was compared to arterial oxygen saturation (Sa(O2)). Ten men performed incremental cycle ergometer tests, in normoxia and hypoxia (FI(O2) = 0.127). Blood samples...

The purpose of this study was to compare arterial and arterialized blood gases during normoxic and hypoxic exercise. In the same conditions, earlobe pulse oximetry O 2 saturation (Sp O 2) was compared to arterial oxygen saturation (Sa O 2). Ten men performed incremental cycle ergometer tests, in normoxia and hypoxia (FI O 2 = 0.127). Blood samples...

New methods and devices for pursuing performance enhancement through altitude training were developed in Scandinavia and the USA in the early 1990s. At present, several forms of hypoxic training and/or altitude exposure exist: traditional ‘live high-train high’ (LHTH), contemporary ‘live high-train low’ (LHTL), intermittent hypoxic exposure during...

The purpose of the present chapter is to discuss the benefits of intermittent hypoxic methods such as intermittent hypoxic exposure by staying passively in hypoxic rooms or breathing hypoxic gas ("intermittent hypoxic exposure", IHE) or hypoxic training during continuous or interval-training session ("intermittent hypoxic training", IHT) in elite a...

We assessed the ability of the oxygen uptake efficiency slope, whether calculated on 100 and 80% of maximal exercise test duration (OUES(100) and OUES(80)), to identify the change in cardiorespiratory capacities in response to hypoxia in subjects with a broad range of V(O2 peak). Four maximal exercise tests were performed in trained (T) and untrain...

This study investigated the effects of training with voluntary hypoventilation (VH) at low pulmonary volumes. Two groups of moderately trained runners, one using hypoventilation (HYPO, n=7) and one control group (CONT, n=8), were constituted. The training consisted in performing 12 sessions of 55 min within 4 weeks. In each session, HYPO ran 24 min...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the limiting factors of maximal aerobic performance in endurance trained (TW) and sedentary (UW) women. Subjects performed four incremental tests on a cycle ergometer at sea level and in normobaric hypoxia corresponding to 1000, 2500 and 4500 m. Maximal oxygen uptake decrement (Delta VO2 max) was larger in...

The factors determining maximal oxygen consumption were explored in eight endurance trained subjects (TS) and eight untrained subjects (US) exposed to moderate acute normobaric hypoxia. Subjects performed maximal incremental tests at sea level and simulated altitudes (1,000, 2,500, 4,500 m). Heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (.Q),...

During moderate exercise breathing a low inspired O(2) fraction (F(I)O(2)), arterial O(2) desaturation may depend on the fitness level. Seven trained (TM) and seven untrained men (UTM) cycled in normoxia and in hypoxia (F(I)O(2)=0.187, 0.173, 0.154, 0.13 and 0.117). We compared TM and UTM at submaximal intensities below the ventilatory threshold. V...

The goal of this study was to assess the effects of a prolonged expiration (PE) carried out down to the residual volume (RV) during a submaximal exercise and consider whether it would be worth including this respiratory technique in a training programme to evaluate its effects on performance. Ten male triathletes performed a 5-min exercise at 70% o...

We aimed to evaluate 1) the altitude where maximal heart rate (HR (max)) decreases significantly in both trained and untrained subjects in moderate acute hypoxia, and 2) if the HR (max) decrease could partly explain the drop of V.O (2max). Seventeen healthy males, nine trained endurance athletes (TS) and eight untrained individuals (US) were studie...

This is a response letter to Dr Noakes who commented about the article "Effect of acute hypoxia on maximal exercise in trained and sedentary women" published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 2005.

The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological responses of sedentary and endurance-trained female subjects during maximal exercise at different levels of acute hypoxia. Fourteen women who were sea level residents were divided into two groups according to their level of fitness: 1) endurance-trained women (TW) (N = 7), VO(2max) = 56.3...

Introduction: In the face of conflicting results in the literature and the few number of studies carried out in women, gender differences concerning the change in maximal aerobic performance in acute hypoxia are not clearly established. The purpose of this study was to determine the physiological responses in sedentary and endurance trained females...