Rehabilitation in hypoxia
Type of project: Feasability study
Disability concerned: Motor disability
Theme: Physical fitness, Health
Status: Completed
The aim of this project is to study the feasibility of hypoxia training for people with reduced mobility.
People with reduced mobility experience a decline in their level of physical fitness. This limitation of movement leads to a loss of muscle mass, an increase in body fat and a general deterioration in health, both physical and mental (Haisma et al., 2006). To stay healthy, recommendations for physical activity are around 150 minutes a week, ideally 20 minutes a day (Martin Ginis et al., 2018).
Achieving this objective using only the upper limbs is a complicated matter. Muscular fatigue is a limiting parameter and does not allow sufficient cardiovascular work to be carried out. So, it seems interesting to add an innovative touch to current training by taking inspiration from the peak training of an athlete.
People with reduced mobility experience a decline in their level of physical fitness. This limitation of movement leads to a loss of muscle mass, an increase in body fat and a general deterioration in health, both physical and mental (Haisma et al., 2006). To stay healthy, recommendations for physical activity are around 150 minutes a week, ideally 20 minutes a day (Martin Ginis et al., 2018).
Achieving this objective using only the upper limbs is a complicated matter. Muscular fatigue is a limiting parameter and does not allow sufficient cardiovascular work to be carried out. So, it seems interesting to add an innovative touch to current training by taking inspiration from the peak training of an athlete.
For the same muscular fatigue, the cardiovascular benefits could be increased. The aim of this project is to study the feasibility of this type of training for people with reduced mobility.
All the results have not yet been analysed, but they seem to show an improvement in performance. All the participants had a higher VO2 max after the second test. All the participants also managed to develop greater maximum power. The feeling of effort perceived by the volunteers during the interval training sessions and the lactate levels achieved highlighted the intensive nature of this type of session.
We did not observe any adverse effects of hypoxia in our volunteers.
