Effects of intermittent hypoxia and whole-body vibration training on health-related outcomes in older adults

Abstract

Background: Aging is associated with a health impairment and an increase of the vulnerability of the older people. Strength training under intermittent hypoxic conditions has been shown to have therapeutic effects on individual’s health. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a combined intermittent hypoxia (IH) and whole-body vibration (WBV) training program on health-related outcomes in older people. Methods: A total of 60 adults (over the age of 65) voluntarily participated in an intervention that lasted 20 weeks (three 30-min sessions per week). The participants were divided into four experimental groups subjected to different environmental conditions (IH vs normoxia) and exercise (non-exercise vs WBV). Functional fitness, body composition, metabolic parameters, inflammatory biomarkers, and bone turnover were evaluated before and after the intervention. A multifactorial ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to explore differences within and between groups. Results: The results showed that IH and WBV had a positive synergistic effect on inflammatory parameters (CRP and IL-10), bone formation biomarker (PINP), and body composition (muscle and bone mass). Conclusion: In conclusion, a combined IH and WVB training could be a useful tool to prevent the deterioration of health-related outcomes associated with aging. Clinical trial registration NCT04281264. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ .