Standardization of evaluation and exercise prescription for deep water running with normobaric hypoxia exposure.

Deep water running (DWR) is an exercise model often used for health promotion purposes. This study standardized an aerobic capacity evaluation protocol specific for attached DWR in young healthy adults and monitored a DWR session with normobaric hypoxia exposure addition. In study 1, nine young healthy adults, seven male and two female (22.88 ± 3.14 years old; 72.44 ± 11.38 kg; 174.88 ± 9 cm; 23.58 ± 2.33 kg m−2), were subjected to two DWR incremental tests with a 48-hour interval between them, and in study 2, six healthy males were subjected to three (hypoxia, normoxia, and inter-effort recovery hypoxia) attached DWR exercise sessions involving normobaric hypoxia. Data are expressed as average ± standard deviation. Friedman's test was used to compare the groups with a significance level of P < 0.05. In study 1, no significant statistical differences were observed for the physiological variables analyzed. In study 2, there was no difference in strength and lactate between conditions; values of rates of perceived exertion were higher in the hypoxic session, compared to inter-effort recovery hypoxia, in efforts 1 and 5, respectively, while heart rate was lower in effort 1 in normoxia. In hypoxia, effort 1 was lower than effort 3, with no alteration in recovery hypoxia. This aerobic capacity evaluation protocol is valid, sensitive, and replicable, and there were no important differences in the physiological variables from high-intensity exercise sessions monitoring in hypoxia, normoxia, and inter-effort recovery hypoxia conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]