AUTHOR=Pojskić Haris , Hanstock Helen G. , Tang Tsz-Hin , Rodríguez-Zamora Lara 

TITLE=Acute Exposure to Normobaric Hypoxia Impairs Balance Performance in Sub-elite but Not Elite Basketball Players

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.748153

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2021.748153

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=Although high and simulated altitude training has become increasingly popular training method, no study has investigated the influence of acute hypoxic exposure on balance in team-sport athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia is detrimental to balance performance in highly-trained basketball players. Nine elite and nine sub-elite male basketball players participated in a randomized, single-blinded, cross-over study. Subjects performed repeated trials of a single-leg balance test (SLBT) in an altitude chamber in normoxia (NOR; ~ sea level) with FIO220.9% and PIO2 146.7-150.4 mmHg and normobaric hypoxia (HYP; ~3800 m above sea level) with FIO213.0% and PIO2 90.9-94.6 mmHg. The SLBT was performed three times: 15 min after entering the environmental chamber in NOR or HYP, then twice more interspersed by 3 min rest. Peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at four time-points: after the initial 15 minutes rest inside the chamber and immediately after each SLBT. Across the cohort, balance performance was 7.1% better during NOR than HYP (P<0.01, ηp2=0.58). However, the elite group’s performance was not impaired by HYP, whereas the sub-elite group performed worse in the HYP condition on both legs (DL: P=0.02, d=1.23; NDL: P=0.01, d=1.43). SpO2 was lower in HYP than NOR (P<0.001, ηp2=0.99) with a significant decline over time during HYP. HR was higher in HYP than NOR (P=0.04, ηp2=0.25) with a significant increase over time. Acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia detrimentally affected balance performance in sub-elite but not elite basketball players.