The effect of breathing an ambient low-density, hyperoxic gas on the perceived effort of breathing and maximal performance of exercise in well-trained athletes

What Researchers Did

Researchers had eight highly trained cyclists perform maximal exercise tests in a hyperbaric chamber while breathing two different gas mixtures: one with oxygen and nitrogen (nitrox), and another with oxygen and helium (heliox).

What They Found

The study found that breathing heliox did not change the perceived effort of breathing compared to nitrox. Exercise performance also remained similar, with peak power output at 451 W for nitrox and 453 W for heliox. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was 4.96 l/min for nitrox and 4.88 l/min for heliox, showing no significant difference between the two gas mixtures.

Canadian Relevance

No direct Canadian connection identified.

Study Limitations

A limitation is that the study involved a small group of highly trained athletes, which may limit how broadly these findings can be applied to other populations.