Effects of Heat-suit Training on Biological and Performance Characteristics in Elite Cyclists
Condition: Heat-suit Endurance Training; Non-heat-suit Endurance Training
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The overall objective of the study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of heat-suit
      training on training-associated changes in hemoglobin mass, skeletal muscle characteristics
      and endurance exercise performance in elite cyclists
    

Detailed description: 
      Endurance exercise performance depends on a range of determinants, including hemoglobin mass
      in blood and content of respiratory mitochondria in skeletal muscle. Low-intensity training
      (LIT) with heat exposure may be beneficial for development of these variables. The purpose of
      this study is to investigate the effects of five weeks of LIT-training with heat suit (five
      times a week; 50 min per session) on hemoglobin mass and other blood characteristics in elite
      cyclists (males and females) compared to a non-heat-suit training control group, including
      subsequent investigation of the retrograde effects of ~one month of training without heat
      suit. The study will also investigate the effects of heat-suit training on endurance exercise
      performance/performance determinants and other muscle biological charateristics, and will
      investigate the basic characteristics of mitochondrial function and abundances in these
      highly trained athletes. Training sessions with heat suit (or lack thereof) will complement
      the habitual training routines of the participants.
    

Intervention name(s): Heat-suit endurance training; Non-heat-suit endurance training
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Participants (elite cyclists) will conduct five 50-minute low-intensity cycling sessions with heat suit per week for five weeks. These sessions will complement their habitual training routines, which will consist of endurance training with intensities at or below lactate threshold. Participants will ingest 100 mg Fe2+ on a daily basis to support de novo synthesis of hemoglobin; Participants (elite cyclists) will conduct low-intensity cycling without heat suit for five weeks (volume- and intensity-matched to the heat-suit arm). Participants will ingest 100 mg Fe2+ on a daily basis to support de novo synthesis of hemoglobin
Other intervention name(s): Heat training; Control group
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: The study will be conducted as a five-week intervention. In the heat-suit arm, participants will conduct a 50-minute low-intensity cycling session with heat suit five time a week. In the none-heat-suit arm, participants will conduct similar amounts of low-intensity cycling without heat suit. These training sessions will complement the habitual training of the participants. Participants will be allocated into the two arms in a planned randomized manner. In short, participants will be stratified based on baseline performance levels (VO2max), whereby they will be allocated into the two intervention arms in a manner that ensures similar average performance levels between the two arms.
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Cycling; Heat; Hemoglobin mass; Skeletal muscle; Elite cyclists; Endurance performance; Mitochondria