Abstract

Purpose Promising benefits on fat mass and biochemical components may be reported after applying programs of cyclic hypoxia and HIIT. Aim To investigate the effect of a month of detraining on cardiometabolic risk markers after active hypoxia exposure. Methods Participants included 59 overweight/obese women, who started a 12-week program of 36 sessions, and were randomly divided into four groups: (a) aerobic interval training in hypoxia (AitH; FiO(2) = 17.2%; n = 13), (b) aerobic interval training in normoxia (AitN; n = 15), (c) sprint interval training in hypoxia (SitH; FiO(2) = 17.2%; n = 15), and (d) sprint interval training in normoxia (SitN; n = 18). Body composition, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters were assessed at baseline (A), after 36 training sessions (B) and after 4 weeks of detraining (C). Results Hypoxia conditions showed a significant positive effect on waist circumference (P = 0.01), WHR (P = 0.04), and percentage of trunk fat mass (P 0.001). The percentage of trunk fat continued to decrease significantly after training cessation in both AitH and SitH groups. Conclusion After 4 weeks of detraining with a previous 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training under cyclic normobaric hypoxia, the percentage of fat mass located in the trunk decreases significantly and this effect was not observed in the normoxia groups.