Twelve weeks of exercise modality in hypoxia enhances health‐related function in obese older Korean men: A randomized controlled trial

Aim The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of exercise intervention in hypoxia as a novel treatment method for obesity in older men. Methods A total of 24 obese 65–70‐year‐old Korean men (66.5 ± 0.8 years) were randomly assigned to undergo hypoxic training ( n  = 12) or normoxic training ( n  = 12), and all participants carried out an exercise intervention composed of aerobic exercise on a treadmill (30 min) and bicycle (30 min), and resistance exercise (30–40 min) in normoxia, and 3000‐m normobaric hypoxia separately for a total of 12 weeks, three times a week. Health‐related dependent variables (body composition, physical fitness, pulmonary function and heart rate variability) were evaluated at pre‐ and post‐exercise intervention. Results Hypoxic training showed more improved body composition (bodyweight −5.68 vs −3.16 kg, %body fat −5.50 vs −1.97%, fat‐free mass 2.09 vs 1.06 kg), physical fitness (chair sit‐to‐stand 5.67 vs 4.58, pegboard 3.58 vs 2.17, tandem test −1.74 vs −1.31 s, one leg standing 6.27 vs 3.71 s), pulmonary function (forced vital capacity 0.15 vs 0.02 L, forced expiratory volume in 1 s 0.23 vs 0.01 L, percent of forced expiratory volume in 1 s 0.87 vs 0.08, maximal voluntary ventilation 5.26 vs 2.22 L) and heart rate variability (high frequency 0.94 vs 0.19 ms 2 , low frequency/high frequency −0.28 vs −0.08, salivary cortisol −0.13 vs −0.04 μg/dL) than normoxic training. Conclusions Compared with normoxic training, hypoxic training is a novel and successful health promotion method in obese older populations. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 311–316 .