Effects of Mindful Breathing on Rapid Hypoxia Preacclimatization Training

Rapid exposure at high altitude is likely to cause Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) of different levels. This paper designs a "quick acclimatization" method to make the volunteers adapt to 3,600 meters (m) after 2-day training and 3,900 m after 3-day training. Especially, we investigate the effects of mindful breathing on rapid hypoxia preacclimatization training. 8 young male volunteers were randomly divided into one treatment group and one control group. Peripheral Saturation of Oxygen (SpO₂), Heart Rate (HR) and Respiratory Rate (RR) were recorded from the beginning to the end. We find that: (1) Hypoxic Preacclimatization Training Scheme (HPTS): at 3600 m, the increment of SpO₂ was 3.18% after 2-day training (P < 0.01); at 3900 m, 8 volunteers got obviously higher SpO₂ (2.65%, P < 0.05) and lower HR (–5.31 bpm, P < 0.05) after 3-day training. (2) Mindful Breathing Training Scheme (MBTS): at 3,600 m, the treatment group obtained better SpO₂ level (2.21%) with obviously lower HR (–7.1 bpm) and unobvious higher RR (2.85 br/min) than control group after 2-day training; at 3900 m, the treatment group did not show a significant difference after 3-day training. Besides, the treatment group exhibited a comprehensive better performance over the control group at night, which obtained a higher SpO₂ with lower HR and lower RR. In the comparison of different altitudes, the two groups had similar RR while the treatment group had a higher SpO₂ (P < 0.05) and a lower HR (P < 0.001). In the dynamic comparison during mindful breathing training, SpO₂ occurred remarkable differences: P < 0.05 every 15 minutes started from the 45th minute. We conclude that HPTS successfully helped volunteers adapt to the setting altitude in a short time. MBTS can induce significant phenomenon of sustained gain effect. It can effectively increase the acclimatization speed to quickly return to lower HR and RR and obtain higher SpO₂. MBTS can enable beginners without any experience of mindfulness and breathing training to initially stimulate the trend of "energy-saving" acclimatization in 2–3 days.