Effects of oxygen loading on anaerobic performance and recovery perieod of active athletes

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether breathing 40% of oxygen (before and during 4 X 400m running intervals) effects both anaerobik performance and recovery perieod of athletes. There were 16 males athletes who were voluntarily participated in the study and their mean was 19.75 + 1.34 years old.In order to achieve maximal anaerobik performance of the subjects, they were put on running 4 X 400 meter in the track. Subjects were divided into two group and cross over design was used to test their performance. Half of the subjects inhaled 40% oxygen and the rest inhaled 21% oxygen during the first measurement of the study which were running 4 X400 m intervals. After three days subjects were switched the places. Through out all measurement, subjects? heart rate were recorded; after warm-up, after breating 40% oxygen for three minutes, and among 4 X 400 m. After they completed 4 X 400m running their heart rate was recorded in every three minutes for 12 minutes.The results of the study demontrated that there were statistically significant differences between breathing 40% oxygen and breathing 21% oxygen in terms of decreasing heart rate after warm-up period (p < 0.05). Also the results showed that there were statistically significant differences with regard to running time of 400 m while subjects inhaled 40 % of oxygen (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the results of the study also demonsrated that when subjects inhaled 40 % of oxygen, their recovery heart rate were significantly differed than when they inhaled 21 % of oxygen after 9 minutes of recovery (p < 0.05).Key Words: Oksijen loading, anaerobik performance, recovery, interval training.