Physiological response to 60 min steady walking at moderate altitude

Abstract

The purpose of present study was clarified to the physiological response to walking for a long term at moderate altitude （1450m）. The healthy 6 males participated experiment as a subject in this study. They performed walking of steady state velocity（ 80m/min） for 60min in either sea level（64m: SL） and moderate altitude（1450m; MA）. Respiratory metabolism, heart rate（HR）, perceived of exertion（RPE）,arterial O2 saturation（SpO2） , blood lactate（ BLa） and blood glucose（ BGlu） were measured during 60 min walking. SpO2 was significantly lower in the MA than in the SL （P<0.01）. HR, Oxygen uptake, and RPE did not differ between the two conditions. However, respiratory exchange ratio was significantly higher for MA than SL at the end of the walking test（P<0.05）. Furthermore, BLa did not change after the walking test, but BGLu decreased significantly only in MA （P<0.05）. It is concluded that physiological response in walking at moderate altitude showed energy supply was more dependent on the glycolytic system due to the influence of hypobaric hypoxia.