How To Boost Your Repeated Sprint Ability

Repeated sprint ability (RSA) is a critical performance factor in rugby, football, basketball, tennis, cycling and any sport requiring repeated maximum efforts. The athlete who can sprint at full power in the dying minutes of a match has a decisive advantage.

This article explains how breath hold training after exhalation simulates high altitude, induces hypoxia, and improves repeated sprint ability, without a hypoxic chamber, altitude camp or additional training volume.

Key terms used in this article:

• Hypoxia — blood oxygen saturation of below 90%
• High altitude training — training at high elevation where atmospheric oxygen pressure is low
• Voluntary hypoventilation — breath holds after exhalation, used to achieve hypoxia at sea level

Emil Zátopek: The Original Breath Hold Athlete

The year is 1952. The setting, Helsinki Olympic Games. Emil Zátopek, the runner known as the Czech Locomotive, has already claimed gold in the 5,000 and 10,000-metre events. He decides to enter the marathon. Zátopek has never run a marathon. But he wins, coming in 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor and breaking the record by 6 minutes. In footage of his victory, he speeds up towards the finish line. He is not even out of breath at the end of the race.

How did he do it?

Zátopek was one of the first athletes known to practice holding his breath during exercise. He would set a distance using a marker such as a tree, and hold his breath until he reached it. Once, his breath hold was so long he passed out.

The Czech runner was ahead of the field in more ways than one. In 1968, Mexico hosted the Olympics. Sports scientists became interested in high altitude training and began to explore how hypoxia could boost sprint performance.

Zátopek was a distance runner. We have already looked at aerobic and anaerobic endurance. But we now know that breath holding can also enhance repeated sprint ability, which is vital for team sport athletes like rugby players and football players.

Sprinting is anaerobic exercise, and team sports demand your most intensive performance, repeatedly and reliably. Sprint power and fatigue resistance can mean a game won or lost.

What Happens When You Hold Your Breath During Exercise?

As Emil Zátopek demonstrated, one of the things that can happen is that you pass out. If you get hypoxia wrong, it can be unsafe. But practiced in a controlled way, breath holding gives a competitive advantage.

When you hold the breath after a normal exhalation, blood oxygen levels drop and CO2 rises. This simultaneous hypoxia and hypercapnia stimulates powerful physiological adaptations: a higher lactate threshold, better buffering capacity, and improved repeated sprint performance. Read more about the benefits and science of breath holding.

Research: Breath Training and Repeated Sprint Ability

Study 1: Sprinting with breath holds after exhalation nearly doubles sprint count in rugby players

Over a four-week period, 21 highly trained Rugby Union players performed 7 sessions of repeated 40-metre sprints either with normal breathing or with breath holding after an exhalation. Performance was assessed pre- and post-training with a repeated sprint ability test involving all-out 40-metre sprints with a departure every 30 seconds until task failure.

Following the four weeks of training, the number of sprints performed by the breath hold group significantly increased from 9.1 to 14.9. There was no change in the normal breathing group (9.8 to 10.4).

Average blood oxygen saturation was 90% in the breath hold group and 95.5% in the normal training group. The researchers concluded that sprinting with breath holding after an exhalation is an effective strategy to improve running repeated sprint ability in team sport players.

European Journal of Sport Science. DOI: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1431312. January 2018.

Study 2: Repeated sprint hypoxia training improves tennis performance

2020 research found that repeated sprinting in hypoxia improves tennis performance. Time to exhaustion reduced by 18% and the lactic acid threshold increased. Players also showed much better ball accuracy at 100% of VO2 max (Brechbuhl et al., 2020).

Study 3: Hypoxic sprint training increases cycling power without raising heart rate

A 2020 case study published in Frontiers in Sport and Active Living showed positive results in cycling. The cyclists' power greatly increased while average heart rate stayed the same. This trial used a hypoxic chamber, but research has shown that is not necessary, the same hypoxic effect can be achieved through voluntary breath holding after exhalation.

Study 4: Voluntary hypoventilation produces faster sprint times, higher power output and better fatigue resistance

A 2019 review published in the German Journal of Sports Medicine confirmed that repeated sprint workouts in hypoxia lead to better repeated sprint ability. This includes hypoxia from breath holding and voluntary hypoventilation. Runners showed faster mean sprint times, higher power outputs and better fatigue resistance (Millet et al., 2019).

Study 5: Professional rugby players achieve 90% blood oxygen saturation during hypoxic sprint training

Research from 2018 found marked improvements in professional rugby players who practiced sprint speed workouts using breath holding after exhalation. They achieved an average blood oxygen saturation of 90%, confirming they were training in genuine hypoxia, similar to conditions at significant altitude.

The Key Takeaway

When you add hypoxia to your sprint speed workout through breath holding after exhalation, you can boost power and speed, raise your lactate threshold, and delay fatigue. Repeated sprint ability is a key determinant in team sports, cycling and other competitive events.

The Oxygen Advantage approach does not require a hypoxic chamber or an altitude camp. By incorporating breath holds after exhalation into your existing sprint training, you create the same physiological stimulus. You can track your CO2 tolerance and sprint recovery using the BOLT score — as your repeated sprint ability improves, so will your score.

As Emil Zátopek crossed the 1952 marathon finish line, his face split into a smile of sheer satisfaction. With the sprint power to finish strong, you will understand exactly how good that feels.

Upgrade Your Repeated Sprint Ability with Oxygen Advantage

The Oxygen Advantage method, developed by Patrick McKeown, includes specific breath hold protocols designed to improve repeated sprint performance by simulating high altitude training at sea level.

The same approach that helped explain Zátopek's legendary results is now supported by a growing body of research across rugby, football, tennis, cycling and swimming.

If you are interested in trying the OA method for yourself, why not try our online breathing course, become a certified breathwork instructor, or find an Oxygen Advantage instructor near you.