Effect of CPAP on Recovery in High-Performance Endurance Athletes

This study evaluated the use of nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as a potential recovery strategy in healthy male endurance runners without obstructive sleep apnea. Participants completed periods of high-intensity/high-volume and low-intensity/low-volume physical training, first without CPAP and subsequently with nocturnal CPAP. Sleep, physiological, biochemical, psychological, and recovery-related measures were assessed during the study. Polysomnography, blood tests, questionnaires, actigraphy, sleep diaries, and heart rate monitoring were used to evaluate participants across the experimental periods. The objective was to investigate whether nocturnal CPAP was associated with changes in recovery-related measures during different physical training loads.