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This study investigates how immersion and body position affect lung function in endurance athletes, focusing on the roles of allergies and asthma.

March 29, 2026Open Access

Body Position and Immersion associate with Lung Function differently in Healthy and Asthmatic Endurance Athletes

Key Points

This study investigates how immersion and body position affect lung function in endurance athletes, focusing on the roles of allergies and asthma.
Conducted spirometry tests on 45 endurance athletes in four positions: seated on land, prone on land, seated immersed, and prone immersed.
Sample included 15 swimmers, 15 triathletes, and 15 runners, testing lung function at rest.
Analyzed differences in lung function parameters across various positions.
Lung function measures (FVC, FEV1, FEF 25-75%) varied significantly with position (p<0.001 for most comparisons).
PEF showed a significant decrease with body position change (p=0.001).
Athletes without allergies or asthma displayed greater differences in lung function across positions compared to those with these conditions.

Abstract

AimLung function is known to change with immersion and body position.However, little is known about these changes in endurance athletes, particularly regarding the influence of allergies and asthma in this population.This study aims to clarify related changes in trained endurance athletes' lung function associated to different body positions and immersion, and allergies and asthma influence on those changes. MethodsAthletes underwent spirometry testing at rest in four randomized positions: seated on land, prone on land, seated while immersed, and prone while immersed.The sample was comprised of 45 male athletes: 15 swimmers, 15 triathletes, and 15 runners.Data from the spirometry tests were collected in a pool and pool's deck. ResultsAll the lung function variables varied across the different positions (FVC, FEV 1 , and FEF 25-75% with p<0.001, and PEF with p=0.001), except for FEV 1 /FVC, which remained unchanged (p=0.207).Overall, athletes without self-reported allergies or asthma showed greater positional differences. ConclusionsEndurance athletes' FVC, FEV 1 , and FEF 25-75% appear to decrease primarily in response to hydrostatic pressure, while PEF decreases mainly in response to the change in body position.FVC in allergic athletes, and FEV 1 , and FEF 25-75% in asthmatic athletes appear to decrease mainly in response to the change in body position, and PEF decreases mainly in response to hydrostatic pressure.The specific effects in response to allergy and asthma appear to accumulate with the overall effects, leading to J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f differences from the on-land seated condition to the other three positions, but no difference among the later three positions.

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