Fig. 1

Flowchart describing the study. Participants were randomly assigned to five groups: Control group (no specific intervention), Ripc group (RIPC training twice daily for 6 days), Rapid-Ripc group (RIPC training four times daily for 3 days), Acetazolamide group (125 mg twice daily for 2 days), and Combined group (RIPC training four times daily for 3 days plus acetazolamide 125 mg twice daily for 2 days). After the interventions, participants entered the normobaric hypoxic chamber (approximately equivalent to 4000 m) and stayed for 6 h. Clinical outcomes and laboratory parameters were evaluated at baseline, pre-, and post-hypoxia. RIPC, remote ischemic preconditioning