Mild HBOT: what research says about the soft chamber
Recovery after exercise, circulation, heart rate variability and sleep: what studies at 1.3 to 1.4 ATA show, the pressure range of a soft chamber.
A soft chamber works at 1.4 or 1.5 ATA. This is called mild hyperbaric oxygen, or mHBOT. In recent years a lot of research in exactly this pressure range has been done in healthy people and athletes. All sources are in our research library.
Recovery after exercise
After a fatiguing effort, twelve trained cyclists recovered for 75 minutes at 1.3 ATA, or passively (Mihailovic et al., 2023). After the mild hyperbaric recovery their power in a five-minute maximal effort was higher. Their heart rate variability also recovered better, and they felt better recovered the next day.
A Japanese study looked at mood after an hour of intensive cycling (Takemura et al., 2022). After an hour at 1.3 ATA, fatigue and tension scores fell, while they stayed the same in the control condition.
Heart, breathing and circulation
- Aerobic capacity: at 1.3 ATA the work rate at the ventilatory threshold was higher and blood pressure at that threshold lower (Hisamoto et al., 2025).
- Capillaries: after 70 minutes at 1.4 ATA, blood velocity and flow in the smallest blood vessels of the finger increased (Nisa et al., 2022).
- Relaxation: a single one-hour session lowered resting heart rate and raised heart rate variability, a sign of more relaxation in the nervous system (Hu et al., 2025).
Sleep and concentration
In a randomised study with sixty healthy young men living at high altitude, five days of mild hyperbaric oxygen improved both sleep quality and the score on a working-memory task (Lin et al., 2026).
Why this matters when choosing
A soft chamber is lighter, more compact and easier to place than a hard chamber, and runs on a normal power socket. The research in this pressure range shows why it is such an accessible first step for homes, practices and recovery rooms. Also read our article on hard chamber or soft chamber.
The studies mentioned were carried out by independent researchers and published in scientific journals. Pressure, oxygen level and duration differ per study. We present the results in abridged form and for information only; the original publication prevails. All sources are listed in our research library.
View the soft hyperbaric chambers or experience a session in our showroom in Goes.
