Muscle damage responses to resistance exercise performed with high-load versus low-load associated with partial blood flow restriction in young women.

The aim of this study was to compare if an acute exercise session of high-load resistance training (HL-RT, e.g. 70% of 1 repetition-maximum, 1 RM) induces a higher magnitude of muscle damage compared with a RT protocol with low-loads (e.g. 20% 1 RM) associated with partial blood flow restriction (LL-BFR), and investigate the recovery in the days after the protocols. We used an unilateral crossover research design in which 10 young women (22(2) y; 162(5) cm; 66(11) kg) performed HL-RT and LL-BFR in a randomized, counterbalanced manner with a minimum interval of 2 weeks between protocols. Indirect muscle damage markers were evaluated before and once a day for 4 days into recovery. Main results showed decreases of 8-12% at 24-48 h in maximal voluntary isometric and concentric contraction torques (P < 0.03), and changes in muscle architecture markers (P < 0.03) for HL-RT and LL-BFR, with no differences between protocols (P > 0.05). Moreover, delayed onset muscle soreness increased only after LL-BFR (P < 0.001). We conclude that an acute bout of low volume HL-RT or LL-BFR to failure resulted in edema-induced muscle swelling, but do not induce major or long-lasting decrements in muscle function and the level of soreness promoted from LL-BFR was mild.

Hemodynamic Responses to Blood Flow Restriction and Resistance Exercise to Muscular Failure.

The aim of the present study was to compare hemodynamic responses between blood flow-restricted resistance exercise (BFR-RE), high-intensity resistance exercise (HI-RE) and low-intensity resistance exercise (LI-RE) performed to muscular failure. 12 men (age: 20±3 years; body mass: 73.5±9 kg; height: 174±6 cm) performed 4 sets of leg press exercises using BFR-RE (30% of 1-RM), HI-RE (80% of 1-RM) and LI-RE (30% of 1-RM) protocols. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and total peripheral vascular resistance (TPR) were measured on a beat-to-beat continuous basis by a noninvasive photoplethysmographic arterial pressure device. The HI-RE and LI-RE showed higher values (P<0.05) in all of the sets than the BFR-RE for SBP, DBP, HR. Additionally, HI-RE showed higher SBP (4th set) and DBP (all sets) (P<0.05) values than the LI-RE. However, the SV, CO and TPR showed significantly greater values for LI-RE compared to HI-RE and BFR-RE (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that the BFR-RE promotes a lower hemodynamic response compared to the HI-RE and LI-RE performed to muscular failure.