Patterns of responses and time-course of changes in muscle size and strength during low-load blood flow restriction resistance training in women.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the individual and composite patterns of responses and time-course of changes in muscle size, strength, and edema throughout a 4 week low-load blood flow restriction (LLBFR) resistance training intervention. METHODS: Twenty recreationally active women (mean ± SD; 23 ± 3 years) participated in this investigation and were randomly assigned to 4 weeks (3/week) of LLBFR (n = 10) or control (n = 10) group. Resistance training consisted of 75 reciprocal isokinetic forearm flexion-extension muscle actions performed at 30% of peak torque. Strength and ultrasound-based assessments were determined at each training session. RESULTS: There were quadratic increases for composite muscle thickness (R2 = 0.998), concentric peak torque (R2 = 0.962), and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque (R2 = 0.980) data for the LLBFR group. For muscle thickness, seven of ten subjects exceeded the minimal difference (MD) of 0.16 cm during the very early phase (laboratory visits 1-7) of the intervention compared to three of ten subjects that exceeded MD for either concentric peak torque (3.7 Nm) or MVIC (2.2 Nm) during this same time period. There was a linear increase for composite echo intensity (r2 = 0.563) as a result of LLBFR resistance training, but eight of ten subjects never exceeded the MD of 14.2 Au. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that the increases in muscle thickness for the LLBFR group were not associated with edema and changes in echo intensity should be examined on a subject-by-subject basis. Furthermore, LLBFR forearm flexion-extension resistance training elicited real increases in muscle size during the very early phase of training that occurred prior to real increases in muscle strength.

Low-load blood flow restriction elicits greater concentric strength than non-blood flow restriction resistance training but similar isometric strength and muscle size.

PURPOSE: Low-load venous blood flow restriction resistance training (RT + BFR) has been demonstrated to increase muscle strength to a greater degree than low-load non-BFR resistance training (RT) during isotonic training, but no previous investigations have examined RT + BFR versus RT during isokinetic training. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of 4 weeks of isokinetic low-load RT + BFR versus low-load RT on indices of muscle strength, muscle size, and neural adaptations. METHODS: Thirty women (mean ± SD; 22 ± 2 years) participated in this investigation and were randomly assigned to 4 weeks of either RT + BFR (n = 10), RT (n = 10), or control (n = 10) group. Resistance training consisted of 75 reciprocal forearm flexion-extension isokinetic muscle actions of the forearm flexors performed at a velocity of 120°s-1. RESULTS: Concentric peak torque increased to a greater extent for RT + BFR after 4 weeks (36.9%) compared to RT (25.8%), but there were similar increases in isometric torque (23.3-42.1%). For both RT + BFR and RT, there were similar increases in muscle cross-sectional area and muscle thickness of the biceps brachii after 2 weeks (11.3-14.3% and 12.4-12.9%, respectively) and 4 weeks (18.7-21.9% and 19.0-20.0%, respectively). There were similar increases in mechanomyographic amplitude, mechanomyographic mean power frequency, and electromyographic mean power frequency, but no changes in electromyographic amplitude for all conditions (including control). CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicated that low-load RT + BFR elicited greater increases in concentric strength than low-load RT, but elicited comparable increases in isometric strength and muscle size. There were also no differences in any of the EMG and MMG responses among conditions.