Comparative analysis of intermittent exercise training with and without blood flow restriction on physiological and performance matric / Amirul Shamsuddin ... [et al.].

This study tested the hypothesis that intermittent exercise training (IET) combined with blood flow restriction (BFR) would improve muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) and exercise performance. We investigated the effects of 6 weeks (3 days per week) of intermittent exercise training combined with BFR on the high-intensity intermittent exercise performance, SmO2, blood [glucose], and rating of discomfort. Following completion of a baseline Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 test (Yo-Yo IR1), twenty-eight young men recreationally active in endurance-based sports were pair-matched and randomly assigned to the IET-BFR and IET-only groups. The IET-BFR group performed IET (50% of the maximum distance covered in Yo-Yo IR1 at baseline in 5 sets) with inflatable cuffs (1.3 × resting systolic blood pressure), and the IET-only group performed the same training without inflatable cuffs. Performance in the Yo-Yo IR1 was 8.3% greater (p < 0.05) with IET-BFR (1,444 ± 319 m) compared to IET-only (1,330 ± 362 m) after 18 training sessions. Additionally, the IET-BFR group exhibited significantly higher post-training SmO2% during the Yo-Yo IR1 test (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in blood [glucose] or rating of discomfort. These findings suggest that incorporating BFR into IET protocols could effectively enhance exercise performance, potentially attenuating the decline in local oxygen delivery.