Effects of resistance exercise combined with moderate vascular occlusion on muscular function in humans

TLDR

The study examined both acute and long‑term effects of resistance exercise combined with vascular occlusion on muscular function. The authors measured iEMG, vascular resistive index, and plasma lactate in five men during low‑intensity elbow flexion with varying occlusion pressures, and conducted a 16‑week training study in older women comparing low‑intensity occluded, low‑intensity non‑occluded, and high‑medium intensity non‑occluded elbow flexion protocols. During low‑intensity exercise, higher occlusion pressure increased iEMG, hyperemia, and lactate, but not during high‑intensity exercise; after 16 weeks, low‑intensity occluded training produced greater increases in elbow flexor cross‑sectional area and strength than low‑intensity non‑occluded training and comparable gains to high‑medium intensity training, indicating that sub‑50% 1 RM resistance exercise with occlusion effectively induces hypertrophy and strength gains.

Abstract

Acute and long-term effects of resistance exercise combined with vascular occlusion on muscular function were investigated. Changes in integrated electromyogram with respect to time (iEMG), vascular resistive index, and plasma lactate concentration were measured in five men either during or after elbow flexion exercises with the proximal end of the arm occluded at 0-100 mmHg. The mean iEMG, postexercise hyperemia, and plasma lactate concentration were all elevated with the increase in occlusion pressure at a low-intensity exercise, whereas they were unchanged with the increase in occlusion pressure at high-intensity exercise. To investigate the long-term effects of low-intensity exercise with occlusion, older women (n = 24) were subjected to a 16-wk exercise training for elbow flexor muscles, in which low-intensity [ approximately 50-30% one repetition maximum (1 RM)] exercise with occlusion at approximately 110 mmHg (LIO), low-intensity exercise without occlusion (LI), and high- to medium-intensity ( approximately 80-50% 1 RM) exercise without occlusion (HI) were performed. Percent increases in both cross-sectional area and isokinetic strength of elbow flexor muscles after LIO were larger than those after LI (P < 0.05) and similar to those after HI. The results suggest that resistance exercise at an intensity even lower than 50% 1 RM is effective in inducing muscular hypertrophy and concomitant increase in strength when combined with vascular occlusion.