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

Abstract

Abstract 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.