The Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Therapy on Recovery After Experimentally Induced Muscle Weakness and Pain

• Autores: Vickie Wong, Scott J. Dankel, Robert W. Spitz, Zachary W. Bell, Ricardo Borges Viana, Raksha N. Chatakondi, Abe Takashi, Jeremy Paul Loenneke
• Localización: Journal of strength and conditioning research: the research journal of the NSCA, ISSN 1064-8011, Vol. 36, Nº. 4, 2022, págs. 1147-1152
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The purpose was to determine if blood flow restriction with no external load could be used as a means of active therapy after experimentally induced fatigue and soreness. Twelve women and 7 men (aged 18-35 years) participated in a randomized controlled trial using a within-subject design. The study intervention was 3 consecutive visits. Visit 1 included the fatiguing/soreness-inducing protocol for the elbow flexors, which was performed only once during the study. Torque was measured before/after to confirm individuals began in a weakened state. Subjects then completed blood flow restriction therapy on one arm and the sham therapy on the other. Subjects performed elbow flexion/contraction with no external load on both arms. Torque was measured once more 10 minutes after the fatiguing/soreness-inducing protocol. Twenty-four hours later, soreness and torque were assessed in each arm, followed by another bout of therapy. Forty-eight hours after the initial visit, soreness and torque were measured again. There were no differences (median difference [95% credible interval]) in the recovery of torque between the blood flow restriction and sham therapy conditions at 10 minutes (0.5 [-2.7, 3.8] N[middle dot]m), 24 hours (-2.34 [-6, 1.14] N[middle dot]m), or 48 hours (-1.94 [-5.45, 1.33] N[middle dot]m). There were also no differences in ratings of soreness at 24 hours (-2.48 [-10.05, 5.05]) or 48 hours (2.58 [-4.96, 10.09]). Our results indicate that this specific model of blood flow restriction therapy did not enhance the recovery of the muscle compared with a sham condition without the application of pressure.