Acute effects of exercise under different levels of blood-flow restriction on muscle activation and fatigue

Fatela, Pedro; Reis, Joana; Mendonça, Gonçalo V.; Avela, Janne; Mil‐Homens, Pedro

doi:10.1007/s00421-016-3359-1

Cited by 92 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This implies on the preserved ability to increase volitional activation of larger number of motor units to compensate for the decrease in force capacity, which in turn resulted in significantly longer times of sustained contraction compared to SHAM-BFR group. The results are in line with consensus in the literature that BFR exercise implicates greater muscular activation to maintain the same work output (Moritani et al, 1992; Takarada et al, 2000; Wernbom et al, 2009; Yasuda et al, 2009; Cook et al, 2013; Fahs et al, 2015; Loenneke et al, 2015; Fatela et al, 2016). Hypothetically, these increments in EMG amplitude may reflect an enhanced recruitment of type II motor units (Moritani et al, 1992; Takarada et al, 2000; Moore et al, 2004) due to the local accumulation of metabolites (Loenneke et al, 2015) or increase in eccentric muscle activity (Wernbom et al, 2009) during exercise with BFR.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Previous studies, investigating the interaction between BFR exercise and patterns of neuromuscular activation, have shown that acute BFR exercise augments neural activation and recruitment of type II motor units (Moritani et al, 1992; Takarada et al, 2000; Moore et al, 2004). Pierce et al (2006), and more recently also Fatela et al (2016), demonstrated that higher levels of BFR elicited greater decrements in median frequency of rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis muscle in a short period after exercise, which implies that the magnitude of neuromuscular fatigue is substantially larger following this form of exercise. A progressive increase in type II motor unit recruitment and reduction in fatigue would therefore be expected to be the primary long-term adaptation of BFR training.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

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Short–Term Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restricted Exercise Preserves Quadriceps Muscle Endurance in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

et al. 2018

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Surgical ACL reconstruction performed with a tourniquet induces compression and ischemic stress of the quadriceps femoris (QF) muscle which can accelerate postoperative weakness. Given that low-load blood flow restricted (BFR) exercise is potent in enhancing muscle oxygenation and vascular function, we hypothesized that short-term preconditioning with low-load BFR exercise can attenuate QF muscle endurance deterioration in the postoperative period. Twenty subjects undergoing arthroscopic ACL reconstruction performed 5 exercise sessions in the last 8 days prior to surgery. They were assigned into either BFR group, performing low-load BFR knee-extension exercise, or SHAM-BFR group, replicating equal training volume with sham occlusion. Blood flow (near-infrared spectroscopy) and surface EMG of QF muscle during sustained isometric contraction at 30% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) torque performed to volitional failure were measured prior to the intervention and again 4 and 12 weeks after surgery. There was an overall decrease (p = 0.033) in MVIC torque over time, however, no significant time-group interaction was found. The time of sustained QF contraction shortened (p = 0.002) in SHAM-BFR group by 97 ± 85 s at week 4 and returned to preoperative values at week 12. No change in the time of sustained contraction was detected in BFR group at any time point after surgery. RMS EMG amplitude increased (p = 0.009) by 54 ± 58% at week 4 after surgery in BFR group only. BFm increased (p = 0.004) by 52 ± 47% in BFR group, and decreased (p = 0.023) by 32 ± 19% in SHAM-BFR group at week 4 after surgery. Multivariate regression models of postoperative changes in time of sustained QF contraction revealed its high correlation (R2 = 0.838; p < 0.001) with changes in BFm and RMS EMG in the SHAM-BFR group, whereas no such association was found in the BFR group. In conclusion, enhanced endurance of QF muscle was triggered by combination of augmented muscle fiber recruitment and enhanced muscle perfusion. The latter alludes to a preserving effect of preconditioning with BFR exercise on density and function of QF muscle microcirculation within the first 4 weeks after ACL reconstruction.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Short–Term Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restricted Exercise Preserves Quadriceps Muscle Endurance in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

et al. 2018

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“…Indeed, the current study found similar exercise-induced fatigue and EMG amplitude, regardless of the BFR condition. In contrast, a previous study found that the change in EMG amplitude and fatigue following BFR exercise was dependent upon the level of the cuff inflation pressure (Fatela et al, 2016). The discrepancy in findings between studies may be attributed to several methodological differences.…”

Section: Emg Amplitudementioning

confidence: 65%

The acute muscular response to blood flow‐restricted exercise with very low relative pressure

Jessee

Mattocks

Buckner

et al. 2017

Clin Physio Funct Imaging

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To investigate the acute responses to blood flow-restricted (BFR) exercise across low, moderate and high relative pressures. Muscle thickness, maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and electromyography (EMG) amplitude were assessed following exercise with six different BFR pressures: 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 50% and 90% of arterial occlusion pressure (AOP). There were differences between each time point within each condition for muscle thickness, which increased postexercise [+0·47 (0·40, 0·54) cm] and then trended towards baseline. For MVC, higher pressures resulted in greater decrements than lower pressures [e.g. 10% AOP: -20·7 (-15·5, -25·8) Nm versus 90% AOP: -24 (-19·1, -28·9) Nm] postexercise. EMG amplitude increased from the first three repetitions to the last three repetitions within each set. When using a common BFR protocol with 30% 1RM, applying BFR does not seem to augment acute responses over that of exercise alone when exercise is taken to failure.

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“…Our results showed that EMGFmed reduced significantly, remaining lower than PRE exercise values within 3 minutes after the task failure only in PO condition. This finding indicates a slower recovery of neuromuscular fatigue [39] when the used exercise is carried out with PO. Moreover, this finding is in line with previous International Journal of Applied Exercise Physiology www.ijaep.com studies where the EMGFmed was shifted toward low frequencies immediately after exercise with vascular occlusion, remaining with this characteristic up to 2 minutes after the exercise conclusion [39][40][41].…”

Section: Median Frequency Of the Emg Signalmentioning

confidence: 85%

Time to failure and neuromuscular response to intermittent isometric exercise at different levels of vascular occlusion: a randomized crossover study

Cerqueira

Pereira

Rocha

et al. 2017

Int J Appl Exerc Physiol

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ABSTRACT:Objectives: The purpose this study was to investigate the effects of different vascular occlusion levels (total occlusion (TO), partial occlusion (PO) or free flow (FF)) during intermittent isometric handgrip exercise (IIHE) on the time to failure (TF) and the recovery of the maximum voluntary isometric force (MVIF), median frequency (EMGFmed) and peak of EMG signal (EMGpeak) after task failure. Methods: Thirteen healthy men (21 ± 1.71 year) carried out an IIHE until the failure at 45% of MVIF with TO, PO or FF. Occlusion pressure was determined previously to the exercise. The MVIF, EMGFmed and EMGpeak were measured before and after exercise. Results: TF was significantly different (p < 0.05) among all investigated conditions: TO (150 ± 68s), PO (390 ± 210s) and FF (510 ± 240s). The MVIF was lower immediately after IIHE, remaining lower eleven minutes after failure in all cases (p <0.05), when compared to pre exercise. There was a greater force reduction (p <0.05) one minute after the failure in the PO (-45.8%) and FF (-39.9%) conditions, when compared to TO (-28.1%). Only the PO condition induced lower MVIF (p <0.05) than in the TO, eleven minutes after the task failure. PO induced a greater reduction in EMGFmed compared TO and greater increase in EMGpeak, when compared to TO and FF (p <0.05). Conclusions: TO during IIHE lead to a lower time to failure, but a faster MVIF recovery, while the PO seems to be associated to a slower neuromuscular recovery, when compared to other conditions.

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Acute effects of exercise under different levels of blood-flow restriction on muscle activation and fatigue

Abstract: Muscular activation, as well as neuromuscular fatigue, varies as a function of relative BFR intensity. Therefore, the individual determination of vascular restriction levels is crucial before engaging in BFR exercise.

Cited by 92 publications

References 36 publications

Short–Term Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restricted Exercise Preserves Quadriceps Muscle Endurance in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

Short–Term Preconditioning With Blood Flow Restricted Exercise Preserves Quadriceps Muscle Endurance in Patients After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

The acute muscular response to blood flow‐restricted exercise with very low relative pressure

Time to failure and neuromuscular response to intermittent isometric exercise at different levels of vascular occlusion: a randomized crossover study

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