Practical Blood Flow Restricted Bench Press On Forearm Blood Flow And Vasodilatory Capacity

Abstract

PURPOSE:Decreased flow-mediated dilation (FMD) increases cardiovascular disease risks. Aerobic exercise or stretching generally increases brachial artery FMD, but resistance exercise does not. FMD responses would also alter by the order of exercise in combined exercise, and did not improve by resistance exercise after aerobic exercise. However, the combined effects of aerobic exercise and stretching order on FMD remain unclear. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise before and after stretching on FMD. METHODS:Fifteen healthy young males (21 ± 1 years) participated in three trials in random order on different days; 1) seated resting trial (REST); 2) aerobic exercise-stretching trial (AERO-ST); and 3) stretching-aerobic exercise trial (ST-AERO). A cycling ergometer exercise of 20 min at the intensity of 120 beats/min of heart rate levels was performed as an aerobic exercise, and four types of stretches of 20 min focusing on the lower limbs were performed. Before (Pre) and immediately (Post1) and 30 min (Post2) after trials, brachial artery FMD was measured by using ultrasound imaging system. RESULTS:No significant changes in all the parameters were observed in REST. In contrast, after AERO-ST and ST-AERO, FMD significantly increased at Post1 and Post2 compared to Pre, but the changes did not differ significantly between AERO-ST and ST-AERO (AERO-