Abstract
Purpose
To determine the acute cardiovascular and perceptual responses of low-load exercise with or without blood flow restriction and compare those responses to that of moderately heavy exercise.
Methods
Twenty-two participants completed unilateral elbow flexion exercise with a moderately heavy-load- [70% one-repetition maximum (1RM); 70/0] and with three low-load conditions (15% 1RM) in combination with 0% (15/0), 40%, (15/40) and 80% (15/80) arterial occlusion pressure. Participants exercised until failure (or until 90 repetitions per set). The cardiovascular response (arterial occlusion) was measured pre and post exercise and the perceptual responses [ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and discomfort] were determined before and after each set of exercise.
Results
For arterial occlusion pressure, the lower-load conditions had greater change from pre to post compared to 70/00 (e.g., 15/80: 44 vs. 70/0: 34 mmHg). RPE was highest across the sets for the 15/80 condition with the other conditions having similar RPE (e.g., set 4: median rating of 17.2 for 15/80 vs. ~ 15.5 for other conditions). Ratings of discomfort were also greatest for the 15/80 condition (15/80 > 15/40 > 15/0 > 70/0). Exercise volume within the 15/0 and 15/40 conditions were similar but were significantly greater than that observed with the 15/80 and 70/0 conditions.
Conclusion
Low-load exercise to volitional failure results in a greater cardiovascular response to that of moderately heavy-load exercise. When high pressure is applied to low load exercise, there is a reduction in exercise volume but an elevated perceptual response that may be an important consideration when applying this stimulus in practice.
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Abbreviations
- 1RM:
-
One-repetition maximum
- 15/0:
-
15% one-repetition maximum/0% arterial occlusion pressure
- 15/40:
-
15% one-repetition maximum/40% arterial occlusion pressure
- 15/80:
-
15% one-repetition maximum/80% arterial occlusion pressure
- 70/0:
-
70% one-repetition maximum/0% arterial occlusion pressure
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- RPE:
-
Ratings of perceived exertion
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Acknowledgements
The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this manuscript. This study was supported, in part, though funding from the Japanese Society of Wellness and Preventive Medicine.
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ZWB acquired and interpreted the data, performed statistical analysis, and drafted the manuscript. SLB, MBJ, JGM, KTM, SJD conceived of the study, acquired and interpreted the data, and critically reviewed the manuscript. TA and JPL conceived of the study, interpreted the data, helped with statistical analysis, critically reviewed the manuscript, provided oversight of data collection, and provided funding for the project.
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Communicated by William J. Kraemer.
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Bell, Z.W., Buckner, S.L., Jessee, M.B. et al. Moderately heavy exercise produces lower cardiovascular, RPE, and discomfort compared to lower load exercise with and without blood flow restriction. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 1473–1480 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3877-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3877-0