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Physiological responses to interval endurance exercise at different levels of blood flow restriction

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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to identify a blood flow restriction (BFR) endurance exercise protocol that would both maximize cardiopulmonary and metabolic strain, and minimize the perception of effort.

Methods

Twelve healthy males (23 ± 2 years, 75 ± 7 kg) performed five different exercise protocols in randomized order: HI, high-intensity exercise starting at 105% of the incremental peak power (P peak); I-BFR30, intermittent BFR at 30% P peak; C-BFR30, continuous BFR at 30% P peak; CON30, control exercise without BFR at 30% P peak; I-BFR0, intermittent BFR during unloaded exercise. Cardiopulmonary, gastrocnemius oxygenation (StO2), capillary lactate ([La]), and perceived exertion (RPE) were measured.

Results

V̇O2, ventilation (V̇ E), heart rate (HR), [La] and RPE were greater in HI than all other protocols. However, muscle StO2 was not different between HI (set1—57.8 ± 5.8; set2—58.1 ± 7.2%) and I-BRF30 (set1—59.4 ± 4.1; set2—60.5 ± 6.6%, p < 0.05). While physiologic responses were mostly similar between I-BFR30 and C-BFR30, [La] was greater in I-BFR30 (4.2 ± 1.1 vs. 2.6 ± 1.1 mmol L−1, p = 0.014) and RPE was less (5.6 ± 2.1 and 7.4 ± 2.6; p = 0.014). I-BFR30 showed similar reduced muscle StO2 compared with HI, and increased blood lactate compared to C-BFR30 exercise.

Conclusion

Therefore, this study demonstrate that endurance cycling with intermittent BFR promotes muscle deoxygenation and metabolic strain, which may translate into increased endurance training adaptations while minimizing power output and RPE.

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Abbreviations

BFR:

Blood flow restriction

HI:

High-intensity

P peak :

Peak power

I-BFR30:

Intermittent

C-BFR30:

Continuous Blood Flow Restriction at 30% of peak power

CON30:

Control exercise at 30% of peak power

I-BFR0:

Intermittent Blood Flow Restriction during unloaded exercise

StO2 :

Oxygenation

[La]:

Capillary lactate

RPE:

Perceived exertion

V̇O2 :

Oxygen uptake

V̇ E :

Ventilation uptake-

HR:

Heart rate

OBLA:

Onset blood lactate accumulation

W:

Watts

O2 :

Oxygen

CO2 :

Dioxide of carbon

O2Hb:

Oxyhemoglobin

HHb:

Deoxyhemoglobin

SD:

Standard deviation

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

mmHg:

Millimeters of mercury

HIF-1a:

Hypoxia inducible factor-1a

VEGF:

Vascular endothelial growth factor

COPD:

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

CHF:

Congestive heart failure

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Acknowledgements

We thank the subjects for participating in this study, and CNPq and FAPESC for financial support. Rogerio B. Corvino was supported by a CAPES PhD fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Human Performance Research Group, Center for Health and Exercise Science, UDESC, Florianopolis, Brazil

    Rogério B. Corvino, Thiago Loch, Jéssica C. Martins & Fabrizio Caputo

  2. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Physiology and Medicine, Rehabilitation Clinical Trials Center, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Center at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA

    Rogério B. Corvino & Harry B. Rossiter

  3. School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Harry B. Rossiter

Authors
  1. Rogério B. Corvino
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  2. Harry B. Rossiter
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  3. Thiago Loch
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  4. Jéssica C. Martins
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  5. Fabrizio Caputo
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Correspondence to Rogério B. Corvino.

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Communicated by Peter Krustrup.

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Corvino, R.B., Rossiter, H.B., Loch, T. et al. Physiological responses to interval endurance exercise at different levels of blood flow restriction. Eur J Appl Physiol 117, 39–52 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3497-5

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