Low‐intensity swimming with blood flow restriction over 5 weeks increases VO₂peak: A randomized controlled trial using Bayesian informative prior distribution

Abstract

Peak oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak) and speed at first (LT1, minimal lactate equivalent) and second lactate threshold (LT2 = LT1 +1.5 mmol•L −1 ) are crucial swimming performance surrogates. The present randomized controlled study investigated the effects of blood flow restriction (BFR) during low-intensity swimming (LiT) on VO 2 peak, LT1, and LT2. Eighteen male swimmers (22.7 ±3.0 yrs; 69.9 ±8.5 kg; 1.8 ±0.1 m) were either assigned to the BFR or control (noBFR) group. While BFR was applied during LiT, noBFR completed the identical LIT without BFR application. BFR of the upper limb was applied via customized pneumatic cuffs (75% of occlusion pressure: 135 ±10 mmHg; 8 cm cuff width). BFR training took place three times a week over 5 weeks (accumulated weekly net BFR training: 60 min•week −1 ; occlusion per session: 2-times 10 min•session −1 ) and was used exclusively at low intensities. VO 2 peak, LT1, and LT2 diagnostics were employed. Bayesian credible intervals revealed notable VO 2 peak improvements by +0.29 L•min −1 kg −1 (95% credible interval: −0.26 to +0.85 L•min −1 kg −1 ) when comparing BFR vs. noBFR. Speed at LT1 −0.01 m•s −1 (−0.04 to +0.02 m•s −1 ) and LT2 −0.01 m•s −1 (−0.03 to +0.02 m•s −1 ) did not change meaningfully when BFR was employed. Fifteen sessions of LIT swimming (macrocycle of 5 h over 5 weeks) with a weekly volume of 60 min with BFR application adds additional impact on VO 2 peak improvement compared to noBFR LIT swimming. Occasional BFR applications should be considered as a promising means to improve relevant performance surrogates in trained swimmers. Highlights. Low-intensity swimming with blood flow restricted (BFR) induced superior peak oxygen consumption adaptations compared to non-restricted swimming training over a 5-week lasting training period . BFR and non-BFR swimming training-induced similar adaptations regarding swimming speed at first and second lactate threshold . In conclusion, BFR served as a feasible, promising and beneficial complementary training stimuli to traditional swimming training regarding oxygen consumption adaptations.

Low‐intensity climbing with blood flow restriction over 5 weeks increases grip and elbow flexor endurance in advanced climbers: A randomized controlled trial

“…Accordingly, the effects of BFR during low-intensity climbing on grip and elbow flexor strength and endurance were investigated. Based on increased strength (Scott et al, 2016) and endurance (Held et al, 2020(Held et al, , 2022 adaptations observed in other sports via BFR, we hypothesize that BFR applied during low-intensity climbing could lead to similar improvements in climbing-specific strength and endurance performance indices. The results of this study might deliver new insights into the conceptualization and implementation of climbing-specific training using BFR as an additional training stimulus.…”

“…The broom (Robinson, 2014) and CODA (Plummer et al, 2006) packages were used to summarize model outputs using highest posterior intervals with a probability level of 0.95. The following statistical approach was modified from previous BFRrelated research (Held et al, 2022). Bayesian analyses were conducted using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation implemented in R and Stan (Carpenter et al, 2017).…”

“…During BFR, cuffs on the proximal part of the extremities occlude venous return and reduce arterial flow (Jessee et al, 2018). Recent research revealed that BFR training can elicit improvements in both strength (Scott et al, 2016) and endurance (Held et al, 2020(Held et al, , 2022 indices. There is already some research on the effects of BFR and climbing (Aghaei et al, 2020;Ebadifar et al, 2021).…”