Low-load blood flow restriction elicits greater concentric strength than non-blood flow restriction resistance training but similar isometric strength and muscle size

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Neural Adaptations Following Blood Flow Restriction Training: What We Know and What We Don't Know

“…After checking for eligibility of these articles based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria, 56 studies were excluded. At the final stage, at total of n = 10 studies with n = 232 participants were included in the systematic review ( Table 2 ; Moore et al, 2004 ; Kubo et al, 2006 ; Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; Cook et al, 2018 ; Biazon et al, 2019 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ; Ramis et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In the majority of included studies, neural changes were estimated by surface electromyography (sEMG) (Moore et al, 2004 ; Kubo et al, 2006 ; Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; Biazon et al, 2019 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ; Ramis et al, 2020 ) which allows conclusion about the excitation state of the respective muscle. Additionally, median and mean power frequency were computed to investigate shiftings in the sEMG power spectrum (Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ). For further insights into corticospinal adaptations, three studies measured central activation (Moore et al, 2004 ; Kubo et al, 2006 ; Cook et al, 2018 ) by means of the twitch-interpolation technique.…”

“…Changes in muscle excitation and EMG spectral parameters were evaluated in five studies (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ). The majority of studies incorporated 12 training sessions (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ) and one study 15 training sessions (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ).…”

“…Changes in muscle excitation and EMG spectral parameters were evaluated in five studies (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ). The majority of studies incorporated 12 training sessions (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ) and one study 15 training sessions (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ). Investigated muscles within the studies included the individual muscles VM, VL (de Castro et al, 2019 ), SOL (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ), and biceps brachii (Hill et al, 2020 ) as well as a calculated average of quadriceps muscles (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The majority of studies incorporated 12 training sessions (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ) and one study 15 training sessions (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ). Investigated muscles within the studies included the individual muscles VM, VL (de Castro et al, 2019 ), SOL (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ), and biceps brachii (Hill et al, 2020 ) as well as a calculated average of quadriceps muscles (Manimmanakorn et al, 2013 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ). While studies found no statistically significant differences in EMG amplitude between LL-BFR and LL (Colomer-Poveda et al, 2017 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; de Castro et al, 2019 ; Hill et al, 2020 ) only the study from Manimmanakorn et al ( 2013 ) with ~20% more training sessions demonstrated an augmented muscle activation with LL-BFR.…”