The acute effect of resistance exercise on limb blood flow

Abstract

Current evidence indicates that to achieve maximum health benefits, regular resistance exercise should be a key component of structured physical activity. Several studies have revealed that regular resistance exercise may be associated with impaired vascular function, although this finding is inconsistent. Proposed explanations for impairment include substantial increases in blood pressure and increased retrograde blood flow in active limbs promoted by resistance exercise. However, few studies have examined the acute haemodynamics of resistance exercise in active-and even fewer in inactive-limbs. The purpose of this study was to characterise the haemodynamic responses in peripheral arteries in active and inactive limbs in response to resistance exercise using upper and lower limbs. Ten participants (five male, five female) familiar with resistance training performed three sets of 10 isotonic repetitions of right-sided bicep curls or knee extensions on separate days. Blood flow, shear rate and muscle oxygenation in the active and inactive limb, and blood pressure were measured before and for 3 min after each set. Blood flow increased in response to resistance exercise in the active limb (∼8-fold and ∼6-fold for the upper and lower limb respectively), with concurrent significant increases in mean and antegrade shear rate. In the inactive limb, blood flow more than doubled for both upper and lower limb exercise, transiently, with no significant change in retrograde shear rate. These acute blood flow profiles following resistance exercise are not indicative of long-term vessel impairment based on current understanding of blood flow and shear stress patterns.

Childhood psychosocial stress is linked with impaired vascular endothelial function, lower SIRT1, and oxidative stress in young adulthood

“…Acute, exercise induced-increases in vascular shear stress are likely the primary stimulus for training-induced improvements in VEF, as measured by FMD (44). Although both resistance (45) and interval exercise (46) elicit significant acute increases in mean and antegrade shear rates and have also been shown to elicit chronic improvements in vascular function (39,42,47,48), it is plausible that the total exercise dose, and especially the aerobic exercise, was not sufficient to improve FMD in this study. Alternatively, we explored the relationship between ACE exposure and FMD improvements in the training group with the hypothesis that ACEs may blunt exercise adaptations (Fig.…”

Central and Peripheral Thermal Signatures of Brain-Derived Fatigue during Unilateral Resistance Exercise: A Preliminary Study

“…A possible explanation for these findings may be related to the physiological functions associated with these frequency bands. In fact, the myogenic band is related with the endothelial activity [ 37 , 38 ]: the endothelium forms an interface between the blood circulating in the lumen and the vessel wall, helping to control the flow of substances and fluid into and out of a tissue. The negative correlation between RPE and ∆PSD of the myogenic band could be ascribed to a modulation of substance transport in the blood stream related to the autonomic activity [ 38 ].…”

“…In fact, the myogenic band is related with the endothelial activity [ 37 , 38 ]: the endothelium forms an interface between the blood circulating in the lumen and the vessel wall, helping to control the flow of substances and fluid into and out of a tissue. The negative correlation between RPE and ∆PSD of the myogenic band could be ascribed to a modulation of substance transport in the blood stream related to the autonomic activity [ 38 ]. Indeed, the autonomic nervous system is considered one of the key factors modulating the behaviour of the endothelial functions [ 39 ].…”

Fluctuating shear during resistance exercise

“…Third, it has been reported that retrograde SR has pro‐atherogenic effects on the endothelium (Green et al., 2017), and in the study by Thomas et al. (2020), the change in retrograde SR was minimal after resistance exercise. Thus, they presumed that resistance exercises were not associated with detrimental SR profiles.…”

“…In this regard, in this issue of Experimental Physiology Thomas and colleagues (2020) tested the acute effect of resistance exercise on the SR profile in active and inactive limbs in young adults. Thomas et al.…”