The effects of water-based exercise in combination with blood flow restriction on strength and functional capacity in post-menopausal women

Abstract

Water-based exercise and low-intensity exercise in combination with blood flow restriction (BFR) are two methods that have independently been shown to improve muscle strength in those of advancing age. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effect of water-based exercise in combination with BFR on maximum dynamic strength and functional capacity in post-menopausal women. Twenty-eight women underwent an 8-week water-based exercise program. The participants were randomly allocated to one of the three groups: (a) water exercise only, (b) water exercise + BFR, or (c) a non-exercise control group. Functional capacity (chair stand test, timed up and go test, gait speed, and dynamic balance) and strength testing were tested before and after the 8-week aquatic exercise program. The main findings were as follows: (1) water-based exercise in combination with BFR significantly increased the lower limb maximum strength which was not observed with water-based exercise alone and (2) water-based exercise, regardless of the application of BFR, increased functional performance measured by the timed up and go test over a control group. Although we used a healthy population in the current study, these findings may have important implications for those who may be contraindicated to using traditional resistance exercise. Future research should explore this promising modality in these clinical populations.

Effects of strength training with blood flow restriction on torque, muscle activation and local muscular endurance in healthy subjects

“…In this regard, several studies have reported the acute [15, 17, 23–26, 38] and chronic [3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 20, 30, 35, 36, 42] effects of ST with BFR. Thus, some studies have evaluated the chronic effects of ST with BFR on isometric torque [14, 19, 34, 36] and LME [6, 7, 13, 20, 36] after application of LI ST with BFR.…”

The Benefits of Physical Activity on Climacteric Women

“…Most part of the studies with BFR combine this technique with the strength training and in apparently healthy individuals; however, some researchers already have been investigating how the BFR can be used in special populations and associated with other types of exercise [47][48][49][50][51][52]. In the next session, some studies that used this technique in climacteric women and/ or with non-transmissible chronic diseases will be presented.…”

“…There is few literature regarding the use of BFR in water exercises probably because of the problems that can appear on building a restriction equipment that could be easily used on water. Even with those diiculties, two studies were developed by a group of researchers from the Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil, associating water exercises for BFR [48,49]. Menopaused women (n = 28) were separated in control group, water exercises and water exercises with BFR.…”

“…The exercise combined with BFR increased lower limbs maximum strength, which did not happen on the other experimental group. Also, both groups improved functional performance [48]. In contrast, neither of the protocols were capable of changing aspects of the body composition, probably because the exercise volume was too low to promote such changes [49].…”

Hemodynamic responses to strength exercise with blood flow restriction during different phases of the menstrual cycle

“…The BFR training method has been used to increase strength (Laurentino et al, 2012;Silva et al, 2015;Vechin et al, 2015), muscle mass (Laurentino et al, 2012;Vechin et al, 2015), muscular endurance (Gil et al, 2017;Kacin & Strazar, 2011), and functional capacity (Araujo et al, 2015) and was shown to be safe (Araújo et al, 2014;Neto et al, 2015;Neto et al, 2016;Takano et al, 2005). In this scenario, gains in strength and muscle mass with the use of this technique have been shown to be as effective as high-intensity resistance training (HI; ≥ 80% of 1RM).…”