Time Course Change in Muscle Swelling: High-Intensity vs. Blood Flow Restriction Exercise

Abstract

This study determined the time course for changes in muscle swelling and plasma volume following high (HI) and low-intensity resistance exercise with blood-flow restriction (LI-BFR). Ten male participants (22.1±3.0 yrs) completed three experimental conditions: high-intensity exercise (HI - 80% of 1RM), low-intensity exercise with BFR (LI-BFR -20% of 1RM, and 160 mmHg of BFR), and control (CON - no exercise or BFR). Muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA), muscle thickness, thigh circumference, and percentage change in plasma volume (PV%∆) were measured. mCSA was significantly greater than rest values at 15 min post-exercise (p<0.01) for HI and LI-BFR, and at 75 min post-exercise (p<0.01) for HI. Muscle thickness was significantly greater than rest immediately post-exercise (p<0.01) and 30 min post-exercise (p<0.01) for HI and LI-BFR, and at 60 min post-exercise for HI (p=0.01). Muscle thickness was greater for BFR immediately post-exercise compared to HI (p=0.01) post-exercise. Thigh circumference was significantly greater from rest at 15 min post-exercise (p=0.01) and at 75 min post-exercise for both LI-BFR (p=0.03) and HI (p<0.01). PV%∆ significantly decreased from rest immediately post-exercise for both HI (p<0.01) and LI-BFR (p<0.01). In conclusion, BFR exercise induces changes in muscle swelling and plasma volume similar to those observed at high-intensities.

Acute Physiological Responses to Resistance Exercise With Continuous Versus Intermittent Blood Flow Restriction: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Hence, our results also suggest that releasing the pressure of the cuffs during the rest periods between sets does not attenuate the exercise-induced muscle swelling response. These outcomes corroborate previous findings from our research group that also demonstrated similar levels of muscle swelling with both low-load resistance exercise with BFR and conventional high-load resistance exercise (Freitas et al, 2017). Yasuda et al (2015) also observed similar changes in muscle thickness following four sets of low-load (20% of 1-RM) resistance exercise with and without BFR performed to failure.…”

“…Following sterilization, the participants' index or middle finger was pricked, and a small blood sample was collected into a heparinized plastic microhematocrit tube, which was centrifuged to separate Hct from plasma. Hct-to-plasma percentage was determined in each sample using a micro-capillary reader (Damon/IEC Division, Needham, MA).% PV were calculated using the equation below (Van Beaumont, 1972), previously used by our research group (Freitas et al, 2017):…”

“…The underlying mechanisms responsible for the chronic adaptations following BFR resistance training remain unclear. However, it has been speculated that it may be due to the activation of the type II muscle fibers (Fatela et al, 2016), the accumulation of metabolites within the intramuscular environment (Suga et al, 2010), anabolic hormone secretion (Takarada et al, 2000a), exercise-induced muscle swelling (Freitas et al, 2017), and the regulation of biomolecular pathways (Fujita et al, 2007;Nakajima et al, 2016).…”

Can Hip Joint Position affect Quadriceps Muscle Responses during Knee Extension Exercise?

“…Thus, the abovementioned issues may indicate that seated KEE induced a greater mechanical and physiologic stress in VL than supine KEE, but these responses are similar in RF between both exercises. Therefore, as previously mentioned, metabolic, mechanical, and physiologic responses to exercise are purportedly related to muscle swelling, which may partially explain the findings of the current study [5,27,28].…”

“…In addition, consistent with our hypothesis, the seated KEE produced greater peak torque and work output than supine KEE. Acute muscle swelling (i.e., immediately after exercise) is an indication of localized fluid from reactive hyperemia and is related to a metabolic/mechanical/physiological muscle response to exercise [5,27,28]. Thus, it is important to note that MT is an indirect measure of muscle swelling [5,22], and the data of the current study showed good intersession reliability [29].…”