Impact of Ischemic Intra-Conditioning on Power Output and Bar Velocity of the Upper Limbs

Michal Wilk; Michal Krzysztofik; Jakub Jarosz; Pawel Krol; Katarzyna Leznicka; Adam Zajac; Petr Stastny; Gregory C Bogdanis

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.626915

Impact of Ischemic Intra-Conditioning on Power Output and Bar Velocity of the Upper Limbs

Front Physiol. 2021 Feb 25:12:626915. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.626915. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Michal Wilk¹, Michal Krzysztofik¹, Jakub Jarosz¹, Pawel Krol², Katarzyna Leznicka³, Adam Zajac¹, Petr Stastny⁴, Gregory C Bogdanis⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Sciences, The Jerzy Kukuczka Academy of Physical Education, Katowice, Poland.
² College of Medical Sciences, Institute of Physical Culture Studies, University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland.
³ Faculty of Physical Education, Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Gdańsk, Poland.
⁴ Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Department of Sport Games, Charles University, Prague, Czechia.
⁵ School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects of ischemic conditioning on power output and bar velocity in the bench press exercise. Ten healthy males (age: 25 ± 2 years; body mass: 92 ± 8 kg; bench press one repetition maximum -1RM: 145 ± 13 kg), took part in two experimental sessions (with and without ischemia), 1 week apart in random and counterbalanced order. In the ischemic condition, cuffs placed around the upper part of the arms were inflated to 80% of arterial occlusion pressure before each set, while in the control condition there was no blood flow restriction. The exercise protocol included 5 sets of three repetitions each, against a resistance equal to 60% 1RM, with 5 min recovery intervals between sets. There was a main effect of condition for mean power output (MP) and mean bar velocity (MV) (p = 0.01), with overall MP being higher in ischemia than in control by 5.6 ± 4.1% (mean ± 90% compatibility limits), a standardized effect size (ES) of 0.51. Overall MV was also higher by 5.5 ± 4.0%, ES = 0.63. Peak power output (PP) and peak bar velocity (PV) were similar in set 1 of the control and ischemia condition (1039 ± 105 vs. 1054 ± 82 W; 684 ± 74 vs. 696 ± 53 W; 1.09 ± 0.07 vs. 1.12 ± 0.09 m/s; 0.81 ± 0.05 vs. 0.82 ± 0.05 m/s, p = 0.67 to 0.99, mean ± standard deviation). However, from set 3 onward (p = 0.03 to 0.001), PP and PV were higher in ischemia compared with control, with the highest difference observed in set 5 (10.9 ± 5.9%, ES = 0.73 for PP and 8.6 ± 4.6%; ES = 0.89 for PV). These results indicate that ischemia used before each set of the bench press exercise increases power output and bar velocity and this may be used as performance-enhancing stimulus during explosive resistance training.

Keywords: bench press; blood flow restriction; occlusion; resistance exercise; sport performance.