Physiological and perceptual responses to acute arm cranking with blood flow restriction

Benjamin A Cockfield; Isaac J Wedig; Alyssa L Vinckier; John McDaniel; Steven J Elmer

doi:10.1007/s00421-023-05384-0

Physiological and perceptual responses to acute arm cranking with blood flow restriction

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2024 May;124(5):1509-1521. doi: 10.1007/s00421-023-05384-0. Epub 2023 Dec 24.

Authors

Benjamin A Cockfield^{1

2}, Isaac J Wedig^{1

3

4}, Alyssa L Vinckier^{1

2}, John McDaniel^{5

6}, Steven J Elmer^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, College of Science and Arts, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931, USA.
² Department of Physical Therapy, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA.
³ Health Research Institute, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
⁴ School of Health and Human Performance, Marquette, MI, USA.
⁵ Exercise Physiology Program, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA.
⁶ Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
⁷ Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology, College of Science and Arts, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI, 49931, USA. sjelmer@mtu.edu.
⁸ Health Research Institute, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA. sjelmer@mtu.edu.

PMID: 38142449
DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05384-0

Abstract

Introduction: Lower-body aerobic exercise with blood flow restriction (BFR) offers a unique approach for stimulating improvements in muscular function and aerobic capacity. While there are more than 40 reports documenting acute and chronic responses to lower-body aerobic exercise with BFR, responses to upper-body aerobic exercise with BFR are not clearly established.

Purpose: We evaluated acute physiological and perceptual responses to arm cranking with and without BFR.

Methods: Participants (N = 10) completed 4 arm cranking (6 × 2 min exercise, 1 min recovery) conditions: low-intensity at 40%VO_2peak (LI), low-intensity at 40%VO_2peak with BFR at 50% of arterial occlusion pressure (BFR50), low-intensity at 40%VO_2peak with BFR at 70% of arterial occlusion pressure (BFR70), and high-intensity at 80%VO_2peak (HI) while tissue oxygenation, cardiorespiratory, and perceptual responses were assessed.

Results: During exercise, tissue saturation for BFR50 (54 ± 6%), BFR70 (55 ± 6%), and HI (54 ± 8%) decreased compared to LI (61 ± 5%, all P < 0.01) and changes in deoxyhemoglobin for BFR50 (11 ± 4), BFR70 (15 ± 6), and HI (16 ± 10) increased compared to LI (4 ± 2, all P < 0.01). During recovery intervals, tissue saturation for BFR50 and BFR70 decreased further and deoxyhemoglobin for BFR50 and BFR70 increased further (all P < 0.04). Heart rate for BFR70 and HI increased by 9 ± 9 and 50 ± 15b/min, respectively, compared to LI (both P < 0.02). BFR50 (8 ± 2, 1.0 ± 1.0) and BFR70 (10 ± 2, 2.1 ± 1.4) elicited greater arm-specific perceived exertion (6-20 scale) and pain (0-10 scale) compared to LI (7 ± 1, 0.2 ± 0.5, all P < 0.05) and pain for BFR70 did not differ from HI (1.7 ± 1.9).

Conclusion: Arm cranking with BFR decreased tissue saturation and increased deoxyhemoglobin without causing excessive cardiorespiratory strain and pain.

Keywords: Aerobic exercise; Arm cycling; Near-infrared spectroscopy; Tissue oxygenation; Upper-body ergometer; Vascular occlusion.

MeSH terms

Adult
Arm* / blood supply
Arm* / physiology
Exercise* / physiology
Female
Heart Rate / physiology
Humans
Male
Muscle, Skeletal / blood supply
Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
Oxygen Consumption* / physiology
Perception / physiology
Regional Blood Flow* / physiology
Young Adult

Grants and funding

(National Aeronautics Space Administration Grant no. NNX15AJ20H)/Michigan Space Grant Consortium