Chronic hemodynamic adaptations induced by resistance training with and without blood flow restriction in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Allison Russo; Giorjines Boppre; Cristine Schmidt; Lucimere Bohn

doi:10.1016/j.smhs.2023.09.006

Chronic hemodynamic adaptations induced by resistance training with and without blood flow restriction in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sports Med Health Sci. 2023 Sep 16;5(4):259-268. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2023.09.006. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Allison Russo¹, Giorjines Boppre^{2

3

4}, Cristine Schmidt^{2

4

5}, Lucimere Bohn^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Lusofona University, Faculty of Psychology, Education and Sport, Porto, Portugal.
² University of Porto, Faculty of Sports (FADEUP), Porto, Portugal.
³ Human Motricity Research Center, University Adventist, Chillan, Chile.
⁴ Research Center in Physical Activity, Health, and Leisure (CIAFEL), Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), Portugal.
⁵ Surgery and Physiology Department, University of Porto, Faculty of Medicine (FMUP), Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

The purposes of this systematic review and meta-analysis of peer-reviewed literature were to examine the chronic effects of resistance training with blood flow restriction (RT-BFR) on hemodynamics, and to compare these adaptations to those induced by traditional resistance training (TRT) programs in adults (PROSPERO: Registry: CRD42022339510). A literature search was conducted across PubMed, Sports Discus, Scielo, and Web of Science databases. Two independent reviewers extracted study characteristics and blood pressure measures. Risk of bias (The Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized controlled trials [RoB-2]), and the certainty of the evidence (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation [GRADE]) were used. A total of eight studies met the inclusion criteria for systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Regarding the comparison of RT-BFR vs. non-exercise, no significant differences favoring the exercise group were observed (p > 0.05). However, when compared to TRT, RT-BFR elicited additional improvements on DBP (-3.35; 95%CI -6.00 to -0.71; I² = 14%; z = -2.48, p = 0.01), and on MAP (-3.96; 95%CI -7.94 to 0.02; I² = 43%; z = -1.95, p = 0.05). Results indicate that RT-BFR may elicit a decrease in DBP in comparison with TRT, but the lack of data addressing this topic makes any conclusion speculative. Future research on this topic is warranted.

Keywords: Blood flow restriction; Blood pressure; Chronic effect; Strength training.

Publication types

Review