Table 1. Characteristics of studies that compared muscle damage between low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction and high-load resistance exercise.
| Reference | Sujects (Age) | Variable | Training protocol | Intensity | Traininig volume | Interval | Pressure | CW (cm) | Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EX | MT | TS | Sets | Reps | RT+BFR (Time effect) | Control (HLE) (Time effect) | Condition effect | |||||||
| Karabulut et al. (2013) [28] | 36 healthy older males (56 ± 0.6 years) | CK, IL ‐ 6 | LP KE |
Bi Uni |
2 s |
20% of 1RM 80 of 1RM |
4 3 |
30x15x15x15 8x8x8 |
30s | ~ 70–240 mmHg | 5 | CK ↔ IL-6 ↔ |
CK ↔ IL-6 ↔ |
No differences were reported in any of the variables investigated between conditions. |
| Dorneles et al. (2015) [39] | 31 men (24 ± 2 years–BFRE; 23 ± 2 years—control) | CK | AF, KE |
Uni Uni |
2s |
30% of 1RM 80% of 1RM |
4 4 |
23x23x23x23 8x8x8x8 |
120s | 1.2xbSBP | 14.5 26 |
CK↑ (Post) |
CK↑ (0, 24h post) | CK was higher 24 h after HLE. |
| Sieljacks et al. (2015) [17] | 17 men (21 ± 0.6 years) | CK, Mb, DOMS, MVC, Edema. | KE | Uni. | 2s 30°s1 |
30% de 1RM --- |
5 10 |
Muscle failure 10*15 (150) |
45s 60s |
100mmHg | 13.5 | CK↑ (48h,96h post) Mb ↑ (48h,96h post) DOMS↑(1,24,48,96h post) MVC↓ (1, 24, 48 96h post) Edema ↔ |
CK↑ (24,48h,96h post) Mb↑ (1,96h post) DOMS↑(1,24,48,96h post) MVC↓ (1, 24, 48 96h post) Edema ↑ (72h post) |
We have not identified statistical reports for the purpose of the intervention. |
| Freitas et al. (2017) [35] | 10 men (22 ± 3 years) | Edema | LP, KE, KF. | Bi. | --- | 20% of 1RM 80% of 1RM |
4 3 |
30x15x15x15 8-10x8-10x8-10 |
30s 120s |
160 mmHg | 5 | Edema (mCSA)↑ (15min post) Edema (cm) ↑ (15min post) |
Edema (mCSA) ↑ (15 min post) Edema (cm) ↑ (15, 75 min post) |
No differences were reported in any of the variables investigated between conditions. |
| Nielsen et al. (2017) [14] Experiment 2 (1 week) | 20 men (23 ± 2 years–BFRE; 22 ± 2 years-control) | CK, DOMS, IL-6, TNF-α, MCP-1 | KE | Uni. | 1.5s |
20% of 1RM 70% of 1RM |
4 4 |
Muscle failure | 30s 90s |
100 mmHg | 13.5 | CK ↔ IL-6 ↔ MCP-1↓ (24h post) TNF-α ↔ DOMS ↑ (24,48h post) |
CK↑ (180 min, 24h post) IL-6 ↑ (24h post) MCP-1 TNF-α ↓ (180 min, 24 post) DOMS ↑ (24,48h post) |
We have not identified statistical reports for comparison between groups. |
| Brandner e Warmington (2017) [37] | 17 men (23 ± 3 years) | DOMS | AF | Uni | 2s |
20% of1 RM 80% of 1 RM |
4 | 30x15x15x15 6-8x6-8x6-8x6-8 |
30s 150s |
0.8 x bSBP 1.3 x bSBP |
10.5 | DOMS↑ (24, 48h post) | DOMS ↔ | DOMS was higher 24,48,72h after BFRE. |
| DOMS↑ (24, 48,72h post) | ||||||||||||||
| Neto et al. (2018) [15] | 10 men (19 ± 0.8 years) | CK, LDH | BP, PD, AF, AE | Bi Uni. |
1.5 |
20% of 1RM 80% of 1RM |
4 (16) 3 (12) |
30x15x15x15 8x8x8 |
30s 120s |
bSBPx1.3 | 6 | CK ↑ (Post) LDH ↔ |
CK ↑ (0,24,48 h post) LDH ↔ |
CK was higher 24, 48h after HLE. LDH was no different between conditions. |
| Shiromaru et al. (2019) [38] | 15 men (22 ± 4 years) | DOMS, ROM | KE | Uni. | 1s |
30% of 1RM 80% of 1RM |
3 | 15x15x15 10x10x10 |
60s | 80% of AOP | 17.5 | DOMS↔ ROM ↔ |
DOMS↑(48h post) ROM↑(48h post) |
DOMS was higher and ROM was lower 48h after HLE. |
| Alvarez et al. (2020) [16] | 10 women (22 ± 2 years) | MVC (ISO/CON), ROM, DOMS, Edema | KE | Uni. | 2s |
20% of1RM 70% of 1RM |
4 | 30-35x15-18x15-18 x 15-18x 15–18 10–12 |
60s | 50% of AOP | 18 | MVC-ISO↓ (24,48h post) MVC-CON↓ (24h post) ROM ↔ DOMS ↑ (24, 48h pos) Edema-VL (24,48h post) Edema-RF (24,48,72h) |
MVC-ISO↓ (24,48h post) MVC-CON↓ (24h post) ROM↔ DOMS ↔ Edema-VL (24,48h post) Edema-RF (24,48,72h) |
DOMS was higher 24, 48h after BFRE. The other variables were not different between conditions. |
| Dos Santos et al. (2020) [26] | 20 men (26 ± 6.8 years–BFRE; 23.9 ± 5.2 years—control) | CK, SJ, CMJ, Leukocytes, Lymphocytes, Neutrophils, Monocytes | LP | Bi. | 2s | 40% of 1RM 80% of 1RM |
3 | 25x25x25 Muscle failure |
60s | 80% of AOP | 18 | SJ↓ (Post) CMJ ↓ (Post) CK ↔ Leukocytes ↑ (Post) Lymphocytes ↑ (Post) Neutrophils ↔ Monocytes ↔ |
SJ↓ (0, 24, 48h post) CMJ↓ (0, 24, 48h post) CK ↑ (24h post) Leukocytes ↑ (Post) Lymphocytes ↑ (Post) Neutrophils ↔ Monocytes ↔ |
There was no effect of the condition for any of the variables analyzed. |
EX = exercise; MT = mode of training; TS = training speed; CW = cuff width; RT + BFR = resistance training with blood flow restriction; HLE = high load exercise; CK = creatine kinase; LDH = lactate dehydrogenase; Mb = myoglobin; IL-6 = interleukin 6; TNF-α = tumor necrosis factor alpha; MCP-1 = Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1; MVC = maximum voluntary contraction; SJ = Squat jump; CMJ = Countermovement jump; 1RM = 1 maximum repetition; LP = leg press; KE = knee extension; KF = knee flexion; AF = arm flexion; AE = arm extension; ECC = eccentric; CON = concentric; bSBP = brachial systolic blood pressure; AOP = arterial occlusion pressure; mmHg = millimeters of mercury; DOMS = delayed onset muscle soreness; PPT = pain–pressure threshold; ROM = Range of motion