The effects of traditional strength and blood flow restriction training versus a combination of both on measures of strength, hypertrophy and power in elite athletes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of varying training interventions and exposures, over a 7 week period on elite athletes. The effects of traditional strength training (TST, 80% of one repetition maximum [1RM], 4d/week), blood flow restriction (BFR, 30% 1RM, 2d/week), combined TST and BFR (TST-BFR, TST 4d/week and BFR 2d/week) were analysed on measures of hypertrophy, strength and power. Twenty seven elite athletes were randomly divided into the three training interventions (TST n=9, BFR n=8 and TST-BFR n=10) in a test, re-test experimental design. The increased thigh girth circumference and 1RM leg press strength in TST (1.6cm/2.6% and 20kg/6%), BFR (2.1cm/3.7% and 21.2kg/6.6%) and TST-BFR (3.2cm/5.1% and 39.9kg/11.7%) were all significant (p< 0.01) with a strong effect size for each group (η2s> .800). Countermovement jump did not change significantly (p> 0.05) in any of the aforementioned training interventions. The results suggest that BFRT could provide supplementary benefits to TST in improving muscular hypertrophy and strength when the two training modalities are combined in elite athletes. Furthermore, data presented in the study suggests that BFRT can provide athletes with quick time course adaptations in muscular hypertrophy and strength. Key words: muscle hypertrophy, muscle strength, power, sport performance, resistance exercise, strength training, ischemia, blood flow restriction, vascular occlusion, KAATSU, exertion, perception, elite athletes