Acute High Intensity Interval Training and Blood Flow Restriction

Acute Responses to High-intensity Interval Exercise (HIIE) and Blood Flow Restriction (BFR)

The study aims to look at the blood flow restriction (BFR) + high intensity interval training (HIIT) variables to induce an optimal acute training stimulus (i.e., acute responses in main outcome measures of muscular activation, muscular deoxygenation, and secondary outcome measures of heart rate (HR), blood lactate (bLa), subjective ratings of perceived exertion and discomfort)

The hypotheses for this study are: (i) BFR increases muscular deoxygenation, muscular activation when HIIT exercise is of the same intensity, (ii) however, comparing between a lower BFR + HIIT exercise intensity (e.g. 80% V̇O2max) and higher HIIT exercise intensity (e.g. 100% V̇O2max), muscular deoxygenation and activation will be similar but HR will be lower in the BFR + HIIT condition.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Activity, Motor
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Active Comparator: HIIT Control; Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR between cycling sets; Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR moderate occlusion during cycling; Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR high occlusion during cycling

Detailed Description

This study revolves around the optimisation of blood flow restriction (BFR) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols for the racket sport athlete. The study aims to look at the BFR + HIIT variables to induce an optimal acute training stimulus. This can be achieved with the consideration of two main research questions: (i) What is the ideal combination of BFR cuff pressure and exercise intensity (i.e. cycling) to elicit favourable training stimuli, i.e., acute responses in main outcome measures of muscular activation, muscular deoxygenation, and secondary outcome measures of heart rate (HR), blood lactate (bLa), subjective ratings of perceived exertion and discomfort?; (ii) How does BFR + HIIT compare with traditional HIIT at a similar or higher exercise intensity in terms of these acute responses?

The hypotheses for this study are: (i) BFR increases muscular deoxygenation, muscular activation when HIIT exercise is of the same intensity, (ii) however, comparing between a lower BFR + HIIT exercise intensity (e.g. 80% V̇O2max) and higher HIIT exercise intensity (e.g. 100% V̇O2max), muscular deoxygenation and activation will be similar but HR will be lower in the BFR + HIIT condition.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 24
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Singapore
  • Singapore, Singapore, 637616
    • Human Bioenergetics Laboratory, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male
• Age: 18-40 years
• Competed in competitive varsity sports (endurance, tennis, badminton, squash, football, basketball, etc.) at the varsity/club level
• Actively training for at least 2 sessions (1 - 1.5h) per week
• Healthy (free from illnesses) and no musculoskeletal injuries for the past 6 months
• No history of cardiometabolic, vascular diseases or similar conditions (high blood pressure, peripheral vascular diseases, heart diseases, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, stroke, etc.).
• Pass pre-participation health screening tests - Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) pre-screening questionnaire (no history of any risk factors).
• Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) of ≥40mmol/min/kg during a maximal aerobic cycling test.
• Non-smoker
• Drink alcohol less than 3 times each week and less than 3 drinks each time

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any diagnosed form of cardiometabolic disease (CVD, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension)
• Any symptoms contraindication of exercise testing (eg chest pains)
• Any balance or dizziness problems
• Any chronic medical conditions (whether medicated or not)
• Any bone joint problems
• Any Physician diagnosed contraindications to exercise

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: HIIT Control; High intensity interval cycling	Other: Active Comparator: HIIT Control; Complete 3 sets of five repetitions of 30 seconds cycling at 100% of maximal aerobic power with 30 seconds of active unloaded recovery between repetitions; 3 minutes of passive rest between sets.
Experimental: HIIT + BFR between cycling sets; High intensity interval cycling with blood flow restriction applied between sets of cycling	Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR between cycling sets; Complete 3 sets of five repetitions of 30 seconds cycling at 100% of maximal aerobic power with 30 seconds of active unloaded recovery between repetitions; 3 minutes of passive rest between sets. Blood flow restriction is applied for 2 minutes during the passive rest at 80% of limb occlusion pressure.
Experimental: HIIT + BFR moderate occlusion during cycling; High intensity interval cycling with moderate blood flow restriction applied during cycling	Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR moderate occlusion during cycling; Complete 3 sets of five repetitions of 30 seconds cycling at 70% of maximal aerobic power with 30 seconds of active unloaded recovery between repetitions; 3 minutes of passive rest between sets. Blood flow restriction is applied during and between exercise repetitions at 50% of limb occlusion pressure and deflated during passive rest periods.
Experimental: HIIT + BFR high occlusion during cycling; High intensity interval cycling with high blood flow restriction applied during cycling	Other: Experimental: HIIT + BFR high occlusion during cycling; Complete 3 sets of five repetitions of 30 seconds cycling at 70% of maximal aerobic power with 30 seconds of active unloaded recovery between repetitions; 3 minutes of passive rest between sets. Blood flow restriction is applied during and between exercise repetitions at 80% of limb occlusion pressure and deflated during passive rest periods.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle activation	Surface electromyography of the vastus lateralis and biceps femoris muscles to determine electrical activity of the motor units (physiological parameter)	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)
Muscle oxygenation	Near infra-red spectroscopy to examine regional tissue (the vastus lateralis muscle) oxygenation i.e, the percentage of haemoglobin and deoxyhaemoglobin (physiological parameter)	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)
Heart rate	Heart rate using short-range telemetry	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)
Blood lactate concentration	Fingertip capillary measure	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rating of perceived exertion	Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion scale 6-20 (6 = no exertion at all; 20 = maximal exertion)	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)
Exertion and Pain scale	Borg Category-Ratio (CR) 10 scale (0 = No exertion at all; 10 = Maximal)	Measured and compared between each acute arm (condition)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Nanyang Technological University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Stephen Burns, PhD, Nanyang Technological University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): December 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 5, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 18, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): April 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 3, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: High intensity interval training; Blood flow restriction
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-2022-135

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All published data will be placed into the Data Repository of Nanyang Technological University National Institute of Education for public access upon publication.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Upon publication - permanent repository
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Public repository - exact web address available upon publication.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No