Active ischemic pre-conditioning does not additively improve short-term high-intensity cycling performance when combined with caffeine ingestion in trained young men.

We investigated the effect of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) with and without caffeine supplementation on mean power output (MPO) during a 4-min cycling time-trial (TT). In a double-blinded, randomized, crossover-design, 11 trained men performed a TT on 4 days separated by ∼1 week. One hour before TT, participants ingested either caffeine (3 mg kg bw) or placebo pills, after which femoral blood-flow was either restricted with occlusion cuffs inflated to ∼180 mmHg (IPC), or sham-restricted (0-10 mmHg; Sham) during 3 × 2-min low-intensity cycling (10% of incremental peak power output).

Similar improvements in 5-km performance and maximal oxygen uptake with submaximal and maximal 10-20-30 training in runners, but increase in muscle oxidative phosphorylation occur only with maximal effort training.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine whether 10-20-30 training (consecutive 1-min intervals consisting of 30 s at low-speed, 20 s at moderate-speed, and 10 s at high-speed), performed with submaximal effort during the 10-s high-speed runs, would lead to improved performance as well as increased maximum oxygen uptake (VO -max) and muscle oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). In addition, to examine to what extent the effects would compare to 10-20-30 running conducted with maximal effort.

Design: Nineteen males were randomly assigned to 10-20-30 running performed with either submaximal (SUBMAX; n = 11) or maximal (MAX; n = 8) effort, which was conducted three times/week for 6 weeks (intervention; INT).

Active Relative to Passive Ischemic Preconditioning Enhances Intense Endurance Performance in Well-Trained Men.

Purpose: This study tested the hypothesis of whether ischemic exercise preconditioning (IPC-Ex) elicits a better intense endurance exercise performance than traditional ischemic preconditioning at rest (IPC-rest) and a SHAM procedure.

Methods: Twelve men (average V˙O2max ∼61 mL·kg-1·min-1) performed 3 trials on separate days, each consisting of either IPC-Ex (3 × 2-min cycling at ∼40 W with a bilateral-leg cuff pressure of ∼180 mm Hg), IPC-rest (4 × 5-min supine rest at 220 mm Hg), or SHAM (4 × 5-min supine rest at <10 mm Hg) followed by a standardized warm-up and a 4-minute maximal cycling performance test. Power output, blood lactate, potassium, pH, rating of perceived exertion, oxygen uptake, and gross efficiency were assessed.

Aerobic-interval exercise with blood flow restriction potentiates early markers of metabolic health in man.

Aim: This study examined whether aerobic-interval exercise with blood flow restriction (BFR) potentiates early markers of metabolic health compared to exercise with systemic hypoxia or normoxia in man.

Methods: In a randomized-crossover fashion, eight healthy men completed nine 2-minute running bouts at 105% of their lactate threshold on three occasions separated by one week, either with BFR (BFR-trial), systemic hypoxia (HYP-trial) or normoxia (control; CON-trial). Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to assess the muscle level of hypoxia.

Blood flow restriction training and the high-performance athlete: science to application.

The manipulation of blood flow in conjunction with skeletal muscle contraction has greatly informed the physiological understanding of muscle fatigue, blood pressure reflexes, and metabolism in humans. Recent interest in using intentional blood flow restriction (BFR) has focused on elucidating how exercise during periods of reduced blood flow affects typical training adaptations. A large initial appeal for BFR training was driven by studies demonstrating rapid increases in muscle size, strength, and endurance capacity, even when notably low intensities and resistances, which would typically be incapable of stimulating change in healthy populations, were used.

Blood-flow-restricted exercise: Strategies for enhancing muscle adaptation and performance in the endurance-trained athlete.

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? Blood-flow-restricted (BFR) exercise represents a potential approach to augment the adaptive response to training and improve performance in endurance-trained individuals. What advances does it highlight? When combined with low-load resistance exercise, low- and moderate-intensity endurance exercise and sprint interval exercise, BFR can provide an augmented acute stimulus for angiogenesis and mitochondrial biogenesis. These augmented acute responses can translate into enhanced capillary supply and mitochondrial function, and subsequent endurance-type performance, although this might depend on the nature of the exercise stimulus.

The effect of blood-flow-restricted interval training on lactate and H dynamics during dynamic exercise in man.

Aim: To assess how blood-flow-restricted (BFR) interval-training affects the capacity of the leg muscles for pH regulation during dynamic exercise in physically trained men.

Methods: Ten men (age: 25 ± 4y; : 50 ± 5 mL∙kg ∙min ) completed a 6-wk interval-cycling intervention (INT) with one leg under BFR (BFR-leg; ~180 mmHg) and the other without BFR (CON-leg). Before and after INT, thigh net H -release (lactate-dependent, lactate-independent and sum) and blood acid/base variables were measured during knee-extensor exercise at 25% (Ex25) and 90% (Ex90) of incremental peak power output.

Training with blood flow restriction increases femoral artery diameter and thigh oxygen delivery during knee-extensor exercise in recreationally trained men.

Key Points: Endurance-type training with blood flow restriction (BFR) increases maximum oxygen uptake ( ) and exercise endurance of humans. However, the physiological mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain uncertain. In the present study, we show that BFR-interval training reduces the peripheral resistance to oxygen transport during dynamic, submaximal exercise in recreationally-trained men, mainly by increasing convective oxygen delivery to contracting muscles.

Blood flow-restricted training enhances thigh glucose uptake during exercise and muscle antioxidant function in humans.

This study examined the effects of blood-flow-restricted (BFR)-training on thigh glucose uptake at rest and during exercise in humans and the muscular mechanisms involved. Ten active men (~25 y; VO ~50 mL/kg/min) completed six weeks of training, where one leg trained with BFR (cuff pressure: ~180 mmHg) and the other leg without BFR. Before and after training, thigh glucose uptake was determined at rest and during exercise at 25% and 90% of leg incremental peak power output by sampling of femoral arterial and venous blood and measurement of femoral arterial blood flow.

A fast, reliable and sample-sparing method to identify fibre types of single muscle fibres.

Many skeletal muscle proteins are present in a cell-specific or fibre-type dependent manner. Stimuli such as exercise, aging, and disease have been reported to result in fibre-specific responses in protein abundances. Thus, fibre-type-specific determination of the content of specific proteins provides enhanced mechanistic understanding of muscle physiology and biochemistry compared with typically performed whole-muscle homogenate analyses.

Cycling with blood flow restriction improves performance and muscle K regulation and alters the effect of anti-oxidant infusion in humans.

Key Points: Training with blood flow restriction (BFR) is a well-recognized strategy for promoting muscle hypertrophy and strength. However, its potential to enhance muscle function during sustained, intense exercise remains largely unexplored. In the present study, we report that interval training with BFR augments improvements in performance and reduces net K release from contracting muscles during high-intensity exercise in active men.

Molecular stressors underlying exercise training-induced improvements in K regulation during exercise and Na ,K -ATPase adaptation in human skeletal muscle.

Despite substantial progress made towards a better understanding of the importance of skeletal muscle K regulation for human physical function and its association with several disease states (eg type-II diabetes and hypertension), the molecular basis underpinning adaptations in K regulation to various stimuli, including exercise training, remains inadequately explored in humans. In this review, the molecular mechanisms essential for enhancing skeletal muscle K regulation and its key determinants, including Na ,K -ATPase function and expression, by exercise training are examined. Special attention is paid to the following molecular stressors and signaling proteins: oxygenation, redox balance, hypoxia, reactive oxygen species, antioxidant function, Na ,K , and Ca concentrations, anaerobic ATP turnover, AMPK, lactate, and mRNA expression.

Cold-water immersion after training sessions: effects on fiber type-specific adaptations in muscle K transport proteins to sprint-interval training in men.

Effects of regular use of cold-water immersion (CWI) on fiber type-specific adaptations in muscle K transport proteins to intense training, along with their relationship to changes in mRNA levels after the first training session, were investigated in humans. Nineteen recreationally active men (24 ± 6 yr, 79.5 ± 10.

Effect of speed endurance training and reduced training volume on running economy and single muscle fiber adaptations in trained runners.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether improved running economy with a period of speed endurance training and reduced training volume could be related to adaptations in specific muscle fibers. Twenty trained male (n = 14) and female (n = 6) runners (maximum oxygen consumption (VO -max): 56.4 ± 4.

Effect of additional speed endurance training on performance and muscle adaptations.

Purpose: The present study examined the effect of additional speed endurance training (SET) during the season on muscle adaptations and performance of trained soccer players.

Methods: Eighteen subelite soccer players performed one session with six to nine 30-s intervals at an intensity of 90%-95% of maximal intensity (SET) a week for 5 wk (SET intervention). Before and after the SET intervention, the players carried out the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2) test, a sprint test (10 and 30 m), and an agility test.