The effect of acute and repeated ischemic preconditioning on recovery following exercise-induced muscle damage.

Objectives: The aim of this investigation was to determine if acute or repeated applications of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) could enhance the recovery process, following exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD).

Design: Randomized control trial.

Methods: Twenty-three healthy males were familiarised with the muscle damaging protocol (five sets of 20 drop jumps from a 0.6 m box) and randomly allocated to one of three groups: SHAM (3 × 5 min at 20 mmHg), Acute IPC (3 × 5 min at 220 mmHg) and Repeated IPC (3 days x 3 × 5 min at 220 mmHg). The indices of muscle damage measured included creatine kinase concentration ([CK]), thigh swelling, delayed onset muscle soreness, counter movement jumps (CMJ) and maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC).

Results: Both acute and repeated IPC improved recovery in MVIC versus SHAM. Repeated IPC led to a faster MVIC recovery at 48 h (101.5%) relative to acute IPC (92.6%) and SHAM (84.4%) (P <  0.05). Less swelling was found for both acute and repeated IPC vs. SHAM (P <  0.05) but no group effects were found for CMJ, soreness or [CK] responses (P >  0.05).

Conclusion: Taken together, repeated IPC can enhance recovery time of MVIC more than an acute application, and both reduce swelling following EIMD, relative to a SHAM condition.