Key result
Isometric handgrip with BFR is safe but fails to increase muscle activation versus handgrip alone.
Why the study?
The influence of isometric handgrip exercise under different blood flow restriction times on acute safety and effectiveness responses in the elderly was not established.
Does isometric handgrip exercise combined with blood flow restriction improve muscle activation or alter safety markers compared to exercise without restriction in physically active elderly people?
Does isometric handgrip exercise combined with blood flow restriction improve muscle activation or alter safety markers compared to exercise without restriction in physically active elderly people?
Isometric handgrip exercise with blood flow restriction is safe in physically active elderly individuals but does not provide greater acute muscle activation than exercise without restriction.
Supports safety of BFR handgrip in active elderly; leaves open activation benefits in other protocols or populations.
This study aimed to investigate the influence of isometric handgrip exercise under different blood flow restriction times on acute responses related to safety and effectiveness in the elderly. Eleven physically active elderly people (70.1 ± 7.1 years) were subjected to three protocols (P1-1m), (P2-30s) and (P3-Control) of isometric handgrip contraction. Hemodynamic markers (SBP, DBP and HR), hematological markers (D-dimer, fibrinogen, APTT and ultrasensitive CRP) and surface electromyography (sEMG) of the flexor digitorum superficialis and extensor digitorum communis muscles were analyzed. The hemodynamic variables showed no significant difference P < 0.05 between the moments before, immediately after, after 15 minutes, and after 30 minutes. The hematological variables showed no significant difference P < 0.05 between the pre- and post-30 minute time points. The sEMG variables showed a significant difference of p< 0.01 at the beginning, middle and end of each series and between the complete series for both muscles analyzed. In line with the aim of this study, we can accept the hypothesis that the P1-1m, P2-30s and P3-Control protocols are safe. However, we reject the hypothesis that the BFR protocols result in greater muscle activation compared to the protocol without BFR.
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Silva et al. (2026) studied this question. Isometric handgrip exercise with blood flow restriction (BFR) is safe, but does not produce greater muscle activation compared to the protocol without BFR.
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