Key result
Moderate to low intensity exercise combined with blood flow restriction significantly improved aerobic endurance compared to exercise alone (SMD 0.59).
Why the study?
There was inadequate systematic evaluation and high-quality evidence regarding the impact of blood flow restriction training on muscular endurance and cardiopulmonary endurance.
Does blood flow restriction training improve muscular and cardiopulmonary endurance compared to non-BFR exercise?
Meta-Analysis (n=398)
Does blood flow restriction training improve muscular and cardiopulmonary endurance compared to non-BFR exercise?
Standardized Mean Difference: 0.59 (95% CI 0.33–0.85)
p-value: p=<0.05
Blood flow restriction combined with moderate to low intensity aerobic exercise improves aerobic endurance, offering a promising alternative for individuals unable to tolerate high-intensity exercise.
BFR with moderate- to low-intensity aerobic exercise enhances endurance in patients intolerant of high loads; extends evidence for BFR applications beyond resistance training.
Background In recent years, blood flow restriction (BFR) training, which can improve body function with lower intensity exercise, has attracted more and more attention. However, there are inadequate systematic evaluation and high-quality evidence to search the impact of BFR on muscular endurance and cardiopulmonary endurance, so the target of the study is to evaluate whether BFR training can promote physical endurance. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis had been conducted. Literature was retrieved from original to 2022-01-18 in the following electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library databases, Embase, CNKI (China National Knowledge Internet), CBM (China Biology Medicine disc). Results The results showed that aerobic exercise combined with BFR ( AE-BFR ) and moderate to low intensity exercise with BFR (ML-BFR) significantly improved participants' aerobic endurance, compared with non-BFR exercise. However, low-load resistance training with BFR (LBFR-RT) didn’t have significant difference compared with low-load resistance training (LL-RT) or high-load resistance training (HL-RT) on muscle endurance, and the same with between anaerobic exercise with BFR (ANA-BFR) and anaerobic exercise (ANA-E). Conclusion Based on current data, the results need to be interpreted cautiously and conservatively. BFR training is a very promising method to improve endurance for the elderly, patients with chronic diseases, musculoskeletal injury or postoperative rehabilitation, and athletes looking to improve exercise ability. For people who cannot tolerate high-intensity exercise, in order to improve the aerobic endurance, using moderate to low intensity exercise with BFR may be a better choice than only moderate to low intensity exercise. The benefits of BFR for muscular endurance and the value of using high-intensity BFR training still need further study.
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Xiong et al. (2022) conducted a meta-analysis in Decreased physical endurance (n=398). Moderate to low intensity exercise with blood flow restriction (ML-BFR) vs. Moderate to low intensity exercise without blood flow restriction was evaluated on Aerobic endurance (VO2max and VO2peak) (SMD 0.59, 95% CI 0.33-0.85, p=<0.05). Moderate to low intensity exercise combined with blood flow restriction significantly improved aerobic endurance compared to exercise alone (SMD 0.59).
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