Short-Term Blood Flow Restriction Increases Power Output and Bar Velocity During the Bench Press

ABSTRACT: Wilk, M, Krzysztofik, M, Filip, A, Zajac, A, Bogdanis, GC, and Lockie, RG. Short-term blood flow restriction increases power output and bar velocity during the bench press. J Strength Cond Res 36(8): 2082-2088, 2022-This study examined the effect of blood flow restriction (BFR) with 2 different types of cuffs on peak power output (PP), mean power output (MP), peak bar velocity (PV), and mean bar velocity (MV) in the bench press exercise (BP). Fourteen healthy strength-trained male athletes (age = 27.6 ± 3.5 years; body mass = 84.1 ± 8.0 kg; height = 175.8 ± 6.7 cm; BP 1 repetition maximum RM = 138.6 ± 17.8 kg) performed 3 different testing protocols as follows: without BFR (NO-BFR), BFR with a narrow cuff (BFR NARROW ), and BFR with a wide cuff (BFR WIDE ) in a randomized crossover design. During all sessions, subjects performed one set of 3 repetitions of the BP exercise using 70% 1RM. Cuff pressure was set to approximately 90% full arterial occlusion pressure of the upper limb at rest. Analyses of variance showed an increase in PP (by 21%, p < 0.01; effect size ES = 1.67), MP (by 16%, p < 0.01; ES = 0.93), PV (by 22%, p < 0.01; ES = 1.79), and MV (by 21%, p < 0.01; ES = 1.36) during BFR WIDE compared with NO-BFR and a significant increase in PP (by 15%, p < 0.01; ES = 1.07), MP (by 17%, p < 0.01; ES = 0.78), PV (by 18%, p < 0.01; ES = 1.65), and MV (by 13% p < 0.01; ES = 1.00) during BFR WIDE compared with BFR NARROW . There were no significant differences in any of the variable between NO-BFR and BFR NARROW . The results of the study indicate that short-term BFR training increases power output and bar velocity during the BP exercise. However, only BFR WIDE significantly influenced bar velocity and power output, which indicates that the width of the cuff is a critical factor determining acute exercise adaptation during BFR resistance training.