Acute cellular and molecular responses and chronic adaptations to low-load blood flow restriction and high-load resistance exercise in trained individuals
Charlie J. Davids, Tore Christian Næss, Maria Moen, Kristoffer Toldnes Cumming, Oscar Horwath, Niklas Psilander, Björn Ekblom, Jeff S. Coombes, Jonathan M. Peake, Truls Raastad, Llion A. Roberts
Abstract
Low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction (LL-BFR) is an effective method for stimulating muscular adaptations, but phenotypical and mechanistic comparisons with traditional high-load training (HL-RT) in trained populations are scarce. The findings indicate that hypertrophy, but not strength, is comparable between LL-BFR and HL-RT, and the acute cellular and molecular processes for hypertrophy were similar, but not identical, between protocols. Thus, LL-BFR is an effective alternative to HL-RT for obtaining hypertrophy in trained populations.