Time under tension decreased with blood flow-restricted exercise

Exercise to failure results in similar muscle protein synthesis responses, independent of intensity. However, low-intensity exercise likely requires more time under tension and those with injuries may be incapable of sustaining the mechanical stress to reach failure.

The purpose was to determine whether elastic knee wraps (KW) provide a stimulus to decrease time under tension and overall volume of work while maintaining a similar level of metabolic stress.

Thirteen healthy subjects participated in a randomized crossover study consisting of three trials. The first determined 1 repetition maximum (1RM) on the bilateral leg extension. Subjects were then assigned to a blood flow restriction (BFR) or control (CON) group. After trial 2, subjects crossed over to the opposite trial. KW were placed around the thigh of each leg during BFR. Leg extensions were completed at 30% 1RM until failure. Whole blood lactate (WBL) was taken pre-, post-, and 3 and 5 min postexercise. Heart rate (HR) was measured before, following the first and second sets, and 3 and 5 min postexercise.

This study found KW provide a BFR stimulus allowing failure to occur sooner with similar metabolic stress postreperfusion. There were no differences in HR at any time point.

These results may benefit populations that cannot sustain the mechanical stress of high-intensity exercise or low-intensity exercise that requires a longer sustained time under tension.