Association between quadriceps pain pressure threshold and willingness to complete a blood flow restriction training...

Blood flow restriction (BFR) training is used to enhance muscle adaptations and performance. However, the limb occlusion pressure used in BFR can cause pain or discomfort, leading some individuals to discontinue the training. This study examined whether pain pressure threshold (PPT), demographics, training history, or self-perceived pain tolerance were associated with voluntary discontinuation of BFR training.

Thirty-seven participants provided informed consent. Researchers collected survey and PPT data from a novel quadriceps location, then conducted BFR training on the quadriceps using a standardized four-set protocol with 20 % of the one-repetition maximum resistance and 80 % limb occlusion pressure. Participants who stopped training due to pain or discomfort before the fourth set were classified as Non-Finishers, while those who started a fourth set were Finishers.

Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, and Fisher's exact test were used to analyze the data. No significant differences were found between Finishers and Non-Finishers in age, self-identified gender, resistance training history, prior BFR use, self-perceived pain tolerance, PPT, or estimated 1RM.PPT values did not differ between genders (p = 0.36) and the total sample mean PPT was 615.86 ± 205.94 kPa.

Neither PPT nor the participant characteristics assessed before BFR training were significantly different between the groups of different finisher status. These findings suggest that PPT, measured at a novel quadriceps location, is not strongly associated with tolerance to BFR training at 80 % limb occlusion pressure. Normative quadriceps PPT values presented may hold clinical utility for benchmarking pain sensitivity.