Thigh and calf blood flows after isometric contraction in untrained and trained subjects

The present study was undertaken to examine whether or not there were any differences between untrained and trained subjects in the changes of blood flow in the ipsilateral and contralateral lower limbs after isometric exercise. Blood flow of the thigh and calf in both right and left legs were measured simultaneously before and after isometric contraction with mercury-in-silastic strain gauge venous occlusion plethysmography. In the present study, the main pattern of blood flow responses in the active and non-active limbs was strikingly similar in all subjects: a significant fall in blood flow immediately after isometric contraction at a force of about 50% of maximal muscle strength for 15 sec was observed in the non-active lower limbs. Peak blood flow of the exercised thigh in the trained group was significantly higher than that in the untrained ones. From these results, it was suggested that higher blood flow after isometric exercise in the trained subjects may be due to the improvement of degree of vasodilation in the lower limb as a result of physical training.