Effect of 16-Week Blood Flow Restriction Exercise on Functional Fitness in Sarcopenic Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Autor(a) principal: Letieri, Rubens Vinícius
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Outros Autores: Furtado, Guilherme Eustáquio, Barros, Paulo Marcelo Nogueira, Farias, Mayrhon José Abrantes de, Antunez, Bruno Fernandes, Gomes, Beatriz Branquinho, Teixeira, Ana Maria Miranda Botelho
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/107042; https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-95022019000100059
• topic: Occlusion training; Elderly; Handgrip strength; Entrenamiento de oclusión; Adultos mayores; Fuerza de agarre

We investigated the effect of the intervention using the BFR method on functional capacity after 16 weeks in elderly women. In a controlled clinical trial, 23 women were randomly allocated into two groups, low-intensity exercise with blood flow restriction (LI + BFR, N = 11, Age: 69.40 ± 5.73) and control group (CG, N = 12, Age: 69.00 ± 6.39). The LI + BFR group had a volume of 75 repetitions at 20-30 % of 1RM and 3-4 sets per exercise (30, 15, 15 and repetitions with 30" rest between sets). The CG did not undergo any type of exercise. Functional capacity, anthropometry and sarcopenia were verified through a battery of tests before and after 16 weeks. The LI + BFR group had significant improvement in performance in Handgrip strength, Chair Stand, Arm curl, 2.44 Up-and-Go and 6 min walk, Sit-andreach and Back Scratch (p<0.05) after the intervention. The elderly women were still classified as sarcopenic, despite the improvement in the Muscle Mass Index (p<0.01). CG did not present significant changes. The BFR method can be an effective in the intervention process using physical exercise as an auxiliary strategy in the control of sarcopenia, providing a physical profile during the aging process.