Journal Article

Progression and perceptual responses to blood flow restriction resistance training among people with multiple sclerosis

Rivera, Paola M., Gonzalez-Rojas, David H., Guirgis, Andrew M., Hill, Ethan C., Lubiak, Sean M., Schmidt, Jeffrey T., Patel, Nihar N., Keller, Joshua L., Prajapati, Anuj J., Reedy, Kyle R., Howard, Mason A., Silverio, Abner-Alexander, Shah, Niriham M., Lawson, John E., Proppe, Chris E., Choi, Hwan

2025

Overview

Purpose Resistance exercise can attenuate muscular impairments associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), and blood flow restriction (BFR) may provide a viable alternative to prescribing heavy training loads. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the progression of upper and lower body low-load (30% of one-repetition maximum [1RM]) resistance training (RT) with BFR applied intermittently during the exercise intervals (RT + BFR) versus volume-matched heavy-load (65% of 1RM) RT. Methods Men and women with MS ( n  = 16) were randomly assigned to low-load RT + BFR (applied intermittently) or heavy-load RT and completed 12 weeks (2 × /week) of RT that consisted of bilateral chest press, seated row, shoulder press, leg press, leg extension, and leg curl exercises. Exercise load, tonnage, and rating of perceived exertion were assessed at baseline and every 6 weeks. Results Training load increased to a greater extent and sometimes earlier for RT + BFR (57.7–106.3%) than heavy-load RT (42.3–54.3%) during chest press, seated row, and leg curl exercises, while there were similar increases (63.5–101.1%) for shoulder press, leg extension, and leg press exercises. Exercise tonnage was greater across all exercises for RT + BFR than heavy-load RT, although tonnage only increased during the chest press (70.7–80.0%) and leg extension (89.1%) exercises. Perceptions of exertion (4.8–7.2 au) and compliance (97.9–99.0%) were similar for both interventions. Conclusion The training-induced increases in load, high compliance, and moderate levels of exertion suggested that RT + BFR and heavy-load RT are viable interventions among people with MS. RT + BFR may be a preferred modality if heavy loads are not well tolerated and/or to promote early-phase training responses.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adult / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Blood flow / Blood Flow Restriction Therapy - methods / Chest / Female / Human Physiology / Humans / Leg / Male / Middle Aged / Multiple sclerosis / Multiple Sclerosis - physiopathology / Multiple Sclerosis - therapy / Muscle, Skeletal - blood supply / Muscle, Skeletal - physiology / Muscle, Skeletal - physiopathology / Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine / Original Article / Physical training / Regional Blood Flow / Resistance Training - methods / Shoulder / Sports Medicine / Strength training