Ischemic Preconditioning Increases Volume of Resistance Exercise in Trained Men

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been demonstrated to be effective in delaying fatigue of hand grip exercise, increase maximum oxygen uptake, maximum power and reduce the test time of swimmers. PURPOSES: To evaluate the effectiveness of IPC on the maximum number of repetitions and the onset of fatigue in a resistance exercise. METHODS: 10 men were recruited (24 ± 1 years old; 1.76 ± 0.1 m; 80.6 ± 2.8 Kg; 11.8 ± 0.7% body fat; 18.6 ± 12.3 months in resistance training). Test and re-test of one repetition maximum (1 RM) were performed in the barbell curl exercise. Two experimental procedures were randomized: with and without IPC, followed by four sets at maximum of 70% of 1 RM, with standard speed of 1.5 seconds for each movement phase and 1 minute interval. The speed of movement was controlled by a metronome and the set point of fatigue was considered the time at which the subjects were unable to maintain the predetermined pace, in relation to the maximum number of repetitions performed. The IPC was performed by three cycles of 5 minutes of occlusion of the blood flow in the arms, followed by 5 minutes of reperfusion. The Student t test and effect size (ES) were used to verify the magnitude of the difference between interventions. Data are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The total number of repetitions was higher after the IPC procedure compared to Control intervention (38.3 ± 3.3 vs. 32.4 ± 2.9 repetitions; ES = 0,6; p < 0.001). Related to the onset fatigue, it was observed that the IPC tended to present higher number of repetitions compared to the Control intervention (60.8 ± 5.6% vs. 52.2 ± 3.9%; ES = 0,7, p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: IPC increases the total number of repetitions in the exercise of barbell curl in trained men. In addition, the IPC appears to delay the onset of fatigue during the period.