Skeletal muscle endurance responses to various relative loads of dynamic resistance exercise with and without peripheral blood flow occlusion


Principle Investigator: Dr. Cameron Mitchell

Purpose: to compare the number of repetitions able to be completed at varying resistance exercise loads with and without limb blood flow occlusion and to assess the effect of sex and training status on local muscle endurance performance.

Design:
Visit 1 – informed consent, maximal strength testing, VO2 max test
Visit 2 – ultrasound scans of quadriceps and biceps, thigh muscle biopsy, exercise and occlusion familiarization
Visit 3, 4, 5, 6 – exercise interventions which involve maximum knee-extension and barbell preacher curl repetitions with and without limb blood flow occlusion

Inclusion criteria:

  • Able to understand and communicate in English
  • 19-30 years
  • All “No” answers on the CSEP Get Active questionnaire or doctors’ approval to participate
  • Untrained participants: no structured resistance and/or endurance training over the past 12-months (i.e., greater than 2 hours per week of structured/periodized training)
  • Resistance trained participants: structured resistance training over the past 12-months (i.e., minimum 10 sets of lower and upper body resistance exercise per week)
  • Endurance trained participants: structured resistance training over the past 12-months (i.e., minimum 4 sessions per week of endurance exercise)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Body mass index (BMI; weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters) lower than 18 or greater than 30
  • Current use of cigarettes or other nicotine devices
  • Any major uncontrolled cardiovascular, muscular, metabolic, and/or neurological disorders
  • Any medical condition impacting the ability to participate in maximal exercise
  • Type one or type two diabetes
  • Diagnosis of cancer or undergoing cancer treatment in the past 12 months
  • Taking blood-thinning medication or the presence of a bleeding disorder
  • Participated in structured resistance or aerobic training in the previous 6 months (moderate to vigorous, more than 2 hours per
    week)
  • Drug therapy with any drugs that alter skeletal muscle metabolism (i.e., Metformin, Benzodiazepines)
  • Lowest calculated exercise testing load is below the lightest weight able to be provided by the lab gymnasium equipment

Contact:
If interested in participating, please contact the study coordinator Matthew Fliss (matthew.fliss@ubc.ca) for more information. You can also view the study’s PDF/Flyer.

Posting expiration date: 10/01/2023