1. By: Jesse Schwartz Faculty Advisor: Dr. Summer Cook
 The Effects of Blood Flow Restricted Resistance Training on Muscle Size and Strength in Older Adults.
By: Jesse Schwartz
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Summer Cook

2. Strength in Older Adults
Age related declines in function due to:
Muscle mass
Muscle strength
Exercising contributes to meaningful health benefits in older adults (Seguin et al)
Traditional resistance training may not be appropriate for older adults due to:
Joint pain
Arthritis
Musculoskeletal injuries
Loss of mm and ms
CITATIONS

3. Blood Flow Restricted Exercise
Blood flow restricted exercise (BFR):
Restrictive cuff (1.5 times systolic blood pressure)
Low-loads (20-50% maximal strength)
BFR improves:
Muscle cross-sectional area
Maximal strength (Yasuda et al.)
New modality of exercise that utilizes
through 1-RM knee extension and leg press, chair stand, and cardio-ankle vascular index testing.

4. Research Question 1 Purpose
To determine if quadriceps cross-sectional area (CSA) will increase following 12 weeks of BFR exercise in older adults
Hypothesis
CSA will be greater following 12 weeks of BFR exercise when compared to a control group

5. Research Question 2 Purpose Hypothesis
To determine if leg press (LP), leg curl (LC), and leg extension (LE) strength will increase following 12 weeks of BFR exercise
Hypothesis
LP, LC, and LE strength will be greater following 12 weeks of BFR exercise when compared to a control group

6. Subjects 14 community dwelling elderly adults 6 males and 8 females
Randomly placed in to BFR exercise or control group
Group
Age (Years)
Height (cm)
Weight (kg)
BMI (kg•m-2)
BFR
Con

7. Baseline Measurements
(Strength and CSA)
Control
BFR LP LE LC
All subjects performed 3 sets of exercise to volitional fatigue 2 times per week for 12 weeks.
Cadence of 60 beats per min
Post Measurements
(Strength and CSA)

8. Measurements Strength 10-repetition maximum (RM) to estimate 1-RM CSA
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of quadriceps
Image J program was used to analyze MRI scans
2 measurements per slice were averaged
10-repetition maximum (RM) to estimate 1-RM LP LC LE
Right leg

9. Statistics IBM SPSS version 21.0
Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance
Comparing pre and post training between BFR and Control groups
Independent and dependent t-tests for post hoc analysis
P<0.05

10. Leg Press Muscle Strength

11. Leg Curl Muscle Strength

12. Leg Extension Muscle Strength
* p< .05 significantly different from pre to post

13. CSA of Quadriceps *
* p< .05 significantly different from pre to post

14. Discussion Estimated 1-RM for leg extension increased for BFR exercise
CSA increased significantly for BFR exercise
Yasuda et al. had significant improvement in:
Quadriceps CSA
Leg extension 1-RM
Along with CSA of adductors, gluteus maximus

15. Conclusion
Participants were able to safely and effectively complete BFR exercise
CSA and maximal muscle strength improved after 12 weeks of BFR exercise
Future studies should look at the effect of BFR exercise in elderly with joint problems, arthritis, and musculoskeletal injuries

16. References
Seguin, R. and Nelson, ME. The benefits of strength training for older adults. Am J Prev Med. Oct. 2003;25;141-9
Yasuda, T., K. Fukumura, Y. Uchida, H. Iida, M. Meguro, Y. Sato, T. Tamasoba, and T. Nakajima. Muscle size and arterial stiffness after blood flow-restricted low-intensity resistance training in older adults. Scand J Med Sci Sports. June 2013.

17. Acknowledgments The University of New Hampshire
National Institution of Health
Subjects
1R15 A A1