Acute resistance exercise with blood flow restriction effects on heart rate, double product, oxygen saturation and perceived exertion

The aim of this study was to compare the acute effect of resistance exercise (RE) with and without blood flow restriction (BFR) on heart rate (HR), double product (DP), oxygen saturation (SpO(2)) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Twenty-four men (21 79 +/- 3.21 years) performed three experimental protocols in a random order (crossover): (i) high-intensity RE at 80% of 1RM (HI), (ii) low-intensity RE at 20% of 1RM (LI) and (iii) low-intensity RE at 20% of 1RM combined with partial blood flow restriction (LI+BFR). HR, blood pressure, SpO(2) and RPE were assessed. The data were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance and the Wilcoxon test for RPE. The results indicated that all protocols significantly increased HR, both immediately postexercise and during the subsequent 60 min (P<0.05), and postexercise DP (P< 0.05), but there were no differences between protocols. The protocols of LI and LI+BFR reduced postexercise SpO(2) (P = 0.033, P = 0.007), and the LI+BFR protocol presented a perception of greater exertion in the lower limbs compared with HI (P = 0.022). We conclude that RE performed at low intensity combined with BFR seems to reduce the SpO(2) after exercise and increase HR and DP while maintaining a perception of greater exertion on the lower limbs.