Effect of Combined Increased Physical Activity and Walking with Blood Flow Restriction on Leg Muscle Thickness in Older Adults

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of combined increased walking and stair-climbing, and walking with blood flow restriction (BFR) in working muscles on leg muscle thickness in older adults. Methods: Nineteen older subjects were divided into the following three groups: normal walking and stair-climbing (WS), WS and BFR-walk once a wk (WS-BFR1), and WS and BFR-walk twice a wk (WS-BFR2). All subjects were instructed to walk at a self-selected, faster pace than usual for ≥30 min per session, ≥2-4 days per wk, and climb ≥5 flights of stairs per day, ≥4 days per wk for 11 wk. Additionally, the WS-BFR1 and WS-BFR2 groups performed 20 min of a BFR-walk at a predetermined exercise intensity of 70-85% of the age-predicted maximum heart rate. Results: Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the time effects were significant (p < 0.01) for muscle thicknesses (MT) of the posterior aspects of the thigh (PT, WS: 8.9%, WS-BFR1: 11.7%, WS-BFR2: 11.8%) and lower leg (PL, WS: 3.0%, WS-BFR1: 1.1%, WS-BFR2: 6.6%). However, there was no significant difference in these values of MT among all the groups. For the 10-m walking time, the main effect of time was significant (p < 0.05), but the interaction was not significant. Conclusions: Walking and stair-climbing training can increase MT of the PT and PL, and improve walking performance in older adults, whereas a BFR-walk once or twice a wk may not produce additional training effects.