Impacts of Varying Blood Flow Restriction Cuff Size and Material on Arterial, Venous and Calf Muscle Pump-Mediated Blood Flow

Blood flow restriction (BFR) may become ineffective or potentially dangerous without sufficient standardization. The purpose of this investigation was therefore to (1) assess the viability multiple sizes a novel BFR cuff determine arterial occlusion pressure (AOP) and (2) compare resting arterial, venous calf muscle pump (cMP)-mediated blood between aforementioned conditions commonly employed wide-rigid, tourniquet-style cuff. In randomized, counter-balanced, crossover fashion, 20 apparently healthy males (18–40 years) donned widely wide-rigid (WR) cuff, along with largest (NE) manufacturer-recommended (NER) narrow-elastic Participants subsequently assessed AOP, as well (at 80%AOP) venous, cMP relative baseline values via ultrasound. All analyses were performed at significance level p < 0.05. Analyses revealed significant condition effect for AOP (p 0.001; ηp2 = 0.907) whereby WR significantly lower than both NE NER; in addition, latter two did not differ. Compared baseline, there no statistically differences cuffs either cMP-mediated flow. Unsurprisingly, participants demonstrated 80% AOP. These findings support product, evidenced by consistent acquisition equivocal parameters.