Can blood flow restriction augment muscle activation during high‐load training?

Summary Introduction Blood flow restriction has been shown to augment muscle activation and increase muscle size when combined with low‐load training; however, much less is known on whether blood flow restriction can augment muscle activation during high‐load exercise. Purpose To determine whether applying blood flow restriction can augment muscle activation with traditional high‐load resistance exercise. Method Ten individuals completed two sets of elbow flexion exercise to volitional fatigue. The control arm rested for 3 min between sets while the experimental arm had blood flow restriction applied for 3 min. Result The blood flow restricted arm completed significantly fewer repetitions in set 2 in comparison with set 1 [set 1: 9 (1), set 2: 4 (1); P <0·001], whereas no meaningful differences were observed in the control arm [set 1: 8 (1), set 2: 7 (1); P = 0·057]. There was no interaction for muscle activation ( P = 0·851) with both conditions significantly lower at the start of set 2 [87 (26)%] in comparison with the end of set 1 [106 (40)%] or end of set 2 [103 (33)%]. Conclusion The application of blood flow restriction does not augment muscle activation present with high‐load exercise and would seem unlikely to induce greater muscle hypertrophy.