i+HeALTH, Department of Health Sciences, Miguel de Cervantes European University, Valladolid, Spain.
Department of Physiotherapy, University of Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Salamanca, Spain.
Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Aug;23(8):1591-1599. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2022.2113145. Epub 2022 Sep 5.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) in combination with blood flow restriction (BFR) enhances muscle hypertrophy and force-generating capacity. The present study aimed to investigate the acute effects of BFR and NMES, both in isolation and in combination, on muscle thickness (MT) and fatigue in the lower body of 20 young healthy subjects. Different stimuli were applied for 25 min, defined by the combination of BFR with high- and low-frequency NMES, and also isolated BFR or NMES. Changes in MT were then evaluated by ultrasound of the (RF) and (VL) muscles at the end of the session (POST) and 15 min later (POST 15'). Lower limb fatigue was evaluated indirectly by strength performance. Results showed that RF MT was higher under the combined protocol (BFR + NMES) or isolated BFR than under NMES - regardless of the frequency - both at POST ( ≤ 0.018) and POST 15' ( ≤ 0.016). No significant changes in MT were observed under isolated NMES or BFR at POST 15' when compared with basal values ( ≥ 0.067). No significant differences were observed for VL MT between conditions ( = 0.322) or for fatigue between conditions ( ≥ 0.258). Our results indicate that a combination of BFR and NMES acutely increases MT in sedentary subjects. Also, although not significantly, BFR conditions had a greater tendency to induce fatigue than isolated NMES.The combination of blood flow restriction (BFR) and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) produces higher acute cell swelling than the isolated application of either NMES or BFR.BFR in isolation appears to produce greater cell swelling than NMES, regardless of the frequency used.BFR conditions had a greater tendency to induce fatigue than isolated NMES.
神经肌肉电刺激（NMES）与血流限制（BFR）相结合可增强肌肉肥大和产生力量的能力。本研究旨在探讨 BFR 和 NMES 单独和联合应用对 20 名年轻健康受试者下肢肌肉厚度（MT）和疲劳的急性影响。通过 BFR 与高频和低频 NMES 的组合，以及单独的 BFR 或 NMES 应用 25 分钟来定义不同的刺激。然后通过超声评估 RF（股外侧肌）和 VL（股二头肌）肌肉在治疗结束时（POST）和 15 分钟后（POST 15'）的 MT 变化。下肢疲劳通过力量表现间接评估。结果表明，在联合方案（BFR + NMES）或单独 BFR 下，RF MT 高于 NMES - 无论频率如何 - 在 POST（≤0.018）和 POST 15'（≤0.016）时均较高。与基础值相比，单独 NMES 或 BFR 在 POST 15'时 MT 没有明显变化（≥0.067）。VL MT 在不同条件之间没有观察到显著差异（=0.322）或疲劳在不同条件之间没有显著差异（≥0.258）。我们的结果表明，BFR 和 NMES 的联合应用可急性增加久坐受试者的 MT。此外，尽管不显著，但与单独应用 NMES 相比，BFR 条件有更大的诱发疲劳倾向。血流限制（BFR）和神经肌肉电刺激（NMES）的联合应用产生的急性细胞肿胀高于单独应用 NMES 或 BFR。单独应用 BFR 产生的细胞肿胀大于 NMES，无论使用的频率如何。与单独应用 NMES 相比，BFR 条件有更大的诱发疲劳倾向。
