Effects of Training with Blood Flow Restriction on Muscular Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The purpose of this study was to analyze how blood flow restriction (BFR) training influences muscular strength through a systematic review and meta-analysis. The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The following databases were used to conduct the research: Academic Search Complete, Medline, Web of Science, SPORT-Discus, HealthSource: Consumer, and HealthSource: Nursing. The following search limitations were included in this study: full-text articles investigating the effects of BFR training on muscular strength, published in a peer-reviewed academic journal, and published in the English language. Out of 327 articles, 25 were eligible to be included in this study. Comprehensive meta-analysis v.3 software was used to run statistics of the collected data from each study. The results showed that BFR training positively affects muscular strength. However, no group difference was found by gender, duration, workload, and cuff type/pressure in current data. This study provides additional information that can be used in future studies to obtain optimum strength results during BFR training.