Comparison of the effect of resistance training with blood flow restriction and traditional method on hormonal responses in young male bodybuilders

Abstract

^{Background and purpose: Hormonal responses to resistance training are a function of intensity, duration, and type of resistance training. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of resistance training with blood flow restriction (BFR) and the traditional method on hormone responses of young male bodybuilders. Methods: For this purpose, 20 male athletes were volunteered to participate in the study and wererandomly divided into two groups of 10 resistance exercise groups with BFR and traditional method. One session resistance training was performed with 3 sets of 20-30 repetitions, in total 7 upper limb movements and 5 lower limb movements, with one-minute rest between sets and 2-4 minutes between each station at 25% of 1-repetition maximum (1RM). These movements were performed with 4 sets of 6-8 repetitions without a BFR group. Blood samples were drawn before exercise and 30 minutes after the end of the program in both groups. Growth hormone, cortisol and testosterone levels were measured in the morning before and after exercise sessions. The findings were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, paired t-test and independent t-test (P <0.05). Results: Growth hormone levels significantly increased after a single session of resistance exercise by using BFR (P = 0.01) in comparison with the traditional group (P = 0.01). Also, there was no significant difference between the two training methods with regarding the effect on growth and testosterone. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it seems that resistance training session can significantly increase growthand testosterone in young the male culturistsby the method of BFR or the traditional method without significant difference.}