The Effects of Eight Weeks High Intensity Intermittent Training and Blood Flow Restricted on Angiogenic Markers of Muscle in Male Runners

Due to the lack of sufficient information about the interactive effects of high intensity intermittent training (HIIT) and blood flow restricted (BFR) exercises on angiogenic variables of skeletal muscle, it seems that integration these training models can influence skeletal muscle angiogenesis in the long term over the individual application of each of these training methods.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of HIIT and BFR on protein expressions (VEGF and eNOS) in vastus lateralis of male runners.

For this purpose, 15 runners (age: 23±3) voluntarily participating in this study were divided into three groups: 1) Control 2) HIIT and 3) HIIT+BFR. The experimental groups were practicing (three sessions a week and six attempts each session for eight weeks). Before and at the end of eight weeks, the biopsy samples were collected from vastus lateralis muscle and the protein expression levels of the VEGF and eNOS were studied by immunohistochemical method.

The findings of this study showed that the levels of the VEGF and eNOS were significantly increased in the experimental groups compared to the control group (p<0.001). There was also a significant difference between experimental groups in the VEGF protein expressions (p<0.05).

The HIIT and BFR training can effectively increase the protein expression levels of the VEGF and eNOS in vastus lateralis muscle of runners.