The effect of resistance exercise with blood flow and respiratory restriction on testosterone, cortisol and testosterone/cortisol ratio responses in male wrestlers

Resistance exercise with different methods such as the use of training masks and blood flow restrictions which are performed at lower intensities than the traditional ones is accompanied by various physiological responses. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of resistance exercise with blood flow and respiratory restriction on response of testosterone, cortisol and testosterone/cortisol ratio in male wrestlers.

In this study, eight male wrestlers (mean age 26.87±4.7 years and body mass index 25.26±2.49 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to three consecutive weeks in three method of traditional resistance exercises (Control) (with 80% 1RM), resistance exercise with blood flow restriction and resistance exercise with respiratory restriction (with 30% 1RM). Four sets of 15 repetitions for squat were considered as resistance exercise in all conditions. Blood samples were collected before and immediately after exercise. The data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test.

All three methods of resistance exercise resulted in a significant increase in testosterone, testosterone/cortisol ratio, and no change in cortisol after exercise (p<0.001). However, no significant difference was observed between the methods.

The results of this study showed that resistance exercise with restriction of blood flow and respiration can have similar positive effect like to traditional resistance exercise on hormonal responses. Therefore, it seems that these training methods have a convenient effectiveness to improve hormonal changes.