The Effect of Traditional Resistance Training and with Blood Flow Restriction on Anabolic and Catabolic Hormonal Markers in Active Males

the use of resistance training with restricted blood flow (BFR) has been recommended as an alternative to heavy resistance training for middle-aged and elderly people. Therefore, the aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of age and status of resistance training on basal levels of anabolic and catabolic hormones in middle-age active male. In this semi-experimental study design, 20 middle-aged active men (age 47.65±2.53 years) were selected. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups of resistance training with and without BFR. Subjects in the 4-week BFR group performed knee extension and leg press at 20% 1-RM intensity, one 30 repetition set and 2 sets of 15 repetitions, and the non-BFR training group performed the same movements at 80% 1-RM intensity in three sets with 10 repetitions. Blood samples were also taken to measure testosterone and cortisol, growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1.The significance level was set at p