The effects of resistance training with BFR on serum IL-15 and folestatin in young male athletes

Safe and effective methods for increasing muscle mass and improving exercise performance have always been sought by researchers. Researchers have introduced a method of exercise training in which resistance exercises are performed with blood flow restriction. This method increases the effect of exercise stimulus through the creation of metabolic stress. IL-15 and Folestatin are known to be growth factors and related to muscle mass. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of resistance training with blood flow restriction on the serum levels of IL-15 and Folestatin in young combat men. The research groups consisted of two groups: resistance training with blood flow restriction (10 subjects) and resistance training without blood flow restriction (10 subjects). The subjects completed a four-week resistance training program with or without blood flow restriction. Blood pressure cuff was used to create a blood flow restriction. In both pre and posttest phases, serum levels of Folestatin and IL-15 were measured by ELISA method. To determine the significance of the difference between the variables, one-way covariance analysis was used at the significance level of 0/05. The results showed that IL-15 and Folestatin levels increased significantly in the exercise group with blood flow restriction compared to the exercise group without blood flow restriction (P = 0.001, P = 0.001, respectively). According to these findings, it can be concluded that resistance training with blood flow restriction compared to exercise without blood flow restriction is an effective factor in increasing hypertrophic factors and also improving muscle performance.