Improve your Rowing performance by using this simple BFR intervention.

Hi there and welcome to this month's episode.

In this article review I look at a recent paper that investigated the use of Blood Flow Restriction cuffs whilst rowing at low intensities to improve aerobic (VO2max) capacity in elite rowing athletes. There is growing evidence in using Blood Flow Restriction during low intensity exercise (i.e. jogging, cycling and now rowing) whilst performing sport specific movement to improve performance parameters.

The other interesting point in this article is that they used elite athletes. The ability to improve performance in elite athletes is difficult and therefore the results that they showed in this article provides a great reason to look towards finding ways to incorporate BFR into athlete's training programming.

So whether you are a rower or an athlete looking to improve your aerobic I feel that there is definitely a place for including Blood Flow Restriction into your training. As per the article, it BFR was added during their low intensity exercise sessions making it an easy addition to your own training. 

For more information about BFR or to purchase your own set of occlusion training cuffs please come over to my website www.sportsrehab.com.au.

Thanks for listening.

For more information on the article:

Low intensity rowing with blood flow restriction over 5 weeks increases V̇O₂max in elite rowers: A randomized controlled trial.

Held S¹, Behringer M², Donath L³.

 

J Sci Med Sport. 2020 Mar;23(3):304-308. Epub 2019 Oct 15.

 

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

The present randomized controlled intervention study examined the effects of practical blood flow restriction (pBFR) on maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O₂max) during low intensity rowing.

DESIGN:

Thirty-one elite rowers were either assigned to the intervention (INT) or control (CON) group, using the minimization method (Strata: Gender, Age, Height, V̇O₂max).

METHOD:

While INT (n=16; 4 female, 12 male, 21.9±3.2 years, 180.4±8.7cm, 73.6±10.9kg, V̇O₂max: 63.0±7.9ml/min/kg) used pBFR during boat- and indoor-rowing training, CON (n=15, 4 female, 11 male, 21.7±3.7 years, 180.7±8.1cm, 72.5±12.1kg, V̇O₂max: 63.2±8.5ml/min/kg) completed the identical training without pBFR. pBFR of the lower limb was applied via customized elastic wraps. Training took place three times a week over 5 weeks (accumulated net pBFR: 60min/week; occlusion per session: 2-times 10min/session) and was used exclusively at low intensities (<2mmol/L). A spiroergometric ramp test (V̇O₂max; 30-40W/min increase) on rowing-ergometer and one-repetition maximum test of the squat exercise (SQ1RM) was employed to assess endurance and strength capacity.

RESULTS:

Significant group×time interactions (η_p²=0.26) in favor of INT were found for V̇O₂max (+9.1±6.2%, Effect Size=1.3) compared to CON (+2.5±6.1%, ES=0.3). SQ1RM (η_p²=0.01) was not affected by the pBFR intervention.

CONCLUSIONS:

This study revealed that 15 sessions of pBFR application with a cumulative total pBFR load of 5h over a 5 weeksmacrocycle remarkably increased V̇O₂max. Thus, pBFR might serve as a promising means to improve aerobic capacity in highly trained elite rowers.