Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Training on Collegiate-Level Soccer Athletes

Blood flow restriction (BFR) exercise involves the occlusion of blood vessels in targeted areas of the body that could lead to muscle hypertrophy and bone growth. Blood flow restriction resistance exercise training elicits hypertrophy to a similar extent as traditional resistance exercise but with a lower load and may increase bone mineral density (BMD) and lean mass. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of BFR training on body composition and bone mineral density in collegiate-level soccer athletes to other training modalities. METHODS: 24 collegiate soccer players with an average age of 20.66 ± 1.38 years were analyzed in the study. There were 7 soccer players (3 male, 4 female) who underwent the BFR training, 3 female athletes who completed hypertrophy training, and 14 athletes (4 male, 10 female) who did a strength/power resistance training program. Anthropometric data was obtained via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) on the athletes before and after the 4-month off-season training period to evaluate changes in BMD and lean mass. Paired t-tests were used to compare pre- and post-training data. RESULTS: All athletes (n=24) had an increase in fat mass and lean mass across all training groups. Although not significant, the hypertrophy group had the largest gains in whole body BMD (0.70% ± 4.25%), followed by the BFR group (0.52% ± 6.06%), with the strength/power group having the lowest gains (0.26 ± 4.55%). BFR had the greatest increase in lean mass (4.04% ± 10.24%), followed by strength/power (3.60% ± 10.24%), and lastly the hypertrophy group (3.24% ± 10.24%). CONCLUSION: In a small sample size of collegiate soccer players, BFR had similar effects on lean mass and BMD as traditional resistance exercise. These data support the idea of incorporating BFR training to elicit similar improvements in lean mass and BMD without high load and strain of traditional resistance exercise. More data is necessary to assess if incorporating BFR into in-season training can elicit similar improvements in performance while minimizing overall training strain.