The feasibility, safety, and efficacy of lower limb garment-integrated blood flow restriction training in healthy adults

Objectives
Explore the feasibility of lower-limb garment-integrated BFR-training.

Design
Observational study.

Setting
Human performance laboratory.

Participants
Healthy males with no experience of BFR-training.

Main outcome measures
Feasibility was determined by a priori thresholds for recruitment, adherence, and data collection. Safety was determined by measuring BFR torniquet pressure and the incidence of side effects. Efficacy was determined by measuring body anthropometry and knee isokinetic dynamometry. Feasibility and safety outcomes were reported descriptively or as a proportion with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), with mean change, 95% CIs, and effect sizes for efficacy outcomes.

Results
Twelve participants (mean age 24.8 years [6.5]) were successfully recruited; 11 completed the study. 134/136 sessions were completed (adherence = 98.5%) and 100% of data were collected. There was one event of excessive pain during exercise (0.7%, 95% CI 0.0%, 4.0%), two events of excessive pain post-exercise (1.5%, 95% CI 0.4%, 5.5%), and one event of persistent paraesthesia post-exercise (0.7%, 95% CI 0.0%, 4.0%). Mean maximal BFR torniquet pressure was
Conclusions
Lower-limb garment-integrated BFR-training is feasible, has no signal of important harm, and could be used independently.