College/School

College for Community Health

Department/Program

Kinesiology

Document Type

Data

Publication Date

2025

Publisher

Montclair State University Digital Commons

Description

Autonomic nervous system responses are attenuated following blood flow restriction (BFR) resistance exercise vs traditional resistance exercise (TRE) in men, but women’s responses are unknown. The purpose of this investigation is to compare the effects of a single BFR vs TRE session on HRV. Thirty-nine adults (M=20, W=19, age: 23±4yrs, body mass: 72.3±13.2kg, height: 169±9cm) participated in the study. Barbell back squat 1 repetition maximum (1RM) testing was performed followed by two randomized and counterbalanced exercise visits ≥48hrs apart (BFR: 4 sets, 30-15-15-15 repetitions, 30% 1RM, 60s rest; TRE: 4 sets x 10 repetitions, 70% 1RM, 60s rest). Pre- and post-exercise resting electrocardiograms were analyzed using heart rate variability (HRV) normalized units for low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and LF/HF. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA’s with sex as a between-subjects effect were analyzed (alpha p< 0.05). Both LF and HF displayed interaction effects (both p< 0.05) with no effect or interaction with sex (all p>0.05). Post-hoc testing found that LF increased and HF decreased post exercise, but with greater effects in the TRE condition (all p< 0.05). LF/HF also increased post exercise, and there was a sex by time interaction (all p< 0.05). Post-hoc testing found greater increases in LF/HF post-exercise in men than women (p< 0.05) across exercise conditions. Both TRE and BFR increased sympathetic activity and decreased parasympathetic activity HRV indices, and the changes were attenuated for BFR in both sexes. However, men have a greater shift towards sympathetic dominance independent of exercise type. These changes in HRV indices may have beneficial applications for exercise training/recovery when trying to reduce autonomic stress.

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