Effect of Blood Flow Restriction on Football-Related Performance Parameters

Improvement of Football-Related Performance Parameters: Application of Blood Flow Restrictive Exercise

The blood flow restriction method can have similar or superior effects to high-intensity exercises even in a short duration, which can positively affect some performance parameters, can be applied with low-intensity load and cause hypertrophy in the muscle by providing high metabolic stress, facilitating muscle growth without significantly changing the total training dose. The aim of this study is to investigate whether adding the blood flow restriction method to the classical training program can be more effective than the classical training applied alone in the development of football-related performance parameters.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being a male between the ages of 18-30 years
• Volunteer to participate in the study
• Playing football in one of the clubs in Istanbul for at least 1 year
• Being in the pre-season of the club
• Absence of any ongoing musculoskeletal problems that limit exercising

Exclusion Criteria:

• Having at least one of the contraindications preventing the application of blood flow restriction (Smoking, previous venous thromboembolism, risk of peripheral vascular disease (ankle-brachial index <0.9), coronary heart disease, hypertension, hemophilia, etc.).
• History of sports injury in the last 6 months
• Orthopedic lower extremity surgery in the last 1 year
• Body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2