Bilateral muscle strength symmetry and performance are improved following walk training with restricted blood flow in an elite paralympic sprint runner: Case study.

OBJECTIVES: Investigate the influence of 4 weeks of walk training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle strength, metabolic responses, 100-m and 400-m performances in an athlete with cerebral palsy.

METHODS: An elite Paralympic sprinter (20 years, 176 cm, 64.8 kg) who presented with moderate hemiplegic cerebral palsy (right side impaired) completed four visits before and after 4 weeks of the BFR training: 1) anthropometric measurements, familiarization of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), and an incremental test; 2) MVC measurements; 3) 400-m performance, and 4) 100-m performance. The walk training with BFR consisted of four bouts of 5 min at 40% of maximal aerobic speed with 1 min of passive rest with complete reperfusion.

RESULTS: All performance times were lower with training (100-m: 1%; 400-m: 10%), accompanied by adaptations in aerobic variables (V˙O2max: 6%; OBLA: 24%) and running economy (9-10%). Lactic acid energy metabolism was reduced (25-27%), even in the presence of a higher lactate efflux from the previously active muscles after training. MVC (right leg: 19%; left leg: 9%) increased in both legs unevenly, decreasing the muscle strength asymmetry between limbs.

CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that cardiovascular and neuromuscular adaptations can be simultaneously induced following BFR training in a paralympic sprinter.