Oxygen vs. Metabolites: investigating Mechanistic Drivers of Skeletal-Muscle Hypertrophy in Low-Load Hypoxic Resistance Training

Many athletes and patients use blood-flow-restriction (BFR) cuffs to make light-weight exercise feel like heavy training, but no one is sure why this type of exercise causes improvements similar to traditional exercise. Is it because the cuff blocks oxygen from entering the muscle, or because it traps byproducts (metabolites) that signal the muscle to grow? Our project will carefully tease apart these two ideas. We will have volunteers exercise in four conditions: (1) regular exercise with low weight, (2) low weight with inflated BFR cuffs (similar to a blood pressure cuff), (3) low weight while breathing low-oxygen air (like training at altitude), and (4) low weight with inflated BFR cuff and low-oxgen air together. We will match the amount of oxygen within the exercising muscle between the BFR and low-oxygen conditions, allowing us to see whether the lack of oxygen or metabolite build-up is the real driver of strength and size gains. The findings will help Delfi, a Canadian company that makes smart BFR devices, fine-tune their algorithms so users from rehab spaces to elite athletes get maximum benefit with minimal risk, strengthening Canada’s position in cutting-edge sports-medicine technology.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jamie Burr

Student:

Partner:

Delfi Medical

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Guelph

Program: