Arterial occlusion pressure as a method to quantify cardiovascular responses to exercise

The purpose was to compare unilateral exercise-induced changes in arterial occlusion pressure between the exercising and non-exercising arm. Participants had arterial occlusion pressure measured before and after exercise in: both arms simultaneously (Double AOP), the exercise limb only (Exercise AOP), and the non-exercise limb only (Non-exercise AOP). The blood flow restriction exercise protocol included four sets of biceps curls to failure in the dominant arm using 30% of one-repetition maximum and applying 40% of pre-exercise arterial occlusion pressure using a 5 cm nylon cuff. The change in arterial occlusion pressure from pre to post-exercise did not differ between the exercise limb [mean change (95%CI) = 27 (20, 33) mmHg] and non-exercise limb [mean change (95%CI) = 24 (18, 31) mmHg] during Double AOP (p=.325). When comparing the changes observed for each arm during Double AOP to their respective control conditions, there were no differences for the exercising arm [p = .554, mean change (95%CI) of Exercise AOP = 28 (20, 33) mmHg] or the non-exercise arm [p = .147, mean change (95%CI) of Non-exercise AOP = 18 (13, 23) mmHg]. The cardiovascular response to blood flow restriction, as measured by arterial occlusion pressure changes does not seem to be limb specific during unilateral exercise.