TY - JOUR AU - B. de Oliveira, Ricardo AU - G. Cardozo, Gustavo AU - G. Lopes, Karynne PY - 2023/01/03 Y2 - 2024/10/12 TI - Blood flow restriction training – an intervention to counteract muscle loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic JF - ϲʿ JA - BJHBS VL - 21 IS - 2 SE - Literature Review DO - 10.12957/bjhbs.2022.71659 UR - /bjhbs/article/view/13 SP - 146-155 AB - <p>Introduction: Physical inactivity is a major unintended consequence&nbsp;of the social distancing imposed by the Covid-19&nbsp;pandemic. Increased physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors&nbsp;have profound physiological impacts on muscular health,&nbsp;leading to muscle and strength losses that are associated with&nbsp;lower performance and higher mortality rates. In the so-called&nbsp;“new normal”, exercise routines must find alternative ways to&nbsp;replace high-intensity resistance exercises, since resources are&nbsp;limited in home environments. Blood flow restriction (BFR)&nbsp;is a low-intensity training method involving compressive&nbsp;pressure of the vasculature by use of a tourniquet cuff in the&nbsp;proximal portion of the upper and lower limbs. BFR has been&nbsp;demonstrated to be a safe and efficient training modality&nbsp;to promote muscle and strength gains in different groups,&nbsp;including those under musculoskeletal rehabilitation, young&nbsp;and older adults, and athletes. Objective: This review aims&nbsp;to show that BFR training is an effective intervention for&nbsp;counteracting losses of muscle mass and function caused by&nbsp;Covid-19. Methods: A review of the scientific literature was&nbsp;conducted on electronic databases, such as PubMed, Scielo and&nbsp;Web of Science, covering the period 2000–2020. Results: We&nbsp;advocate the use of BFR training as an urgent counteracting&nbsp;intervention to prevent muscle and strength losses during social&nbsp;distancing and propose a progressive home-based protocol&nbsp;based on wide array of literature. Conclusion: This evidence&nbsp;can help practitioners, personal trainers, physical therapists,&nbsp;and physician assistants to implement an alternative exercise&nbsp;routine that may prevent the deleterious physiological effects&nbsp;of physical inactivity on muscle function during intermittent&nbsp;social distancing.</p> ER -