Research Progress on the Effect of Blood Flow Restriction Trainingon Athletes’ Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Its Mechanisms

SHAN Xinhai^1,2, ZHU Huan^1,2, CHEN Zihua^1,2, LI Miao^1,2, HU Jiangping³, LU Biqiong³,ZHOU Huimin⁴, ZHOU Shufeng^1,2*

(¹Sports Science Research Center of Hubei Minzu University, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 445000, China; ²HubeiKey Laboratory of Selenium Resource Research and Biological Application of Hubei Minzu University, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture 445000, China; ³College of Physical Education, Guangxi Normal University for Nationalities, Chongzuo 532200,China; ⁴Xuzhou College of Industrial Technology, Xuzhou 221000, China)

Abstract:

This study summarizes the effects of blood flow restriction training on athletes’ VO2max and exploresthe underlying mechanisms, providing new theoretical basis and training models for improving athletes’ VO2max. Theresearch shows: (1) blood flow restriction combined with low-intensity aerobic training for more than 2 weeks,blood flow restriction combined with low-intensity resistance training, and blood flow restriction combined with moderate-to-high-intensity interval training can all significantly increase athletes’ VO2max, and the training effectsare better than traditional training methods. Therefore, blood flow restriction training can be used as an alternativetraining method to improve athletes’ VO2max in sports training. Different sports projects can choose targeted bloodflow restriction training modes according to the characteristics of specific training. In addition, blood flow restriction training also provides new training ideas for maintaining or improving the competitive ability and physicalcondition of athletes during injury periods; (2) increasing cardiac output, improving microcirculation function ofskeletal muscles, and optimizing mitochondrial function are the main mechanisms by which blood flow restrictiontraining improves athletes’ VO2max; (3) currently, there are problems such as lack of comparison of training effectsof different training modes, lack of comparison of training effects of different training parameters of the same training mode, insufficient research on female athletes, lack of systematic discussion on adverse events and safety considerations, and lack of integration of mechanism studies. It is recommended to focus on these issues in subsequentresearch.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2026.06.0017