The effect of eight weeks of water exercise with blood flow restriction on growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor one and bone metabolism in elderly women

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of water exercise with blood flow restriction (BFR) on the growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels and bone mineral density (BMD) of elderly women. 30 non-athlete women (age: 60 to 70, weight 72.34 ± 2.5 kg and BMI: 28.8 ± 4.07) participated in the study voluntarily and were divided into three groups: of control, water exercise with BFR and water exercise without BFR randomly. Both training groups performed aerobic exercises with water resistance (eight weeks, three days, one hour). Cuff pressure in the training group with BFR was 110 to 220 mm Hg. Blood samples were taken 24 hours before the first and after the last training session. Statistical test of Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for data analysis. Findings of the study indicated that two training groups had a significant increase in BMD, GH, IGF-1 and T-score compared to the control group (p≤ 0.05). Also, the result shows significant increases in in BMD, GH, IGF-1 and T-score in water exercise with BFR group compared to the water exercise without BFR group (p≤ 0.05). The results of research showed, water exercise improved the effect of anabolic factors to prevent decreasing bone density, in older women, but water exercise with BFR induced more beneficial effect on BMD rather than water exercise without BFR. Therefor using of water exercise with BFR is recommended to older women.