Acute and Chronic Lower Limb Ischaemic Preconditioning Increase the Sprint Triathlon Performance in Athletes

OpenAlex İngilizce

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on triathlon performance in athletes. Method: Twenty-four triathletes (8 female, 16 males; mean age: 35.43±1.84 years), with at least 3 years of training and competition experience, participated. Heart rate (HR), blood pressure, rate of perceived exertion (RPE), respiratory frequency, and heart rate variability (HRV) parameters (SDNN, NN50, PNN50, RMSSD, VLF, LF, HF, LF/HF) were measured following rest, sham, and IPC conditions. IPC was applied both acutely (single session) and chronically (7 consecutive days) using a sphygmomanometer cuff inflated to 220 mmHg for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of reperfusion, repeated four times. Sham involved the same protocol with 20 mmHg pressure. Data was analyzed using t-tests. Results: Triathlon completion time significantly improved after both sham and IPC, but the improvement was greater after IPC (p