The Benefits of Physical Activity on Climacteric Women

As the population ages, there is a need of developing ways to prevent or revert the deleterious effects of aging, especially in climacteric women who suffer with the problems caused by hormonal changes. Exercise is a nonmedicated intervention that can be applied on that population. The benefits of physical activity can positively change body composition, increase levels of muscular strength, balance, and functional capacity. Strength training, aerobic exercise, whole body vibration, and aquatic exercises are some of the modalities that health professionals can prescript to these individuals. Although there are many studies about these exercises, a technique called blood flow restriction is emerging as an alternative to high load exercises but with the same benefits

Effects of exercise training with blood flow restriction on vascular function in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Blood flow restricted exercise (BFRE) improves physical fitness, with theorized positive effects on vascular function. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to report (1) the effects of BFRE on vascular function in adults with or without chronic health conditions, and (2) adverse events and adherence reported for BFRE. Methodology Five electronic databases were searched by two researchers independently to identify studies reporting vascular outcomes following BFRE in adults with and without chronic conditions. When sufficient data were provided, meta-analysis and exploratory meta-regression were performed. Results Twenty-six studies were included in the review (total participants n = 472; n = 41 older adults with chronic conditions). Meta-analysis (k = 9 studies) indicated that compared to exercise without blood flow restriction, resistance training with blood flow restriction resulted in significantly greater effects on endothelial function (SMD 0.76; 95% CI [0.36–1.14]). No significant differences were estimated for changes in vascular structure (SMD −0.24; 95% CI [−1.08 to 0.59]). In exploratory meta-regression analyses, several experimental protocol factors (design, exercise modality, exercised limbs, intervention length and number of sets per exercise) were significantly associated with the effect size for endothelial function outcomes. Adverse events in BFRE studies were rarely reported. Conclusion There is limited evidence, predominantly available in healthy young adults, on the effect of BFRE on vascular function. Signals pointing to effect of specific dynamic resistance exercise protocols with blood flow restriction (≥4 weeks with exercises for the upper and lower limbs) on endothelial function warrant further investigation