4.2. Intervention Paradigms during Single-Treatment and Training

HLRE, BFRRE, and NIC were carried out as previously described [22,23]. In brief, HLRE consisted of four sets of 12 knee-extensions at 70% repetition maximum (RM) with 3 min inter-set recovery. BFRRE consisted of four sets of knee-extensions at 30% RM with 30 s inter-set recovery, with each set performed until volitional fatigue with occlusion provided by a 14 cm pneumatic cuff inflated to 50% of arterial occlusion pressure (AOP) as previously described [84]. RIC was performed using the autoRIC device (CellAegis Devices, Mississauga, ON, Canada) placed on one upper arm of the participant. The autoRIC automatically inflates and deflates a cuff, producing four cycles of 5 min temporary ischemia (200 mmHg) followed by 5 min of reperfusion (deflated cuff). During the 6-week intervention period, RIC, HLRE, and BFRRE were conducted three times per week, with the workload adjusted every other week to match improvement progression.

The NIC group underwent similar procedures, except the stimulation to control for effects of repeated blood sampling, nutrition control, and diurnal rhythm [41].