Walking: Participants will perform two continuous 10-minute walking bouts, separated by a 3-minute seated recovery period to allow reperfusion following BFR or pause, along a rectangular 40-meter walking circuit (15×5 m). Walking cadence will be standardized at 112 steps per minute.
Study summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to explore how walking combined with different levels of partial blood flow restriction (BFR) affects cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and movement (kinematic) variables in older adults.
The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does walking with BFR increase internal effort, as shown by cardiovascular changes, and is this effect proportional to the level of restriction?
Does walking with BFR temporarily reduce neuromuscular control, and is this reduction greater at higher restriction levels?
Does walking with BFR change gait movement patterns?
This study uses a crossover design, meaning that each participant will complete all four conditions and serve as their own control.
Participants will:
Take part in walking sessions under four conditions with different levels of restriction: BFR40%, BFR80%, SHAM (0% BFR), and CON (without BFR).
Have their cardiovascular responses, muscle performance, and gait movement patterns measured.
Report their perceptions of the sessions, including Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), satisfaction, and possible side effects.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
60 Years
Max age
90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion Criteria:
• Aged between 60 and 90 years.
Exclusion Criteria:
* Being institutionalized.
* Peripheral vascular disease, defined by an ankle-brachial index (ABI) outside the normal range (0.9-1.4).
* Uncontrolled arterial hypertension (\>180/110 mmHg).
* Any contraindication to exercise, based on self-reported medical history and PAR-Q+.
Primary outcome measure(s)
Blood pressure — 25 minutes Systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure will be obtained by a photoplethysmography sensor. Units: mmHg
Heart rate — 60 minutes The average and maximum values will be obtained using a chest-worn heart rate sensor. Unit: beats per minute (bpm)
RR-Interval Time-Domain Metrics — 60 minutes Standard time-domain HRV metrics-including mean RR intervals (meanRR), the standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals (SDNN), and the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD)-will be derived from inter-beat interval data exported from a chest-worn heart rate sensor (epochs of 5 min).
Units: milliseconds (ms).
RR-Interval Nonlinear Metric — 60 minutes Short-term fractal scaling (DFA α1) will be calculated from inter-beat interval data exported from a chest-worn heart rate sensor (epochs of 5 min).
Units: dimensionless.
Maximum isometric strength — 10 minutes Maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) force during a knee-extension task will be recorded using a force-gauge device.
Unit: Newtons (N)
Force steadiness — 10 minutes Force steadiness will be evaluated from the RMSSD of the coefficient of variation (CV) during a 30-s submaximal isometric knee-extension contraction at 30% MVIC, using a force-gauge device with data-analysis software.
Unit: Percentage (%)
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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