The Effects of Age on Muscle Endurance During Resistance Exercise With and Without Blood Flow Restriction

NCT07090603 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: H25-01532
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to learn how aging affects muscle endurance during resistance exercise, and how oxygen delivery to the muscles plays a role in these changes. To answer this question, we are comparing how many repetitions of a leg exercise (knee extensions) younger and older adults can do at different exercise intensities. We will also look at how the muscles use oxygen during these exercises. Participants will take part in 12 different exercise sessions. In each session, they will perform as many knee extensions as possible using different amounts of weight-consisting of 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% of the maximum weight they can lift one time. Each weight will be tested both with and without a cuff on the leg that temporarily reduces blood flow to the muscle.

Conditions

Ageing; Muscle Fatigue Caused by Repetitive Muscle Exercise

Keywords

muscle endurance; muscle contraction; critical occluding tension; muscle oxygenation; NIRS; ageing; muscle fatigue; contraction induced occlusion

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Maximum repetitions performed during knee extension exercise

  The primary outcome of the study will be the maximum number of knee extension repetitions that participants are able to perform at varying resistive exercise loads.

  From enrollment to the end of the final study visit (~4 weeks)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Local muscle tissue oxygenation during knee extension exercise

  From enrollment to the end of the final study visit (~ 4 weeks)

Study Arms (2)

Young cohort

EXPERIMENTAL

Young, healthy participants aged 19-35 will perform maximum repetitions of knee extension exercise at 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% of their one rep max with and without blood flow occlusion.

Other: Knee extension exercise

Older cohort

EXPERIMENTAL

Older, healthy participants aged 65 years and up will perform maximum repetitions of knee extension exercise at 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% of their one rep max with and without blood flow occlusion.

Other: Knee extension exercise

Interventions

Knee extension exercise OTHER

Maximum repetitions of knee extension exercise at 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% and 70% of participants one rep max with and without blood flow occlusion

Older cohort; Young cohort

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 19 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Able to understand and communicate in English
• years of age
• years of age or older
• All "No" answers on the CSEP Get Active questionnaire or doctors' approval to participate

You may not qualify if:

• BMI lower than 18 or greater than 32
• Current use of cigarettes or other nicotine devices
• Any major uncontrolled cardiovascular, muscular, metabolic, and/or neurological disorders
• Any medical condition impacting the ability to participate in maximal exercise
• Type one or type two diabetes
• Diagnosis of cancer or undergoing cancer treatment in the past 12 months
• Taking blood-thinning medication or the presence of a bleeding disorder
• Drug therapy with any drugs that alter skeletal muscle metabolism (i.e., Metformin, Benzodiazepines)
• Lowest calculated exercise testing load is less than the lightest weight able to be provided by the lab gymnasium equipment
• In the past six months, completing more than 300 minutes of moderate physical activity or 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week
• In the past six months, completing less than 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of British Columbia: lead

Study Sites (1)

Chan Gunn Pavilion

Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada

Location

Study Officials

• Cameron J Mitchell, PhD (Kinesiology)

  University of British Columbia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Abaigeal L Kelso

CONTACT

6138626994; akelso@student.ubc.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 21, 2025
• First Posted: July 29, 2025
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: April 1, 2026
• Study Completion: April 1, 2026
• Last Updated: July 29, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Locations

CA (1)