In this installment of the Owens Recovery Science podcast Johnny and Kyle interview Nicole Walter, PT. Nicole is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy with 20 years experience at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She is the neurologic residency coordinator for Parkview and is adjunct faculty at Trine University. She has used BFR in a variety of neurological conditions and most recently presented some of their cases and research findings at APTA's Combined Sections Meeting in San Diego.

In this episode the guys chat about the use of creatine in conjunction with BFR resistance training. As usual they breakdown our current knowledge with an emphasis on safety and then get into the meat and potatoes of what has been shown in the BFR literature.

Here are the papers mentioned:

Rawson, E. S., Clarkson, P. M., & Tarnopolsky, M. A. (2017). Perspectives on Exertional Rhabdomyolysis. Sports Medicine , 47(Suppl 1), 33–49.

Harmon, K. K., Stout, J. R., Fukuda, D. H., Pabian, P. S., Rawson, E. S., & Stock, M. S. (2021). The Application of Creatine Supplementation in Medical Rehabilitation. Nutrients, 13(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13061825

Olsen, S., Aagaard, P., Kadi, F., Verney, G. T., Olesen, J. L., Suetta, C., & and Kjær, M. (2006). Creatine supplementation augments the increase in satellite cell and myonuclei number in human skeletal muscle induced by strength training. The Journal of Physiology, 573, 525–534.

Hespel, P., Op’t Eijnde, B., Van Leemputte, M., Ursø, B., Greenhaff, P. L., Labarque, V., Dymarkowski, S., Van Hecke, P., & Richter, E. A. (2001). Oral creatine supplementation facilitates the rehabilitation of disuse atrophy and alters the expression of muscle myogenic factors in humans. The Journal of Physiology, 536(Pt 2), 625–633.

Hultman, E., Söderlund, K., Timmons, J. A., Cederblad, G., & Greenhaff, P. L. (1996). Muscle creatine loading in men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 81(1), 232–237.

Suga, T., Okita, K., Takada, S., Omokawa, M., Kadoguchi, T., Yokota, T., Hirabayashi, K., Takahashi, M., Morita, N., Horiuchi, M., Kinugawa, S., & Tsutsui, H. (2012). Effect of multiple set on intramuscular metabolic stress during low-intensity resistance exercise with blood flow restriction. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 112(11), 3915–3920.

Ingemann-Hansen, T., Halkja~r-Kristensen, J., & Halskov, O. (1981). Skeletal Muscle Phosphagen and Lactate Concentrations in lschaemic Dynamic Exercise. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 46, 261–270.

Sousa-Silva, R. C., Holewa, J. M., de Araújo Pessôa, K., Zhi Xia, Z., Lauver, J. D., Rossi, F. E., & Zanchi, N. E. (2/2023). Creatine supplementation combined with blood flow restriction training enhances muscle thickness and performance- a randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind study.pdf. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism = Physiologie Appliquee, Nutrition et Metabolisme. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2022-0209

Intro sound clip:

Trick or Treat (instrumental) by RYYZN https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

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In this episode, the fellas recap all the goings on at the biggest PT conference of the year and how much BFR was featured! We hope you enjoy!

In this episode Johnny and Kyle chat with Dr. Shane Scholten of Augustana University. Dr. Scholten has been investigating the effects of IPC on performance and has noted some particularly interesting things in terms of mechanisms, pressure needed, and overall effects.

Learn more about Dr. Scholten here: https://www.augie.edu/directory/shane-scholten-phd

Dr. Scholten's work that we discussed:

Lindner, T.D, Scholten, S.D., Halverson, J.M., Baumgarten, K.M., Birger, C.B., Nowotny, B.G. The acute effects of ischemic preconditioning on sprint and power performance. SD Med. 2021; 74(5):210-219.

Scholten, S.D., I.N. Sergeev, Q. Song, C.B Birger. Effects of vitamin D and quercetin, alone and in combination, on cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle function in physically active male adults. Open Access J Sports Med. 2015; 24:6,229-39.

Scholten, S.D. and Sergeev, I.N. Vitamin D and physical performance in athletes. Immun Endoc & Metab Agents in Med Chem. 2014; 14:152-161.

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It’s our final podcast for the year, so we thought we’d do a bit of Q&A as well as just cover a number of recent happenings in the BFR and rehab spaces that we’ve participated in or supported. Thanks so much for listening and don’t hesitate to send us questions or topics you’d like to hear us cover.

Some of the papers referenced in our answers:

Christiansen, D., & Bishop, D. J. (2022). Aerobic-interval exercise with blood flow restriction potentiates early markers of metabolic health in man. Acta Physiologica , e13769.

Christiansen, D., Eibye, K. H., Hostrup, M., & Bangsbo, J. (2019). Blood flow-restricted training enhances thigh glucose uptake during exercise and muscle antioxidant function in humans. Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental, 98, 1–15.

Salvador, A. F., De Aguiar, R. A., Lisbôa, F. D., Pereira, K. L., Cruz, R. S., & Caputo, F. (2016). Ischemic Preconditioning and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 11(1), 4–14.

Zaravar, L., Nemati, J., Rezaei, R., Jahromi, M. K., & Daryanoosh, F. (n.d.). Effect of Eight weeks Water Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction on Growth Hormone, Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 and Bone Metabolism in Elderly Women. https://spj.ssrc.ac.ir/article_2570_007f12d97cf861f568d84ad5e0783471.pdf

Faltus, J., Owens, J., & Hedt, C. (n.d.). THEORETICAL APPLICATIONS OF BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION TRAINING IN MANAGING CHRONIC ANKLE INSTABILITY IN THE BASKETBALL ATHLETE. https://doi.org/10.26603/ijspt20180552

This is one of our longer podcasts, but we cover a ton of ground here when it comes to space travel and the muscle, bone, and nervous system responses. Ultimately we’re curious how BFR might provide some solutions both for terrestrial life as well as for space travel and Dr. Luke Hughes helps us understand how BFR might fit into the picture. We hope you enjoy!!

Opening backing track used under the Creative Commons license linked below. Sound bite for the backing track produced by Lauren Ponder on Freesound: https://freesound.org/people/LaurenPonder/

Creative Commons license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode

In this newest episode Johnny and Kyle talk with Dr. Alex Franz from the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery at the University Hospital of Bonn. We discuss Dr. Franz's extensive research in blood flow restriction exercise and how he's using that path to solve big problems in medicine! This conversation is pretty epic! You're sure to enjoy. Below you'll find the papers of his we discussed.

Franz, A., Queitsch, F. P., Behringer, M., Mayer, C., Krauspe, R., & Zilkens, C. (2018). Blood flow restriction training as a prehabilitation concept in total knee arthroplasty: A narrative review about current preoperative interventions and the potential impact of BFR. Medical Hypotheses, 110, 53–59.

Franz, A., Behringer, M., Nosaka, K., Buhren, B. A., Schrumpf, H., Mayer, C., Zilkens, C., & Schumann, M. (2017). Mechanisms underpinning protection against eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage by ischemic preconditioning. Medical Hypotheses, 98, 21–27.

Franz, A., Behringer, M., Harmsen, J.-F., Mayer, C., Krauspe, R., Zilkens, C., & Schumann, M. (2018). Ischemic Preconditioning Blunts Muscle Damage Responses Induced by Eccentric Exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 50(1), 109–115.

Franz, A., Berndt, F., Raabe, J., Harmsen, J.-F., & Behringer, M. (2020). Invasive Assessment of Hemodynamic, Metabolic and Ionic Consequences During Blood Flow Restriction Training. Frontiers in Physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.617668

Alexander Franz, Sanghyeon Ji, Bernd Bittersohl, Christoph Zilkens, MichaelBehringer. (n.d.). Impact of a Six-Week Prehabilitation with Blood-Flow Restriction Training on Pre- and Postoperative Skeletal Muscle Mass and Strength in Patients Receiving Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty.

In this episode Johnny and the fellas discuss 4 papers where BFR did not work! What?!? How can that be???

Well...gotta listen to find out!

We begin by discussing briefly how hard research in medicine is...

Here's a reference:

Howick, J., Koletsi, D., Ioannidis, J. P. A., Madigan, C., Pandis, N., Loef, M., Walach, H., Sauer, S., Kleijnen, J., Seehra, J., Johnson, T., & Schmidt, S. (2022). Most healthcare interventions tested in Cochrane Reviews are not effective according to high quality evidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 148, 160–169.

And here's a podcast discussing the paper:

https://ptinquest.com/episode-250-most-healthcare-interventions-lack-high-quality-evidence/

Here's the paper Zac describes:

Tramer, J. S., Khalil, L. S., Jildeh, T. R., Abbas, M. J., McGee, A., Lau, M. J., Moutzouros, V., & Okoroha, K. R. (2022). Blood Flow Restriction Therapy For Two Weeks Prior to Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Did Not Impact Quadriceps Strength Compared to Standard Therapy. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic & Related Surgery: Official Publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arthro.2022.06.027

Here's the paper Kyle describes:

Iversen, E., Røstad, V., & Larmo, A. (2016). Intermittent blood flow restriction does not reduce atrophy following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Journal of Sport and Health Science, 5(1), 115–118.

Here's the paper Johnny describes:

Curran, M. T., Bedi, A., Mendias, C. L., Wojtys, E. M., Kujawa, M. V., & Palmieri-Smith, R. M. (2020). Blood Flow Restriction Training Applied With High-Intensity Exercise Does Not Improve Quadriceps Muscle Function After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 48(4), 825–837.

And here's the paper Ben describes:

Brumitt, J., Hutchison, M. K., Kang, D., Klemmer, Z., Stroud, M., Cheng, E., Cayanan, N. P., & Shishido, S. (2020). Blood Flow Restriction Training for the Rotator Cuff: A Randomized Controlled Trial. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 1–6.

Intro soundbite: Trick or Treat (instrumental) by RYYZN https://soundcloud.com/ryyzn

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Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/l_trick-or-treat

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/uNPXJ9CDzbc

This episode of the ORS podcast is worth a listen just for Johnny's imitation of the Australian accent. Spoiler...it's terrible!! But if that doesn't tickle your fancy then stick around because Johnny and Kyle talk with Adrian Sexton about his work as an exercise physiologist in concussion rehab. They cover some basics as it relates to concussion and its management and then they dive into how Adrian has been integrating BFR rather successfully into the continuum of care.

Also, if you're located in Australia, Adrian has a course offering at Murdoch University this fall on October 15th. Here's a link with details: https://owensrecoveryscience.com/courses-view/?permalink=perth-australia-october-2022

In our second installment of our special Memorial Day releases we have our instructor Zac Dunkle talking with fellow Marine, Gunnery Sergeant Tom Schmidt. They discuss:

Tom's time in the service

Its impact on his life

The Rush of War - why some guys keep going back

Task Force 8211 Fox Company

In Memoriam:

Team Chief Master Sergeant Eden Pearl 

Nick Roush US ARMY Phyops (physiological operations)

American citizen and interpreter Ya Hamid Ali Jimshi