Effects of neuromuscular electrical stimulation, light intensity walking and a seated exercise trainer on venous return in healthy young adults

Abstract

Background: the present study investigated the change in venous blood flow, heart rate and blood pressure after 8 minutes of using the Leeper device, Circulation Booster® and light intensity walking.

Methods: a quasi-experimental cross over study involving 11 participants (8 female, 3 male, mean (SD) age=23.91 (1.04) years) was conducted using three exercise conditions; Leeper; Circulation Booster® and walking. During each condition participants exercised for 8 minutes, and blood flow was recorded at 0, 4 and 8 minutes of each condition. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were recorded at 0 and 8 minutes. Blood flow was the primary outcome measure and heart rate, and blood pressure were secondary outcomes. Participants rested for 10 minutes between conditions. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA was utilised to analyse the effect of condition and time on blood flow, blood pressure and heart rate.

Results: there was no significant interaction between condition and time on blood flow (p=0.180) indicating that blood flow did not change differently over time depending on condition. There was no significant main effect of time on blood flow (p=0.206) indicating that no condition caused a significant increase or decrease in blood flow after 8 minutes of exercise.

Conclusion: the interventions involving Leeper device, Circulation Booster® device and light intensity walking did not appear to significantly increase blood flow in young adults after any exercise condition. Further studies involving participants from older age groups and those with pathological conditions are warranted to examine the potential effectiveness of the interventions.

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ORCID for Dinesh Samuel: orcid.org/0000-0003-3610-8032

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