The Possibility and Mechanistic Progress of Ischemic Preconditioning as a Means of Facilitating Sport Recovery in Athletes: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE: The selection of appropriate means of exercise recovery is of great importance in the field of sports, and post-exercise ischemia-reperfusion procedures have been shown to accelerate post-exercise recovery of body functions. However, the effect of ischemic preconditioning before athletic training or physical activity on the effect of post-exercise recovery has not been clearly defined.
METHODS: By the PRISMA and PeRSIST statements, the extant literature on ischemic preconditioning was collated and methodically arranged. The effects of ischemic preconditioning on post-exercise recovery and its potential physiological mechanisms were discussed and analyzed.
RESULTS: Ischemic preconditioning has been demonstrated to engender disparate levels of recovery effects, which in turn have been shown to result in subsequent improvements in exercise performance. This phenomenon has been attributed to the involvement of multiple pathways, including, but not limited to, elevated blood flow, which has been demonstrated to improve tissue oxygen supply and metabolic status, reduced exercise-induced muscle damage, decreased inflammatory response, and enhanced cardiac function. However, it should be noted that no significant effects were observed in some specific exercise protocols.
CONCLUSION: Ischemic preconditioning, as a non-invasive intervention, is a simple process to perform and can be developed in the future as one of the adjuncts to facilitate inter-competition recovery and promote recovery in athletes for application in sports training and teaching practice.