Applications of Ischemic Preconditioning in Enhancing Exercise Performance

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been proved that it can affect exercise performance, the function of IPC goes beyond simple cardioprotective effect. In terms of resistance motion, IPC can enhance the maximum repetitive power, and relieve muscle fatigue after high-intensity exercise, delaying the accumulation of fatigue-related metabolites. For endurance sports, IPC enhances cardiovascular efficiency by improving heart rate variability and autonomic nerve regulation, accelerating heart rate recovery after exercise, and reducing cardiac pump workload during exercise. Besides, IPC can activate hypoxia adaptation pathway, improve the oxygen utilization rate of skeletal muscle and enhance mitochondrial respiratory capacity. In addition to systematic adaptation, IPC also improves local microcirculation and tissue oxygenation, and enhances antioxidant defense. However, the responses of different groups of people to it show heterogeneity. For example, there are differences in sensitivity among endurance athletes, strength athletes and the elderly in terms of aerobic and anaerobic capacity improvement. Future research needs to clarify its optimal approach in terms of intervention stress, duration and location, and combine clinical trials to verify its application boundaries in different populations. This review examines evidence on ischemic preconditioning, focusing on its roles in autonomic regulation, oxygen utilization, and muscle metabolism, and discusses tailored applications for different populations.