Blood flow restriction training (BFRT) involves applying external compression to the limbs to restrict venous blood return during low-intensity exercise, thereby promoting improvements in muscle mass and strength. Originally developed decades ago, BFRT has gained renewed interest in recent years, with applications spanning rehabilitation medicine, aerospace, and general fitness. However, its use in adolescents remains limited and under-researched. This narrative review aims to summarize the current understanding of the effects, mechanisms, and practical applications of BFRT in adolescents, with a focus on muscle health, physical performance, and training safety. A comprehensive review of recent literature was conducted, focusing on BFRT-related physiological mechanisms, including metabolic stress, anabolic hormone responses, muscle fiber recruitment, protein synthesis regulation, myostatin suppression, and cell swelling. Relevant studies on adolescent populations were analyzed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BFRT in this age group. BFRT appears to promote muscle hypertrophy, strength, endurance, and neuromuscular adaptations in adolescents, with reduced injury risk compared to high-load training. Individualized arterial occlusion pressure settings enhance both the safety and effectiveness of BFRT. Applications span general fitness, athletic performance enhancement, and injury rehabilitation. BFRT offers a promising, low-risk alternative to traditional resistance training for adolescents, supporting safe and effective physical development. Its integration into youth fitness and rehabilitation programs by educators, healthcare providers, and sports organizations may offer substantial benefits for adolescent health and performance.

Background/Objectives: Global population aging is associated with a rising prevalence of malnutrition among adults aged ≥80 years. Gut dysbiosis is linked to immune decline and impaired nutrient absorption, and aerobic exercise may enhance microbial diversity. This study investigated gut microbiota changes after a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention in octogenarians stratified by nutritional status. Methods: A total of 129 nursing home residents (≥80 years) were classified via the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF) into a healthy group (HG, MNA-SF ≥ 11) and a malnourished group (MG, MNA-SF < 11). Both groups underwent a 12-week brisk walking intervention (three sessions/week, 1 h/session, 40–60% heart rate reserve). Fecal samples were collected at baseline and post-intervention and were analyzed via shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Results: A total of 36 participants completed the intervention (HG = 17, MG = 19). Within-group baseline-to-post-intervention analysis showed no significant changes in alpha or beta diversity in the MG. However, post-intervention between-group comparison revealed higher microbial richness and diversity in the MG vs. the HG, with enrichment of taxa including Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Streptococcus salivarius. Functional analysis revealed significant enhancements in metabolic pathways related to amino acid biosynthesis, protein synthesis, and quorum sensing in the MG. In contrast, the HG showed limited shifts in microbial diversity but an increase in species involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Conclusions: After 12 weeks, the malnourished group showed higher post-intervention microbial richness and diversity than the healthy group, with differences in taxonomic and predicted functional profiles. Without a non-intervention control group, the microbiota differences observed during the 12-week aerobic exercise period can only be considered observational associations, not causal. Additionally, the high dropout rate (72.1%) limits the generalizability of the findings. Clinical trial registration: The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on 19 October 2022 (ChiCTR2200064801).

This study was designed to determine the effect of 12 weeks of the Chinese traditional exercise, the Dao Yin Regime on reducing fall risk in aging population (>60 years). The exclusion criteria for individuals were as follows: 1) were under 60 years; 2) were unable to read and write; 3) had any acute cardiovascular disease in the past month; 4) had any diagnosed disorder of balance function; 5) had visual problems; 6) had hearing problems; 7) had taken drugs that could lead to dizzy. 8) had regular exercising over 6 months. We novelly tried not to exclude people who take sleeping pills since it has already become a normal phenomenon, we also stipulated that people who live alone should be considered serious issues. We planned to recruit 90 people by calculating at the beginning, but in the end, 93 participants were recruited. Every person received a complete fall risk screening process and they were divided into low-risk (30), moderate-risk (29), high-risk (34) based on the STEADI screening toolkit. The age features in each group were: 80.63±6.83(low-risk),83.38±5.89(moderate-risk) and 82.12±5.64(high-risk), and the sex distribution were: male:14(45.16%) and female:17(54.84%) in the low-risk group, male:8(27.59%) and female:21(72.41%) in the moderate-risk group, male:9(26.47%) and female:25(73.53%) in the high-risk group. The exercise program was set 90min in every training session, and was repeated 3 times a week. Every training session started with 10 min warm-up activity, followed by the standing training, which lasted approximately 40 min, and the last was dynamic training, which contained 12 movements lasting 40 min, with a 5 min cool down activity in the end. The entire training program lasted 12 weeks. The methods to evaluate of the effects included demographic, physiological, and psychological aspects, gait characteristics were the main indices used to assess the effects, the within- and between-group differences were analyzed via paired t-test and chi-test. In the gait characteristics, only the low-risk group showed distinct decline in TUG test (p<0.01). The precise reason of why this outcome was not clear, but there was a small improvement in the participants’ physical function and also the frailty situation improved. In this study, we found that low educational background was not an essential issue on increasing fall risk for old people(p<0.01). Since this was the first attempt on investigate the effect of the Dao Yin Regime on reducing fall risk among old people, some limitations remain, and more studies are needed.