Dr Luke Hughes

Associate Professor

School: Sport Exercise and Rehabilitation

Dr Luke Hughes is an exercise physiologist specialising in clinical exercise and aerospace physiology. He obtained his PhD in clinical exercise physiology in 2019, which developing a novel exercise rehabilitation technique termed “blood flow restriction exercise”.

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests:

My research focusses on understanding the physiological mechanisms of health and deconditioning, and development of novel interventions to optimise human health, performance and rehabilitation in high-performance (e.g. professional/elite sport, human spaceflight) and clinical medicine populations. Within clinical medicine, my work focusses on the use of ‘blood flow restriction exercise’, a novel low-intensity exercise intervention, to improve health in deconditioned populations and improve post-surgical outcomes in several medical conditions and diseases. I have implemented this technique in the UK National Health Service, initially through clinical trials and now as part of standard rehabilitation. I am now working to develop blood flow restriction exercise as a countermeasure to improve astronaut health and mitigate deconditioning during spaceflight, and optimise post-flight rehabilitation outcomes.

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Key Publications

Blood flow restriction exercise during microgravity exposure in parabolic flight, Laflamme, Y., Chassé, E., Hughes, L. 6 Aug 2025, In: Experimental Physiology
Blood flow restriction: methods and apparatus still matter, Hughes, L., Rolnick, N., Franz, A., Owens, J., Swain, P., Centner, C., Loenneke, J., Warmington, S. 1 May 2025, In: British Journal of Sports Medicine
Efficacy and acceptability of different blood flow restriction training interventions during the rehabilitation of military personnel with lower limb musculoskeletal injuries: protocol for a two-phase randomised controlled trial, Gray, L., Coppack, R., Barker-Davies, R., Cassidy, R., Bennett, A., Caplan, N., Atkinson, G., Bradshaw, L., Chauhan, J., Lunt, K., Hughes, L., Ladlow, P. 26 May 2025, In: BMJ Open
Entering a new era for exercise countermeasures in human spaceflight, De Martino, E., Swain, P., Lindsay, K., Bruce‐Martin, C., Jacobs, E., Barbour, B., Buckley, C., McDonnell, A., Caplan, N., Hughes, L. 19 Oct 2025, In: Experimental Physiology
How can Blood Flow Restriction Exercise be Utilised for the Management of Persistent Pain Following Complex Injuries in Military Personnel? A Narrative Review, Gray, L., Ladlow, P., Coppack, R., Cassidy, R., Kelly, L., Lewis, S., Caplan, N., Barker-Davies, R., Bennett, A., Hughes, L. 4 Feb 2025, In: Sports Medicine - Open
Hypogravity Simulation using the Variable Gravity Suspension System: A Technical Report, Swain, P., Swain, A., Santos, F., Hughes, L., Lindsay, K., Ingram, I., Caplan, N. 23 Jul 2025, In: Experimental Physiology
Impact of limb occlusion pressure assessment position on performance, cardiovascular, and perceptual responses in blood flow restricted low-load resistance exercise: A randomized crossover trial, Kamiş, O., Rolnick, N., de Queiros, V., Akçay, N., Keskin, K., Yıldız, K., Sofuoğlu, C., Werner, T., Hughes, L. 2 Oct 2025, In: Journal of Sports Sciences
Jumping on the moon as a potential exercise countermeasure, Swain, P., Santos, F., Hughes, L., Gordon, D., Caplan, N. 11 May 2025, In: Experimental Physiology
Neuromotor changes in postural control following bed rest, Ritzmann, R., Centner, C., Hughes, L., Waldvogel, J., Marusic, U. 16 Apr 2025, In: The Journal of Physiology
New insights into the impact of bed rest on lumbopelvic muscles: A computer-vision model approach to measure fat fraction changes, Wesselink, E., Hides, J., Elliott, J., Hoggarth, M., Weber II, K., Salomoni, S., Tran, V., Lindsay, K., Hughes, L., Weber, T., Scott, J., Hodges, P., Caplan, N., De Martino, E. 1 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Applied Physiology

PGR Supervision

Bradley Barbour Walking and Jumping on the Moon with Blood Flow Restriction: A Spaceflight Countermeasure for Exploration Class Missions Start Date: 01/10/2024
Luke Gray Optimising the Therapeutic Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Exercise within UK Defence Rehabilitation Start Date: 01/10/2023