POMC and ischemia: The physiological mechanisms elicited by IET are not fully understood and are still under investigation; however, it may be the case that resulting from increased blood flow due to small repeated bouts of ischemia, IET elicits increases in angiogenesis, neuro-endocrine function and metabolites such as beta endorphins and prostaglandins (Stiller-Moldovan et al., 2012; Wong and Wright, 2014; Wong et al., 2015).