The purpose of this study was to investigate if ischemic preconditioning (IPC) prior to eccentric exercise of the elbow flexors leads to alterations in muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2) during loading. Additionally, parameters of muscle damage, like serum creatine kinase, were assessed following the loading protocol. Nineteen untrained males were allocated into two groups: (1) performing IPC prior to eccentric exercise (IPC+ECC; n=10) and (2) performing eccentric exercise only (n=9). Muscle damage parameters were significantly lower in IPC+ECC (p<0.05). The drop of SmO2 during eccentric loading (ischemia) as well as the subsequent increase of SmO2 (reperfusion) were lower in IPC+ECC (p<0.05). These findings indicate that reduced oxidative stress might have contributed to the blunted muscle damage response seen after IPC.