What is blood flow restriction training?

By Coach Hunter Bennett

Blood Flow Restriction (or BFR for short) training is a training method that involves partially restricting blood flow to your muscles during exercise.

BFR training uses cuffs or bands to compress your veins, allowing blood to enter your muscle but reducing the rate at which it leaves. This leads to blood pooling in the muscle, creating a hypoxic environment that increases muscle strength and hypertrophy even when lifting light weights.

BFR training is becoming popular in rehabilitation and general gym settings to maximise muscle growth and training performance.

In this article we outline how you can use blood flow restriction training to your advantage.

How to Perform Blood Flow Restriction Training

While it might sound complicated, performing blood flow restriction training is simple:

1. Select the Cuff or Band: Choose a cuff or band designed for BFR training. If possible, choose a wider cuff because they provide more even pressure distribution, making them more comfortable.
2. Placement: Place the band or cuff at the top of the limb. For the arms, place it just below the shoulder. For the legs, place it as high as you can on the upper thigh.
3. Tightening the Cuff: If you are using a manual cuff or band, tighten to around a 7 out of 10 (with a 10 being as tight as you could possibly imagine). If you are using a pneumatic cuff or an automated band (more on that later), it should be set somewhere between 40% and 80% of maximal pressure.
4. Exercise Selection: Blood flow restricted weight training is best suited to machine based and isolation exercises that don’t have a balance component. This means leg presses, knee extensions, hamstring curls, and bicep/tricep exercises are best.
5. Select your weights: When conducting BFR training, you only need a light weight. Using 20-30% of your one rep max is the perfect starting point.
6. Repetitions and Sets: BFR training has a unique set and rep scheme. Perform four sets per exercise. The first set should be around 30 reps, and the next three sets around 15 reps, with 60s rest between each set.
7. Monitoring: Pay attention to any signs of excessive discomfort, numbness, or changes in skin colour. If any of these occur, release the cuff.
8. Release the cuff between exercises: Between exercises, take 2-3 minutes to rest with the cuff released, before moving to your next exercise.

Different Devices for Blood Flow Restriction Training

Several devices are available for blood flow restriction training, ranging from simple bands to more advanced automatic systems:

1. Elastic Bands: These are basic and affordable options. You simply put them around your arm or leg and manually tighten them to the desired pressure (these ones from Amazon provide an example).
2. Velcro Straps: Like the elastic bands, these Velcro straps are cheap and effective, but often more durable and easier to adjust for consistent pressure (like these).
3. Pneumatic Cuffs: These are more advanced, and typically used in clinical or professional settings. They allow for precise control of pressure using a handheld pump and gauge. Brands like Smart Cuffs, H+Cuffs, and Delphi PTS offer these devices.
4. Automated Systems: Automated systems use internal computers to automatically adjust pressure, ensuring consistent and safe BFR training. There are lots of these on the market, with the most common being the Vald AirBands.

Benefits of Blood Flow Restriction Training

BFR training offer some unique benefits when compared to traditional high-load training:

1. Increased Muscle Strength and Size: BFR can stimulate muscle growth and strength gains with lighter loads, making it accessible to individuals who might be unable to lift heavy weights due to injury or other conditions (i.e., disease, illness, or age-related factors).
2. Increased training frequency: BFR training is generally thought of as less fatiguing as heavy resistance training. So, if you want to increase training volume without causing too much fatigue, this is a great option. This could be as simple as doing some BFR knee extensions, hamstrings curls, or arms, on your off days for extra growth.
3. Enhanced Rehabilitation: BFR is beneficial for patients recovering from surgery or injury, allowing them to maintain muscle mass and strength while avoiding heavy lifting that could make their injury worse.
4. Improved Cardiovascular Health: BFR training has been shown to improve the health of veins and arteries, having a positive impact on cardiovascular health.
5. Reduced Joint Stress: By allowing for significant muscle growth with lighter loads, BFR reduces the stress placed on joints, which is advantageous for individuals with joint issues or arthritis.

Blood Flow Restricted Aerobic Training

Importantly, BFR isn’t limited to resistance training.

In fact, there is a large body of research demonstrating that it can be combined with low intensity walking and cycling to improve aerobic fitness and performance.

Simply put a cuff on the upper thigh, tighten it up, and walk or cycle at a low intensity (~30% of your max) and you can expect to see substantial improvements in your fitness.

In fact, blood flow restricted walking has also been shown to increase muscle mass, making it a great option if you don’t have access to a gym.

Take Home Message

Blood Flow Restriction Training is a versatile and effective method for enhancing muscle strength, hypertrophy, and fitness.

Whether used in a rehabilitation context or to supplement traditional training, BFR offers significant benefits. By understanding the proper techniques and devices, you can safely incorporate BFR training into your fitness routine to reach your goals faster.

If you are not sure where to start, check out some of our programs or feel free to contact us for more information.