Blood flow restriction (BFR) training consists of cut off blood flow venous blood of an extremity but still allow arterial blood flow in an extremity, resulting in best congestion possible.
Blood flow restriction training is something that is met with mixed reactions as some people are all in favor of using it, and others think it’s just a cheap gimmick.
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How Occlusion Training Is Done
To properly perform occlusion training, a knee brace or elastic band is used to cut off venous blood flow in the arms or legs.
The blood pressure in the veins (which take blood out of the limb) is lower than the blood pressure in the arteries (which take blood to the limb), so the bandage is applied tight enough to prevent blood from come off the limb, while It allows blood to enter it.
Although most studies used a special cuff to occlude venous blood flow, the use of knee braces or an elastic band works just as well.
From a scale of 0 (meaning no pressure at all) to 10 (meaning the pressure you would expect from a tourniquet before a limb is amputated), the pressure in the arms should feel like a 7, and the pressure in the legs should feel like an 8 or 9.
When you go to apply the bandage or band, it has to be as close as possible to the upper part of the extremity: very close to the groin if it occludes the flow of venous blood from the legs and very close to the armpit if it occludes the flow of venous blood from the arms.
How much weight to use?
It is necessary to use a light load since the capacity we have to tolerate fatigue and move heavy loads is less, so a 20-30% of the 1RM would be .
What you should do is do as many reps as you can, rest for 30 seconds, and do as many reps as you can. This method of performing two series “in a row” would have to repeat it three or four times.
Does it really work for hypertrophy?
Although there are studies that compare that conventional training can be just as effective as training with blood flow restriction, when we go to the higher quality studies, it is observed that the hypertrophy that is generated with conventional training is actually much more effective .
This is because conventional training allows there is a higher mechanical stressthat the main ingredient of muscle hypertrophy.
Despite this, it can have a place in our training because we are able to recover more easily and include a greater volume of training.
Another application that can be given is:
- Seniors starting strength training
- People who come from an injury
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