Is cutting off blood circulation really an effective way to build muscle?
I mean, yeah, obviously the pump is insane,
but what's really going on inside the body when we use this technique because
that's all it really is, right?
Blood flow restriction training or occlusion training is a technique that helps
us increase the intensity of our workouts.
Just like drop sets or supersets by increasing the amount of metabolic stress we
induce in a single working set. Well guys,
I'm Scott of muscularstrength.com and today we're going to take a closer look at
BFR training to see what the science has to say about whether or not you can
build more muscle and strength with this technique compared to traditional
training. But even if it can, is this even really that safe to do? I mean,
you're basically using a tourniquet to trap blood in an area you're trying to
train. Well,
it should go without saying that you should first obviously consult your
physician to ensure you don't have any preexisting blood pressure complications
before trying this technique.
And even though I'm sure I could easily find before and after photos and
testimonials from people swearing that BFR training works wonders.
In today's video, we're going to let the science do the talking,
but before we get started,
my friends at ironbullstrength want to give away 10 pairs of occlusion training
bands and to win is easy. All you have to do is two things. Number one,
follow Ironbullstrength on Instagram and leave a comment on this photo.
And number two, and this is the most important guys,
comment below who your favorite power ranger is and why.
And if you think the original power Rangers are way better than all that
bullshit that came out after that from like when we were kids to after we
weren't kids anymore because it got really dumb anyways,
basically have some fun.
I'll pick the winners by the end of the week and I hope that if you do win,
you'll let me know how your training goals over the next four to six weeks,
whether it's good or bad and while you're there be sure to check out everything else
Ironbullstrength has to offer.
If you need things like lock collars or wrist wraps or AB matts or if you want to
increase your grip strength by using their grips and you can use my code MS10
for 10% off the entire site. So blood flow restriction training,
what is it exactly? Well, as I briefly mentioned already,
it's a technique to increase the intensity of your working sets where you will
be able to in theory build the same amount or just as much muscle training with
lighter weights as compared to traditional weight training.
But this doesn't replace heavy lifting guys. It's just a technique.
For example,
we all know that in order to achieve muscle hypertrophy or muscle gains,
our working sets should be around eight to 10 reps using less than 80% of
your one rep max. But the majority of blood flow restriction,
exercise and training uses lower intensity close to the like 20 to 40% of your
one rep max and closer to 15 to 30 reps per set.
But before we can get into any conclusive evidence,
I think we first need to talk about blood circulation so you can 100% grasp the
concept BFR training is built upon yes science.
You see guys, the human body circulates blood in two ways.
The first is when blood is pumped out of the heart and into the muscles and
organs via the arteries and the arteries then carry this clean oxygenated blood
wherever it needs to go. That's why arteries appear red,
but you can't really see them because they're very deep underneath the skin and
for good reason. The arteries are characterized by high blood pressure,
which is why slicing them open is genuinely not a good thing to do.
I'm sure you've all seen war movies where a soldier gets critically injured and
blood just likes that spurt out everywhere. Well,
that's a severed artery and that's why they're buried deep.
But veins are a different story. Veins carry deoxygenated blood or venous blood,
which I probably butchered that from the muscles and organs back to the heart
and lungs. So how does this relate to BFR training? Well, let me explain.
You see,
BFR training involves using a band to cut off venous blood flow or the flow of
blood from veins returning deoxygenated blood back to your heart while maintaining
arterial blood flow into the muscle. Are you with me so far? Okay, good.
Now here's the theory as to why this is effective when trying to build muscle by
cutting off the venous blood flow,
this will lead to metabolite build up within that particular muscle or in this
case the biceps. Also, just to recap,
metabolites are the substances generally waste products produced as a result of
muscular contraction.
Now normally what happens is that blood is able to flow into the muscle during
training and as metabolites build up, they're carried away
once your set is over,
allowing the muscle to recover from fatigue and one metabolite in particular,
inorganic phosphate which increases during your set due to breakdown of
creatine, phosphate appears to be a major cause of muscle fatigue.
This is why creatine is often used by athletes that train with a lot of
intensity.
The stored creatine phosphate in the skeletal muscle helps resynthesize ADP back
into ATP, but that's a video for another day. However,
with blood flow restriction training because these metabolites can't escape the
muscle once the set is over,
the result is more metabolic stress on the muscle during the next three to four
sets,
which in theory should lead to faster training adaptations and thus more muscle
gains. Also,
because we're only restricting venous blood flow and not arterial,
this method is safe. In fact, if you take a look at this study,
it's been proven that with heavy resistance training or 80 to a hundred percent
of your one rep max mean arterial blood pressure has been shown to more than
double with heart rates reaching maximum levels. However,
research on low intensity blood flow restriction training shows an increase in
blood pressure and heart rate by only about 11 to 13% as such,
traditional resistance exercise results in much greater blood pressure,
heart rate,
and even cardiac output changes than low intensity BFR training.
Just make sure you don't crank the bands too tight though. Okay.
I would say on a scale of one to 10 bring them to about a six to seven and it's
better to be a little too loose than a little too tight, but whatever, right?
It's safe.
But how do we prove that BFR training actually works to help build more muscle?
Well, before we can dive into all that, if you're enjoying the video so far,
make sure you tap that subscribe button for more great content like this and in
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please also take a moment to tap that like button.
I really appreciate it because it's an easy thing to do and it helps out a lot.
All right guys,
so what does the science has to say surrounding this type of training? Well,
let's examine this study from massmember.com two groups of powerlifters trained
front squats for six and a half weeks.
The group doing front squats with blood flow restriction used approximately 24%
of their one rep max for week one and approximately 31% of their one rep max for
week three and they performed four sets with 30 seconds between sets and each
low load BFR session with the first and last sets taken to voluntary failure and
rep targets of 15 and 12 reps per sets,
two and three and the blood flow restriction wraps remained on between sets.
Now the group doing heavier front squats performed six to seven sets of one to
six reps with 60 to 85% of their one rep max and details of each session wasn't
provided.
But the training programs are designed by the national team coaches and we're
part of the lifters annual plan.
So overall the group perform more sets of front squats in each session,
but it doesn't seem like they were taking any of their sets to failure.
But what was the overall result?
Well in the group performing blood flow restriction training type one or slow
Twitch muscle fibers increased in size by roughly 12% while type two or fast
Twitch muscle fibers didn't really grow at all.
Actually there was zero growth which provided clear evidence of fiber type
specific hypertrophy,
which I think is really cool while the group performing traditional heavier
training failed to have any growth at all. Also,
and this is super important,
the group training with blood flow restriction training had an increase in Mio
nuclei in their type one muscle fibers as well.
So is this conclusive evidence that BFR training is King when it comes to muscle
growth? Well, I don't think we should jump to that conclusion quite yet guys.
If you remember in my nuclei overload video,
I talked about our natural potential as athletes and that maybe our current
plateaus are due to that
we have exhausted what's capable in terms of muscle gains with our traditional
ways of thinking about training. So to me,
this study shows that basically a group of powerlifters switched from heavy sets
of one to six reps to nuclei overload training for six weeks.
And when you think about it that way,
I think it's fascinating that a study was able to prove without even really
trying that nuclei overload training can be effective even in seasoned power
lifters and that muscle gain can be achieved with even just 24% to like 34% of
your one rep max.
And if we take a look back at this study from 2012 this chart concludes that
various other studies on blood flow restriction training have proven that this
technique also increases growth hormone as well.
So by now I'm positive quite a few of you are looking to try blood flow
restriction training.
So let me leave you with a few more tips in how to get started. Again,
first check with your physician for any preexisting blood pressure complications
because you can never be too careful.
Then pick which body part you want to try this on.
I'm sure the majority of you will go for your arms and if that's the case,
always wrap just above the biceps,
but if you want to train legs always wrap your upper thigh just below your hip
or groin.
As for how often you should do it and your sets and reps in an article written
by Dr. Jacob Wilson.
He recommends that you only utilize this method one to three times a week and
complete four sets, 30 reps on set,
one followed by three sets of 15 reps with 30 seconds of rest between sets using
20 to 40% of your one rep max is very close to the study we just talked about.
Now Dr. Wilson also recommends that you use blood flow restriction training as a
finisher and on isolation type movements.
I would suggest starting there as well. So for example,
if you were training back and biceps,
I would still peform my heavy working sets,
but to finish the overall workout with BFR training on a curl type movement for
isolation on the biceps. Also guys,
I did try BFR training for a few weeks and I want to add my own input here as
well. Number one, you're going to feel like your arms are going to explode,
all right? And you need to fight the urge to remove the bands.
That's why it's better to have it a little too loose than a little too tight,
right? You have to leave them on for all four sets. Number two,
you're going to be very vascular during your sets.
That's because BFI training increases vasodilation,
which is when the blood vessels expand for greater blood flow and as a result
decreases blood pressure and increases your overall vascularity while
exercising.
Another thing to note is that the first set is going to feel super easy, okay?
That's why you'll be able to complete 30 repetitions,
but then on set two with the same exact amount of weight,
not so much because that's the entire point of blood flow restriction training.
Okay guys,
we're increasing metabolic stress by preventing the venous blood from leaving
the area. And lastly,
it's a lot easier to find the right amount of pressure when wrapping your arms
versus your legs.
So don't be surprised if you need to readjust your legs straps a few times when
you first start out. Oh, and one last thing,
I thought it was really interesting that Dr. Wilson also mentioned in his
article that because BFR causes very little muscle damage,
it can be used during deloading periods to supplement as much as 60% of the high
intensity work load.
That way athletes can continue to progress while allowing their joints and
injuries to heal. Well, hopefully not injuries, but regardless,
it's really good for that. So if you're due for a de-load week,
this could be right up your alley.
I hope you guys learned a lot in today's video.
And don't forget to enter my contest if you'd like to get your hands on a pair
of blood flow restriction training bands from ironbullstrength,
be sure to tap that like button and has always more good stuff coming soon.
See ya. Pretty crazy. Video, right guys?
I thought what was the best part of this video was how it can relate to nuclei
overload training. And if you did not see that video yet,
it's over here and it's fricking awesome and you're going to learn a lot when
you watch it. And if you enjoy these science type videos,
let me know down below because I'm really enjoying making them.
And if you want to read the article version of this video or the nuclei video,
just go down below, click the link, download my app,
and you'll see it right there. Bye guys.