Blood Flow Restriction Training For Bodybuilders

“With respect to the physique athlete, there are numerous avenues for future research that could help elucidate the effectiveness of BFR within this population. There are currently no studies comparing heavy-load resistance training to heavy-load resistance training plus low-load BFR training in highly trained physique athletes nor are there any studies showing the effectiveness of low-load BFR training in maintaining lean body mass during contest preparation.” (Rolnick, 2020)

While the scientific evidence may be lacking, we can still use recent strength training literature to draw conclusions and, through evidence-based decision-making, effectively implement BFR into bodybuilding training.  For bodybuilders, the ultimate goals are to build/maintain muscle mass and ensure recovery while slowly and methodically dropping body fat through a combination of diet and cardio.  Diet is perhaps the most important factor in maintaining a caloric deficit and eliciting changes in body composition, but optimizing hypertrophy training is absolutely critical as well.  With that in mind, BFR may be a useful training method to supplement traditional resistance training and maximize the hypertrophic stimulus.  

For bodybuilders, BFR training can be used (1) to assist in achieving the three components of hypertrophy (mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress), (2) during planned deloads, (3) as one of many ways to vary training stress, and (4) to enhance the mind-muscle connection. 

(1) The Hypertrophy Trifecta and Recruitment of High Threshold Motor Units

The hypertrophy trifecta of mechanical tension (heavy loading), muscle damage (breaking down muscle tissue), and metabolic stress (cell swelling – the pump) has been hypothesized to positively contribute to maximal increases in muscle growth.  One practical way for physique athletes to include BFR into a program would be to add on 1–2 exercises per target muscle group at the end of a traditional non-failure heavy-load training session.  This is similar to performing metabolic/oxidative training (tempo work, drop sets, and myo-reps) at the end of a workout.  With metabolic/oxidative training, we are creating occlusion within our muscles, increasing fatigue, creating a hypoxic environment, recruiting high threshold motor units, and training our bodies to buffer and clear metabolites.

Remember the trifecta…mechanical tension, muscle damage, and metabolic stress.  Traditional heavy training likely checks the mechanical tension and muscle damage boxes, which is why this type of training is typically foundational to most bodybuilding training programs.  However, in order to fully maximize the hypertrophic training response, an athlete should include some training that induces metabolic stress.  Metabolic stress training can preferentially stress muscle fibers that may not be sufficiently stressed at higher loading intensities (i.e., type I fibers).  The addition of low load BFR to traditional heavy load training could be one way of covering all bases.  It should be noted that simply training to failure would likely check all boxes as well, however failure training is not always appropriate or feasible especially with heavy compound movements and for physique athletes in the midst of contest preparation.  So why even consider using BFR when we could just train to failure?  BFR does not compromise recovery to the same extent as traditional failure training and recovery is key, especially when an athlete is in a sustained caloric deficit and at extremely low levels of body fat.  Once the repeated bout effect has taken place, we see less muscle damage and soreness following BFR training, which could be a key factor in recovery from training session to training session.  

(2) BFR and Deloads

Deloads are crucial for physique athletes who are looking to build and maintain muscle mass while dieting down for a competition.  Bodybuilders typically train with medium to high volumes, moderate loads, relatively short rest periods, and at close proximity to failure all while in a caloric deficit and extremely low body fat levels.  Similar to powerlifters and as mentioned above, sometimes a deload of load/rep range is necessary for recovery and variation of training.  Keep in mind that if an athlete chooses to deload due to general burnout from high intensity training, BFR is likely not a great option because the intensity and perceived effort is typically higher with this type of training.

(3) BFR as a Way To Vary the Training Stimulus

Varying the training stimulus is not only a principle of muscular adaptation, but also a strategy to mitigate risk of developing overuse injuries.  Changing loads, rep ranges, RPE, and exercise selection are all strategies to achieve training variation.  When it comes to hypertrophy, athletes have freedom to explore different loads, rep ranges, and movement patterns while maintaining a hypertrophic response so long as volume and proximity to failure are adequate.  BFR is one of many ways to periodize training stress without compromising the hypertrophic stimulus. 

(4) BFR and the Mind-Muscle Connection

While we’re not familiar with any scientific literature to support the claim that BFR can improve the mind-muscle connection, anecdotally it seems to be a valid claim.  Trainees often report improvements in the ability to “connect with” and “feel” working muscle groups while training with BFR.  What we do have evidence for is the idea that improving the mind-muscle connection could potentially improve our ability to produce a hypertrophic stimulus.  Will the mind-muscle connection make or break your gains? Likely not.  However, the mind and muscular connections made during BFR training may carry over to free flow training, which over time may have a meaningful impact.  If nothing else, for a bodybuilder, “feeling” the muscles being worked makes training more enjoyable and energizing!

Source: https://thebarbellphysio.com/blood-flow-restriction-training-for-athletes/

****Remember, the decision to use BFR, or any treatment for that matter, should be based on the pillars of evidence-based practice.

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