This study sought to determine if the bladder position (either inside- medially or outside- laterally) of the cuff had an influence on LOP and to determine if there did exist a difference, if it was clinically meaningful.

He was three weeks out from a powerlifting meet, unable to squat, bench, or deadlift due to pain and fear of further joint and soft tissue damage. Now what? How could he possibly maintain the size and strength that he worked so hard to achieve without lifting heavy weights?

Safety with BFR training is a top priority for researchers and clinicians alike. I mean, at the end of the day, we are wrapping a cuff around our limb to alter the flow of blood to our tissues…all while training at high-perceived efforts and with a significant amount of pain.

This particular athlete’s best lifts were a 675-pound squat, 730-pound deadlift, and 410-pound bench press at a bodyweight of 220lbs. As you can see, this is not your everyday weight lifter.

Providing non-pharmacological means to enhance quality of life is crucial and it appears that the hypoxia provided through BFR training may provide a novel therapeutic target for individuals with chronic disease that have an altered RAA.

This case study included a 91 year-old frail inactive male diagnosed with sarcopenia in 2014 with complaints of excessive exhaustion, decreased lean mass, weakness, HTN, and a history of falls.

For a physical therapist or physical therapy student, “Exercise is medicine,” is as cliché as it gets. If we had a PT flag, that’s what would be written on it for crying out loud! While it may be cliché, viewing exercise as medicine is one of the most powerful paradigm shifts one can make for their health. Don’t believe me? Let’s see what the research shows!

What do you think?  Should BFR training be included in ACL rehabilitation across the board or is more research needed at this time?

While BFR training can produce significant gains in muscle strength and hypertrophy in the muscles distal to the cuff using less load than traditional training (20-50% 1RM), there is also the observation that unoccluded proximal muscles (i.e. the glutes, pecs, and shoulders) undergo hypertrophy from BFR training, as well.

Not only can BFR help with training around injuries, it may also have implications in the short-term modulation of pain. There appears to be a pain-reduction effect following a bout of BFR training, which allows for a window of opportunity to use loads that would otherwise reproduce pain.

This case study involves a 35-year-old male weightlifter and strength and conditioning (S&C) coach who underwent left distal biceps repair surgery following a traumatic full biceps tendon rupture.

Patellar tendinopathy is a common condition experienced by young athletes who participate in sports that involve jumping and running.Oftentimes, these patients are not able to tolerate the loading necessary to treat this condition due to pain, so BFR may be a tool to achieve similar physiological effects as heavy load training while using lighter loads.

I know what you’re thinking… “But wait, not everyone wants to get jacked and strong. Some of us have other goals, like distance running, rowing, and cycling!” Point well-taken…

Specificity tends to be key for powerlifters, which means if the goal is to improve the 1-rep max of a competition squat, it is important that heavy competition squatting is included in training. How then could something like light load BFR ever have a place in a powerlifter’s repertoire?

She was starting to try to have a baby and wanted to be astrong, positive female role model in the life of her children. She also wanted to do everything she could to have a healthy pregnancy and delivery.

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.

In this anecdote, we will discuss how blood flow restriction training was used to allow a new father and professional natural bodybuilder to keep training despite developing significant elbow pain due to prolonged periods of lifting and carrying his newborn baby.

Metabolic stress appears to be a key driver for many of the potential benefits of BFR training. Metabolic stress refers to the build-up of by-products of muscle contraction and is responsible for the burn and hypoxic environment that we all know and love.

Do you add metabolic stress training into your regimen? Do you strictly #chasethepump? Do you stick to heavy lifting? Do you do a combination of the two?

It’s hard to imagine an athlete with a more impressive physical presence than Dwight Howard. Fans watch in awe as his lean 6’10” 265 pound massive physique gracefully prances around the hardwood and dominates the court. However, as is the case with all veteran professional athletes striving for a successful career, longevity is key. Considering Howard has been playing in NBA since 2004 (first round draft pick!), it comes as no surprise that the optimization of health and recovery are of utmost importance.