Who has done it? What're your thoughts on it, even if you haven't done it?
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Occlusion Training
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Perrin Aybara
Member
I think @RodgerThat has some experience with it.
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It's a long read but well worth it. Here are some other links by the same guy....he's VERY good at what he does.
» Does Blood Flow Restriction Increase Muscle When Combined With Traditional Resistance Training?
Blood Flow Restriction Training | T Nation
Hmmm
Interesting as well:
Wonder why it made such a difference in the squat, and not the bench...?
Wonder why it made such a difference in the squat, and not the bench...?
The most relevant portion IMO:
That said, the study had a number of substantial limitations that cloud the ability to draw relevant conclusions. First and foremost, the use of circumference measurements as a proxy for muscular gains is highly suspect as the technique does not specifically measure muscle tissue in isolated areas of the body. Indeed, imaging techniques such as ultrasound have been shown to detect increases in muscle hypertrophy not seen by measures of girth. Compounding matters, the researchers made no attempt to control for nutrition. Remember, the subjects were college football players in the offseason from competition. To put it mildly, it’s highly unlikely they weighed their food and adhered to a balanced nutritional regimen. Since girth measurements cannot discern between muscle tissue and subcutaneous fat, this certainly could have confounded results.
Another thing that jumped out at me when reading the methodology was the following statement: “All sessions were supervised by the same two primary researchers in order to ensure compliance.” The study had over 60 subjects who trained at one of three times during each training day. That means that there were over 20 subjects training at a given time. How can two researchers adequately supervise all these subjects and ensure that they are training as per protocol? In my lab, I have a dedicated research assistant work with each subject in a training study. They supervise every aspect of the workout protocol – from using proper technique, to exerting sufficient intensity of effort, to making sure that the rest intervals are rigidly upheld. If research assistants did not in fact help out with supervision here, I’d have to question how well subjects actually complied with the protocol.
Finally and importantly, the results don’t make a whole lot of sense. Specifically, how could lower body strength show greater increases with BFR without concomitantly greater increases in hypertrophy? There are two primary mechanisms for strength improvements: an increase in muscle size (there is a direct relationship between muscle cross sectional area and the ability to produce force) and/or an enhancement in neural response. Research indicates that neural enhancement is primarily achieved through the use of heavy loads, particularly in a well-trained population who have transitioned past the initial motor learning stage. Thus, I find it difficult to believe that BFR — which uses very light loads — had a significant impact on neural aspects such as rate coding or synchronization. If strength was significantly increased in the BFR group compared to the non-BFR groups, it would seem that these improvements would have to be due to greater gains in muscle mass.
That said, the study had a number of substantial limitations that cloud the ability to draw relevant conclusions. First and foremost, the use of circumference measurements as a proxy for muscular gains is highly suspect as the technique does not specifically measure muscle tissue in isolated areas of the body. Indeed, imaging techniques such as ultrasound have been shown to detect increases in muscle hypertrophy not seen by measures of girth. Compounding matters, the researchers made no attempt to control for nutrition. Remember, the subjects were college football players in the offseason from competition. To put it mildly, it’s highly unlikely they weighed their food and adhered to a balanced nutritional regimen. Since girth measurements cannot discern between muscle tissue and subcutaneous fat, this certainly could have confounded results.
Another thing that jumped out at me when reading the methodology was the following statement: “All sessions were supervised by the same two primary researchers in order to ensure compliance.” The study had over 60 subjects who trained at one of three times during each training day. That means that there were over 20 subjects training at a given time. How can two researchers adequately supervise all these subjects and ensure that they are training as per protocol? In my lab, I have a dedicated research assistant work with each subject in a training study. They supervise every aspect of the workout protocol – from using proper technique, to exerting sufficient intensity of effort, to making sure that the rest intervals are rigidly upheld. If research assistants did not in fact help out with supervision here, I’d have to question how well subjects actually complied with the protocol.
Finally and importantly, the results don’t make a whole lot of sense. Specifically, how could lower body strength show greater increases with BFR without concomitantly greater increases in hypertrophy? There are two primary mechanisms for strength improvements: an increase in muscle size (there is a direct relationship between muscle cross sectional area and the ability to produce force) and/or an enhancement in neural response. Research indicates that neural enhancement is primarily achieved through the use of heavy loads, particularly in a well-trained population who have transitioned past the initial motor learning stage. Thus, I find it difficult to believe that BFR — which uses very light loads — had a significant impact on neural aspects such as rate coding or synchronization. If strength was significantly increased in the BFR group compared to the non-BFR groups, it would seem that these improvements would have to be due to greater gains in muscle mass.
RodgerThat
New Member
Ya @Perrin Aybara ive done the occlusion training to bring up certain muscle imbalances. I would do it for my medial quad, once I was done my regular workout id wrap my upper thigh up real tight then hit single leg exstentions 4x16 and finish with front squats 2x20. It worked incredible well and I saw great size and strength improvement in my medial quad but I have since stopped because the pump it gives is painful as shit. I will do it again in the future for sure though because it does help. There's studies done that even 30 seconds of ischema to a limb can increase nitrogen build up and protein synthesis so doing it for your first set and then not for the rest may work too. I did it for about 8 minutes straight and it was brutal I'd usually loosen it after leg extensions for a moment when I walked over to the squat rack
Leancuisine
New Member
Dr Jacob Wilson down in FL preaches it. He's got a few videos using ultrasound to measure the difference behind non restricted training and restricted training.
Never done it myself, but it makes sense. Seen a few people doing Calf Press with tourniquets, and they did have fairly impressive calves. Whether it was do to the tourniquet training or just previous training, I'm not sure.
As I always say... try anything once, and the good things twice.
Never done it myself, but it makes sense. Seen a few people doing Calf Press with tourniquets, and they did have fairly impressive calves. Whether it was do to the tourniquet training or just previous training, I'm not sure.
As I always say... try anything once, and the good things twice.
Wondering if this might be a good way to bring up lagging arms...?
RodgerThat
New Member
Brought up my lagging inner quad so I'd say it would be a good way
What did you use to restrict the bloodflow? I was considering the rubber strips they use before they draw blood... Thoughts?
RodgerThat
New Member
For my thighs I was using my knee wraps cranked right tight but now I would use my voodoo floss don't want it to be too thin width wise otherwise you'll restrict literally all blood flow and you don't want to fully tourniquet a limb unless it needs it for medics reasons. You should be restricting blood flow not cutting it off entirely.
Right, that's where I'm a bit confused as to WHAT to use for my arms. I won't have it on crazy tight, and just during the set...
RodgerThat
New Member
That probably be fine then if you are taking it off between sets
Worst case scenario I just lose my arms... Wouldn't be too big of a deal since they're so lagging LOL.
strong50
New Member
You can actually get bfr straps on Amazon for like 10 bucks
Just ordered some!
strong50
New Member
Awesome! I have been doing occlusion training the past month or so and really like it..a very different kind of pump
