Blood flow restriction training: What is it and why does it work?

Blood circulation is essential for the proper functioning of your entire body. It ensures that your organs, muscles and tissue receive the nutrients and oxygen they need to stay healthy. One of the biggest benefits of regular exercise is boosting your blood flow. However, there’s also a beneficial type of training that does the opposite, called blood flow restriction training.

Blood flow restriction training can help you recover from an injury while also gaining muscle strength. Read on to learn about the basics of this training approach.

The definition of blood flow restriction training

Blood flow restriction training, sometimes known as occlusion training, means that you’re essentially reducing the amount of blood that’s reaching an area while exercising. It usually involves wrapping a tourniquet or cuff around a limb during low-intensity, strength or weight training as a way to help build muscle mass. 

Blood flow restriction training is an accessible type of training for people of any fitness level who are looking to increase their muscle strength. However, it’s most often used to help people who are going through rehabilitation following an injury or surgery. It may be included in the physical therapy treatment plans for people who have:

• Arthritis
• Anterior cruciate ligament injury
• Rotator cuff injury 
• Hip or knee replacement

Be sure that you’re performing blood flow restriction training in a safe and effective way under the supervision of a physical therapist.

How blood flow restriction training helps to increase muscle strength 

Now that we’ve talked about what blood flow restriction training is and who it can help, it’s time to explore how it actually works to get you the results that you’re working toward.

Blood flow restriction training uses compression during exercise to build muscle in a variety of ways, including:

• Increasing your growth hormones
• Putting mechanical tension on specific muscles
• Building up lactate for muscle growth
• Transitioning limbs into hypertrophy, which is required to grow muscle cells

It’s often used in physical therapy because it allows patients to gain muscle in a way that doesn’t put excessive stress on their joints.

At REPAIR SI, we understand the inner workings of your body and what it takes to move along the recovery process following an injury or surgical procedure. One of the many approaches that your physical therapist may use during your PT treatments is blood flow restriction training. 

Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.