INJURY & REHAB
BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION
TRAINING
Why would you choose to restrict blood flow and lift lighter weights when training – and how does it relate to rehabilitation from injury ? Tony Boutagy investigates .
S everal years ago I was being given a guided tour
through the sports science and training facility of a top international Olympic training centre . After seeing the muscle testing labs and heat chambers , we made our way down to the bottom floor , where the gym was located . We passed a sprinter doing multiple box jumps and a weightlifter performing front squats before arriving at a woman lifting what appeared to be a light load ( by Olympic standards ) on a trap bar deadlift . I was wondering why she had not just one but three spotters . I didn ’ t need to wait long . After the last repetition she just stood there holding the bar , clearly in discomfort and then her legs started to shake uncontrollably . Within seconds , she sat down ‘ forcefully ’ and two of the spotters removed occlusion straps that were wrapped around her upper thighs . The other spotter was there to ensure she didn ’ t fall over !
This was my introduction to blood flow restriction ( BFR ) training , used in a range of settings , from athletic conditioning and muscle building to rehabilitation . But where did the idea of tying a strap around a limb to reduce blood flow to an exercising muscle originate ?
The origins of blood flow restriction training
As a training concept , blood flow restriction can be traced to 1966 Japan , when 18-year-old Yoshiaki Sato noticed that the numbness in his legs caused by sitting in an awkward posture during a prolonged Buddhist ceremony was not dissimilar to the sensation he experienced when he lifted weights . This muscular ache , he realised , was due to the occlusion of blood circulation .
Over the next several years , Sato experimented on himself using bicycle tubes , ropes and straps , and developed the
10 | NETWORK SUMMER 2017