What is Occlusion Training & It's Benefits

Blood flow restriction training, or BFR, is basically when you trick your body into thinking it’s operating at a higher intensity than it actually is. Using some type of tourniquet to occlude or close up a limb, you limit the amount of oxygenated blood reaching a working muscle. Fast-twitch muscle fibers, responsible for speed, power, and strength, are activated. Lactate pools in the occluded working muscle and increase your body’s protein synthesis.

So performing low-load resistance training with occluded limbs give you the same results as performing high intensity workouts with heavy weights, and while this is especially helpful for those recovering from injury, again, there’s no reason why you can’t start doing it at the gym too.

But before you rush off to the gym with occluded limbs, it’s imperative you know how to do it right.

This occlusion (blockage) of the vein increases your blood’s lactate concentration. You can work out at a lower intensity while giving the feeling of a much harder workout.

When your brain thinks your body is experiencing a difficult physical challenge, it signals the pituitary gland to release more growth hormones and hormones that respond to muscle growth, or hypertrophy.