Blood Flow Restriction and Muscles Hypertrophy

If you follow MMA, then you may have heard about @thenotoriousmma's recent injury during his last fight with Dustin Poirier. After surgery to repair his broken tibia and Fibula, Connor has begun an intensive rehabilitation program to make up for lost time.

One of the secrets to Connor recovery program success is BFR (Blood Flow Restriction), also known as occlusion training. I personally prefer this method which has been used clinically for decades and involves applying a tourniquet-like device (cuff) proximally to the torso, close to where muscles engage in exercise (RUCKLEY, 2019). This exercise/rehabilitation approach originated from Dr. Yoshiaki Sato's Kaatsu training method created back in 1966 (Jacobs, 2019).

The purpose of BFR therapy is to build muscle strength and mass with minimal resistance. A traditional hypertrophy program requires participants to perform at 75% - 85% of one repetition maximum (RM) (SMITH, 2021). After injury/surgery it's common to see some hypotrophy of muscles on the affected side and limited weight bearing on that side; using BFR we can get patients started exercising at much lighter weights (30% RM) while still getting similar results as with a regular hypertrophy program (Abbasi, 2021).

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Work Cited:

📚 Abbasi, D. D. (2021, August 23). A Surgeon Explained the Upside of Conor McGregor's Blood Flow Restriction Training. Retrieved from Mens health: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a37373217/conor-mcgregor-blood-flow-restriction-training-doctor-explains-david-abbasi/

📚 Jacobs, J. (n.d). New Treatment Trend: Blood Flow Restriction Therapy. Retrieved from BTE: https://www.btetechnologies.com/therapyspark/blood-flow-restriction-therapy/

📚 RUCKLEY, J. (n.d). WHAT HAPPENS PHYSIOLOGICALLY WHEN YOU DO BFR TRAINING? Retrieved from BFRPRO: https://bfrpro.com/blogs/news/blood-flow-restriction-bfr-training-what-is-it-where-did-it-come-from-and-how-can-i-utilize-it-in-my-training

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