Effective limitation of blood flow in muscles. A crazy nonsense or an effective aid for muscle and muscle growth?
Seven bodybuilding techniques, which have been in the fitness world for some Friday, we only recently discussed in more detail and then supplemented by the use of cheating (cheat repetitions). Today we will introduce a still relatively new technique called Blood Flow Restriction (hereinafter referred to as BFR), and thus purposefully restricting blood flow in the desired muscle. As with all the lesser-known and new not only in the strengthening world, two extreme camps were immediately formed, with one group without any knowledge immediately starting to blindly execute the BFR, and on the other hand incredulous people who consider this method a first-rate stupidity . Since the whole issue was of interest to us and, frankly, to a large extent, we have a comprehensive article on whether this strange method is just a dangerous madness or has a serious use.
Who invented it and what is it about?
The “father” of BFR training (also known as Occlusion Training) is Jeremy Loenneke, who also dealt with his PhD work on this topic. It was not the one who invented the BFR, but the one who studied and worked on BFR. It is not a method that it is trying to sell, it simply started to solve it in detail and examined every study that has ever dealt with this technique.
Basically, it is the use of a bandage or elastic rubber or something similar to prevent blood flow in the hands or feet. Care should be taken that blood pressure in the veins (which will prevent the flow of blood in the limb) should be considerably lower than the blood pressure in the arteries (which will lead the blood to the limb), so you simply apply a bandage to keep the blood flowing as little as possible, but at the same time to get inside. Warning! The point is not to completely block the flow of blood to the limb, by no means!
Now if you ask yourself why you should do it at all and look like Rambo with bandaged bikes, the answer is simple. Improved muscle growth with lighter weights. The reason for this type of training is also the increased metabolite formation. With limited blood flow, metabolites (such as lactate, inorganic fasphate) accumulate and thus have a greater effect on muscle formation. However, the available data speaks more about "Swelling" of cells, which we will discuss more in the article later. However, the whole mechanism and functioning of BFR is much more complicated, but in combination with strength training, BFR seems to be an extremely helpful technique for even better stimulation of muscle growth. Win, or? With greater muscle damage with BFR training, you only need ∼ 20 - 50% of your maximum. All the other benefits are mentioned in the lines below, but it is already clear to everyone what the greatest asset of this technique is. You exercise with lighter weights that also save your joints, while maintaining a set progress that you would otherwise achieve only by using "heavier weights."
Effect of BFR training on strength increase and hypertrophy (muscle formation)
From the beginning, we recall that, according to research, BFR training with lighter weights appears to be similar in terms of strength and hypertrophy to classical strength training. We have a confidence interval of 0.35 for hypertrophy and 0.8 for strength in strength training and 0.39 for hypertrophy and 0.58 for strength in BFR training. But beware! BFR training was performed only as uphill walking on the belt. The fact that we have approximately the same muscle growth when using BFR with lighter weights as well as in weight training is not such a miracle, because we have long known that many heavy series / repetitions are the main engine of hypertrophy. An interesting fact, however, is that when using BFR training with lighter weights, we have the same increase in strength as in heavy weight training.
You're right, the study where the treadmill was an exercise was a little off and uninteresting. Therefore, we will look at further research to address the increase in strength and muscle in the most important muscle - biceps! There were 20 to 24-year-old men who had spent at least a year in the gym (to avoid "noob gains" in body mass). Two groups were created where the first group practiced biceps using BFR training (3 series) , 30 reps with 30% 1RM), the following month they performed 3 sets of 15 reps with 60% of their 1RM.
The second group did the same, only in reverse order, ie first heavy and then light weights with the help of BFR training. Both groups experienced an identical increase in biceps muscle mass at month 1 as well as at month 2, and an identical increase in muscle mass after the study.
There are of course more studies, for example here, here and here. In short, they dealt with athletes (American football as well as rugby) and again the increase in strength and muscle was measured using lighter weights and with the help of BFR training. However, the third study was even more interesting in that the substance was applied to the legs, but an increase in strength and muscle was also observed in the muscles of the upper body, although on the other hand heavier weights (up to 70% 1RM) were used - interesting observation.
Does such training have other advantages?
He seems to have. Although, the potential increase in strength and muscle seems to be a sufficient reason to try. Namely, applying BFR training without a force load promotes regeneration, and also speeds up preparation for the next exercise, where only 2 sets of 3 minutes are sufficient immediately after the exercise. To make matters worse, it reduces muscle atrophy (muscle wasting) in a wounded muscle while also contributing to an earlier recovery of strength after a long break from exercise.
How does it all work? BFR training is based on six basic mechanisms
1. Metabolic stress - in addition to muscle tension and muscle damage, metabolic stress is also identified as a major mechanism for the formation of hypertrophy. Its role is to signal the muscle to grow. The use of BFR training and constant retention of the substance we use to stop blood flow, on muscle and between sets, has the same level of metabolic stress as training with 65% of its 1RM (maximum weight per repetition) without using BFR.
2. Engaging Motor Units - Studies (here, here and here) have shown that light weight training also fails, does not involve as many motor units as we do in strength training, using higher percentages of our 1RM. However, this does not apply to the use of BFR training, when with a lighter weight we engage approximately the same number of motor units as with a larger weight. This is considered to be one of the biggest advantages of BFR training.
3. Cellular Swelling - similar to metabolic stress, muscle cell swelling has been shown to cause hypertrophy. In the BFR training, an increase of 11.5-12% of the cells in the muscle was measured immediately after completion.
4. Increased gene expression and improved muscle signaling pathways - in simple terms, signaling pathways (mTOR) and genes (myostatin), which are key to hypertrophy, are more affected by lightweight BFR training than without BFR training. Specific investigations from 2007, 2010 and 2012.
5. Creation of satellite cells and addition of myonuclei. Muscles grow until they reach the limit of myonuclea. The addition of new myonuclei to satellite cells is critical to muscle growth. Incorporating BFR training is the possibility to increase the number of these myonuclei, when again you just need a lighter weight.
6. Growth Hormone Release - Using BFR training with less weight to failure caused growth hormone up to 4x more than training with the same weights, but without limiting blood flow.
Application in practice
# Use any fabric, bandage, elastic rubber, bandage (the narrower the better).
# Be careful - the substance should not completely block the blood flow!
# Always wrap it at the end of the muscle (lower limbs = around the groin, upper limbs = just below the shoulder)
# On a bandage strength scale of 1 - 10 (where 10 is the strongest you know), wrap it around 7 - 8.
# Take a lighter weight, approximately 20 - 50% of your maximum per repetition.
# Perform 3 sets of 20-30 reps with 30 seconds of rest.
# Just get ready for an incredible pump. Attention, it's not just about her. The effect of BFR training is not short-lived.
Interesting, what do you say? As we mentioned in the introduction, we were also interested in this issue, which has been solved abroad for some Friday. It is gaining in popularity and according to research to date, BFR training seems to be a very, but very good tool on the way to bigger muscles. Negatives do not occur, only the recommendation not to apply BFR training if someone has problems with blood pressure. Otherwise, the method is safe and the data does not suggest otherwise. Either way, you don't have to use this method. No way. Continue to lift heavy weights, progressively increase the load and stick to your training plan. You don't have to change anything in your old plan, just add a few reps with limited blood flow in the muscle or the whole exercise, maybe two. As we have already found out, BFR training is very easy to regenerate and is not so demanding for your body. Use this technique as a tool from a box full of tools available to you. It seems that we will hear a lot about BFR and the benefits that have been shown so far are worth it! But remember, the basics and consistency is always, we repeat, always in the first place.
Žiadne komentáre:
Zverejnenie komentára