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More BFR Lovin': Can the Cortisol + GH Response to Blood Flow Restriction Explain the Strength Gains We're Seeing?

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"Cuffed up and ready to grow"? Yes, but STRONGER, but not necessarily bigger - that's at least what the latest research seems to suggest. Research that's bringing us back to the influence of exercise induced changes in growth hormone, cortisol and co, we all love so much ;-) If you've read my article "Strength ⇧ | Size ⇩ - That's the Result of 7 Weeks With Three Additional Sets of Blood Flow Restricted High Rep + Low Intensity Squats & Bench Presses in Well-Trained Athletes" ( read more ), you will be aware that the previously reported strength increases in response to the addition of 3 sets of blood flow restricted high rep, low intensity work are dearly bought. The price you'll have to pay for theses strength increases is a reduced increase in muscle size that's particularly pronounced for the pectoralis major (the large chest muscle), where doing those three extra-sets leads - irrespective of whether you're "all cuffed ...
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Strength ⇧ | Size ⇩ - After 7 Weeks With Three Additional Sets of Blood Flow Restricted High Rep + Low Intensity Squats & Bench Presses in Well-Trained Athletes

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Strength and size don't always go hand in hand... and BFR training appears to be better suited for strength than size gains. "A Seven-week Practical Blood Flow Restriction Program on Well-trained Collegiate Athletes", this does not just sound awesome, this is awesome, because it is the title of a soon-to-be-published paper in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research . Conducted by researchers from the Emporia University and the University of Kansas , the corresponding seven week trial that involved 62 participants is yet not the first study to examine the effects of blood flow restriction (BFR) used in conjunction with a traditional weight training program on measures of muscular strength and size in athletes (collegiate American football players). The protocol used in this investigation was modeled after a practical BFR study conducted by Yamanaka et al. (2002) - a 4-week study with 32, instead of 62 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA fo...
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Blood Flow Restricted Biceps Growth in Trained Individuals: 4-7% Increase in Sleeve Size in 4 Weeks. Is BFR More Than Just an Alternative for the Injured / Handicapped Athlete?

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If the litmus test goes well, I would assume that you will soon see more guys training "strapped up like this" at the gym. Yes, I am guilty - guilty of complaining about the subject selection in previous studies from the University of Tampa and other institutions, where scientists conducting research on the effects of blood flow restriction on the (resistance) training induced muscular adaptions. MRI-measured thigh muscle cross-sectional area and muscle volume increases of 4–7%, and a 8-10% increase in one repetition max and maximum isometric quadriceps strength as Takashe Abe et al. report in their 2006 paper are unquestionably impressive (Able. 2006). If you asked me, they are even too impressive - too impressive to assume that you would see similar gains from walking on a treadmill in trained individuals. Is this the litmus test for blood flow restriction? In view of the impressive results in untrained and older individuals, a study with 20 ...
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Exercise Science - True of False? Large Muscles First for Growth? Cooling Works Before & After Workouts? Senior Olympians Have Healthy Bones? Hypoxia + HIT = WIN?

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I know it's difficult to resist guys, but first things first: Study confirms, you better train the large muscle groups of the upper body first, before you go progress to what many of you probably love the most... no, not what you think now, I am talking about training arms ;-) I know that you probably think that I had forgotten about the exercise science quickie I announced in Saturday's installment of On Short Notice . Today's SuppVersity article is written proof that this is not the case. With topics that range from the redundancy of hypoxia training and intense workouts and the beneficial effects of training the large muscle groups first in your workout to the usefulness of the internal and external application of cold water and other stuff before and after workouts to elicit performance gains and speed up recovery and the unique benefits only heavy resistance training has to offer to elderly bones, I'd hope that everybody will find at least one item he / she is ...
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Light Weights, Low Oxygen: Hypoxia & Vascular Occlusion Training Yield Similar Increases in Neuromuscular Activation & Maximal Voluntary Force Generation in Female Athletes

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The left part of the image shows what scientifically proven hypoxic training looks like. You wear a mask with an exogenous supply of low oxygen air. The right part of the image shows you what the fitness industry will try to sell you as "hypoxic training". That being said, did you know that at least the left version could also help you shed 11%% of your body fat in three weeks ( learn more )? Based on the feedback I got on the mini-summary of the latest review on "Kaatsu" aka blood flow restricted training I posted as part of last Monday's Exercise Science Round Up , I gather that many of you will be interested to hear about the results of a pertinent experiment that has been conducted only recently at the Lincoln University in Christchurch; New Zealand (Manimmanakorn. 2013). To elicit, whether a combination of resistance training and vascular occlusion would modify the patterns of muscle activation, the development of muscle strength and hypertrophy, and...
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Blood Flow Restriction, Where Are We? "Don't Hold Your Breath", the Valsalva Maneuver Revisited. Ageless Growth, It's Never Too Late to Start. Plus: EMS as Recovery Tool & HIIT to Heal a Scarred Heart After Myocardial Infarctions

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I guess it is a cultural thing that there is apparently a lot more of persuading to be done in the US and Europe to familiarize trainees with (a) the idea of limiting the blood supply to their musculature and (b) the notion that heavy weights are not all that counts. After the huge success of the SuppVersity Exercise Science Week ( read all posts ), I did actually intend to put a greater emphasis on training related news in the future. Unfortunately, the number of pertinent papers that don't look at the benefits obese post-menopausal women can derive from walking on a treadmill in the fat burning zone is very limited (Please don't misunderstand this as an offense against the obese women. I anything it's meant as an offense against "experts" still advising those women to do just that). If you look closely enough, there are still a couple of newsworthy papers that have been published within the last weeks... and let's be honest, in the end it does not reall...
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Chicken Legs No More! Building Big Wheels By Walking on the Treadmill: Blood Flow-Restriction Does the Trick!

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Image 1:  One thing is certain, the squat, the "King of all Exercises" will never become obsolete. (image by verkinetic @Wikipedia) You have chicken legs, but are too lazy to squat? Well, I guess in this case you will be interested in the results of a recent study by Sakamaki et al. ( Sakamaki. 2011 ) who found that blood flow-restriction is all it takes to induce legs and trunk muscle hypertrophy by just walking the treadmill. For their study, which was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine the Mikako Sakamaki from the University of Tokyo and his colleagues from the University of Oklahama had 17 "healthy young" men [21.2 (±1.9) years, 1.74 (±0.07) m, and 65.8 (±9.6) kg] participate in 3 weeks of supervised walk training. Following a warm-up, the subjects performedwalking ( 50 m/minute for five 2-minute bouts, with a 1-minute rest between bouts ) on a motor-driven treadmill. The walking speed and duration remained cons...
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