Blood Flow Restriction and Muscle Growth

Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) is an expanding rehabilitation modality that uses a tourniquet to reduce arterial inflow and occlude venous outflow in the setting of resistance training or exercise.Using blood flow restriction often feels like performing a very strenuous workout. As the cuff inflates you will naturally feel some pressure at the site. Below the cuff you may find that your skin turns a bit reddish, even a little purple and your veins may pop out a bit more too: don’t worry, this is totally normal.
Blood flow restriction training, however, is a legitimate, science-based way to squeeze more muscle growth out of your training. By itself, it can produce similar results to traditional strength training, and when combined with it, the overall results are magnified.
Overall, BFR is safe for most people, but comes with some risk, especially in individuals with certain medical conditions. Can increase muscle strength and hypertrophy at lower training intensities. Prevents muscle loss in individuals who are injured or recovering from surgery.Adverse side effects are rare. The most common effects after this training is some residual swelling, a fatigued muscle and body and some mild soreness. These effects are transient and usually resolve in 24 hours.
The main reason many athletes use BFR training is to spur on muscle growth. Research suggests that BFR can significantly increase muscle size compared to traditional resistance training.