Sean Corcoran, outpatient physical therapy, Parkview Sports Medicine, explains the benefits of blood flow restriction and how it works.
Restricting blood flow tricks your body into thinking that it’s doing a very heavy resistance exercise when you're only moving a small amount of weight.
Watch the video: Experts in Motion: Blood flow restriction
People who would benefit from blood flow restriction (BFR) are those who are unable to do heavy resistance training due to shoulder or knee pain, knee pain, as well as post-op patients. BFR can jumpstart the healing and rehab process, without compromising the integrity of their surgical repair.
How it works
We use a machine to help calibrate how much blood flow is being restricted. Using the leg as an example, we would begin by calibrating the limb occlusion pressure in the thigh. A doppler located inside the cuff accurately calculates what is being restricted and what's not.
As the cuff tightens, we ask the individual to do an exercise, such as a leg extension. As the patient completes movements, the cuff will get tighter, which feels as though it’s getting heavier, even though they’re only lifting the equivalent of five pounds or so. The patient will tire rather quickly, which demonstrates how much the occluded blood flow can affect strength.
The ultimate goal is to phase out of this method and to do heavy resistance training without the use of BFR. It’s a great strategy for maximizing muscle strength gains while avoiding pain or recovering from surgery.
To learn more about Parkview Sports Medicine services, visit us here.
