Blood is the most ubiquitous fluid in the body. We know we need it; it’s better in than out, and its red because of the mix of iron and oxygen it carries around. Blood is also the way your body parts get their fuel (Sugars and fats). Blood also carries waste and ferries your immune cells about. Blood does several important things beyond this and the potential to do significantly more if you can channel it the right way. That way is using blood flow restriction (BFR).
Now I know this seems counterintuitive; blood is super important, why are we restricting it? When much like society as a whole or even a single individual, our greatest growth often comes with our greatest challenges. If we put stress on the vascular system in the right way we can coax it to grow and evolve in a way that improves health and fitness in multiple ways.
First a bit of a primer on the vascular/ circulatory system. It all starts with the heart and lungs. The heart pumps freshly oxygenated blood that it got from the lungs into the arteries, and off to where it is needed. In these locations it enters into capillary beds. Think of this as a sort of mesh-like web. After delivering the oxygen and whatever else was needed and picking up waste the blood, at a significantly lower pressure it goes into the venous side of the capillary beds. From there it dumps into the veins and begins to make its way back to the lungs via the veins to start the process again.
The magic of BFR happens at the level of the capillary beds. By restricting the amount of blood that is returned relative to the amount that is pumped in we create a controlled vascular insufficiency. If the body detects this insufficiency it responds by increasing the size of these capillary beds. Bigger beds require more space which means bigger muscles, and bigger muscles are stronger muscles!
Beyond those physical changes the low oxygen levels that happen when the venous return is low forces the body to at least partially switch over to anerobic metabolism instead of just the aerobic metabolism pathway. Aerobic is glucose and oxygen burning to make ATP, Anerobic is glucose and glycogen burning and letting off lactic acid as a byproduct. Lactic acid is what builds up and contributes to feeling gassed, and cramping. By pushing these bounds, you can improve your body’s efficiency with managing lactic acid. This is how you advance your sprint speed, jump height or distance, and improve your maximal weightlifts.
BFR is a very powerful and useful tool to everyone, from someone who is recovering from surgery or immobilization to an athlete trying to get stronger mid-season or reach a new lifting plateau. Come see us at Invoke Therapy and Wellness, see how BFR can be included in your healing or performance program. With other powerful tools like dry needling, advanced dynamometry, and advanced manual therapy techniques, a multi-leveled approach makes your goals becoming a reality far more likely.
