Blood Flow Restricted (BFR) Therapy
Avanti Therapy is happy to add blood flow restricted (BFR) therapy to our treatment offerings. This is a valuable treatment option because it can interrupt a vicious cycle that can happen with injury, arthritis, or post-surgical conditions. When muscle mass is lost because of one of these conditions, it is difficult to rebuild because the injured structures don’t tolerate the lifting of weight that is heavy enough to build more muscle. The persistence of weakness will then cause a worsening of these conditions over time. BFR rehabilitation uses intermittent occlusion of blood flow while exercising. This technique allows you to exercise with significantly lighter weight while still creating an increase in muscle mass and strength. BFR training results in similar strength gains as compared to high intensity interval training (HIIT) while using significantly lighter loads.
BFR rehabilitation has been shown to have many positive effects, including the following:
· Increased muscle size and strength with less resistance, which is achieved more quickly than traditional methods.
· People experience less soreness and fatigue as compared to traditional strength training
· Increase in human growth hormone
· Proliferation of myogenic stem cells (MSC) in response to BFR – 30% increase in type I and II fibers. MSC increases 200% over a person’s baseline.
Not all BFR training methods are the same. Manual units do not adjust for the increase in pressure as a muscle is contracted and are less reliable in determining the correct occlusion pressure. We use the new Delphi II unit, state of the art equipment and the only unit on the market that quickly and accurately determines your occlusion pressure and modulates that pressure throughout your exercise program for optimal results.
For more information on the science of BFR training, read this article from Owens recovery science.
For more information, see the following articles:
BFR training : Current and Future Applications