Aloha my friends!
Training while using professional-grade Blood Flow Restriction (aka occlusion) cuffs provides a HUGE variety of benefits.
The one that people will be most familiar with though is that it allows you to use really light weight, but trigger the same (or greater) strength and size gains and fat burn that you’d achieve if you had been lifting extremely heavy weight!
Nobody knows exactly all the biological mechanisms that make these rule-breaking, mechanical steroid-like effects happen (although I’ve been preparing a YouTube video for a while where I’ll explain everything we DO know about how it works).
However, ONE of the ways we do know that BFR achieves these incredible results is through it’s staggering effects on anabolic hormone enhancement! (“Anabolic” hormones are the molecules in our body that are responsible for triggering muscle growth, fat loss, metabolism, etc.)
Growth Hormone (HGH)
Studies show that adding high-pressure BFR (80% of systolic blood pressure) to light resistance training will increase growth hormone levels by up to 28,900%!!!! That’s not a typo. 28,900%. That’s a larger boost than ANYTHING else, by far. Trust me, I’ve done exhaustive research on natural anabolic hormone boosting. And in that study the participants were only lifting with 20% of their one rep max!
It’s even a larger boost than INJECTING ACTUAL HGH will provide! Unless you’re taking absurd doses. Although the BFR boost is more temporary (typically lasting a few hours).
One reason it’s such a huge boost is that BFR is one of the very few things that increases both the SIZE and QUANTITY of growth hormone pulses from the anterior pituitary. (Most things only increase pulse size.) Something I’ll go over in detail in my upcoming YouTube video.
Note: Growth hormone is the most volatile of the anabolic hormones, meaning it can naturally swing by huge percentages that aren’t possible with the other hormones without causing any negative effects (as long as it’s temporary)
Testosterone
Adding BFR can increase the natural testosterone boost that resistance training provides by an average of 733%!! (That study had the BFR cuffs set to 70% of the participants systolic blood pressures, and used 30% of their 1 rep max for each lift.)
And it remains elevated for a longer time than growth hormone – taking longer than a full day to drop back down to baseline.
IGF-1
I call IGF-1 (Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1) the “hypertrophy hormone” because of all of them it’s the best at increasing muscle size.
Adding high-pressure BFR can increase the natural IGF-1 boost that resistance training provides by an average of 550%!! Like growth hormone it returns to baseline relatively quickly (within an hour).
Thyroid Hormone (T3)
Thyroid hormone (specifically T3) is primarily responsible for setting the metabolic rate of all the cells in our body. It is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT HORMONE for fat loss, and even more essential for keeping fat off!
It’s not as easily or significantly boosted as the others. In fact, adding BFR is the ONLY thing that studies have shown can increase the natural ~20% thyroid hormone boost that resistance training triggers… and it does so by adding an additional 10% boost (a 50% increase), which returns to baseline within about 30 minutes of finishing the workout.
Application: DRASTICALLY increase the anabolic hormone boost you get from your workouts (and the resulting strength and size gains and fat loss) by adding professional-grade BLOOD FLOW RESTRICTION to your training!
Relevant Previous FTF Tips (for All-Access Members):
1) Week 50 | How to Naturally Increase Testosterone Levels (in Men)!
2) Week 112 | Workout Timing: Is Morning or Evening Better??
Relevant Research Article(s):
3) Effect of restricted blood flow on exercise-induced hormone changes in healthy men
Relevant Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):
1) (Clip starting at 6:17) “Biceps Curls” AREN’T Effective! DO THIS INSTEAD & Boost Bicep Growth By 200% (Proven in EMG Study)
Relevant Dr. Gains Product(s):
Dr. Gains 
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