If you’ve ever been frustrated that you can’t strength train the way that you normally would due injury, aches, and pains, there’s actually a great tool we use that can help. Blood flow restriction training (BFR) lets us give you a tough workout without risking further injury. We will go into describing how it works, what the benefits of it are, and how we use it in a Colorado Springs based physical therapy clinic!
BFR places a cuff that cuts down blood flow into the wearer’s arms or legs. The cuff works similarly to how a blood pressure cuff works in that it pumps up pressure to place compression to the area. We always place the cuff as high as we can onto a person’s leg or arm (near the hip joint or near the shoulder joint).
You can do one arm or leg at a time or both arms or legs at the same time. When it comes to blood flow restriction training, as physical therapists in Colorado Springs, we NEVER do both arms and legs at the same time. It creates a risk for building up too much pressure contained in one area.
Working Out With Blood Flow Restriction
As you complete even simple exercises with a BFR cuff pumped up, it is much more difficult to do than it would be without it. This is because we have limited the amount of oxygenated blood that is being fed to the area of the body doing the work. So now the muscles are fatiguing faster and the weight feels heavier than you could have imagined.
After the set has been completed, we release the pressure in the cuff and let all of the blood flow back into the muscles. This recovery time brings in everything that our body would normally use to recover from a heavier workout in Colorado Springs. We have increased muscle activation with the use of BFR than we otherwise could have done at this resistance level.
Working toward pain relief in active individuals in Colorado Springs.
Why Use It to Rehab Injuries
This helps because when we are injured, we don’t want to overload our body with too much resistance. Our patients at Backcountry Physical Therapy near Colorado Springs may have an acute injury that makes it tough or even dangerous to pick up heavy weight. Doing so may create further tissue damage or make the pain even worse. We might use it for runner’s knee, calf strains, biceps tendinitis, tennis elbow, hamstring injuries, or many other diagnoses.
After surgeries are some of the best applications for BFR treatment. Often there are set restrictions on how much weight can be lifted, if any can at all. Think about rotator cuff repairs, biceps repairs, ACL reconstructions, meniscus repairs, and spinal surgeries as just a few options. If we lift too much during the first few weeks, it can harm what the surgery has fixed. When using BFR, we start to get the positive effects of hypertrophy of the muscle that we desire.
That lets our patients start to develop the strength that they need at a much earlier stage post surgery in Colorado Springs, which can shave weeks off of their recovery times!
Who is Best Suited for Blood Flow Restriction Training
It’s important to note that this isn’t appropriate for everyone. There are certain risk factors that your physical therapist near Colorado Springs will screen for to make sure that this is a safe option. As a trained medical professional, we can assess those risks and discuss them with our patients to make sure we are making the right decision.
We will make that decision as a team with our patient. If it’s not the best course of action, we will move into another method of getting our desired results. If BFR does turn out to be a smart, safe course of action, then we will get our patients going through the protocol!
New Possibilities
BFR is growing in popularity throughout the fitness world. We don’t just see physical therapy clinics using it. Athletes and trainers are now using it as part of their regular strength training routines as well. When going through their training cycle, you will have people use BFR as part of their deload programming to keep building muscle in Colorado Springs while they drop down the weight for a period of time. It’s really interesting what the possibilities are when it comes to BFR!
Final thoughts
Despite how effective a tool BFR can be in helping patients recover from injury stronger and faster, we don’t see all that many clinics here around Colorado Springs and our surrounding areas actually utilizing the technology. Which is a shame! Clinics need to keep up with research and offer the best options for the people they serve.
We do have a great set of cuffs here at Backcountry Physical Therapy, which we do use on a regular basis for the right people to get back into the action sooner than they thought possible! If you want to recover from your injury stronger and faster, then please give us a call!
We proudly serve active individuals in Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Briargate, Falcon, Rockrimmon, and surrounding areas.
📞 Call us today or 📧 book your evaluation to get started with Physical Therapy near Colorado Springs: (719) 285-9670
