The average person starts losing muscle starting around 40 years old-its a condition called sarcopenia or age related muscle loss. It is responsible for most falls, loss of independence and ultimately a retirement not spent fulfilling your life’s dreams. It has a role in diabetes, heart disease, and joint pain. This keeps grandparents from being able to play with the grandkids, enjoying an afternoon of pickleball, or their dream vacation. But there is a new therapy that is a safe natural way to not only prevent muscle loss but also put size back on your bi’s, lift your butt, and shrink your gut all while helping you retire more able, strong, and independent. That way is called BFR training and it helps reverse age-related muscle loss, osteoporosis, and is perfect for people who deal with joint pain when they try to lift weights, walk, or just do everyday activities.
How does sarcopenia or age-related muscle loss affect quality of life?
One of the biggest predictors of you suffering a fall is the amount you can pick up off the floor. This requires the parts of your muscles that produce power. When we are not using our muscles enough, our body produces hormones like myostatin that then causes wasting of your muscles. With sarcopenia, those power portions of the muscle are replaced with scar tissue(fibrosis) which then stimulates more myostatin and therefore more wasting. This not only makes it more likely that you will have a fall but also makes everyday things like getting up from the sofa, going up a flight of stairs, or getting off the floor not only difficult but sometimes feel impossible. BFR works even if you have difficulty doing those things because it doesn’t require heavy lifting in order to rebuild muscle.
So, what exactly is BFR and how does it work?
While BFR has 20+ years of research, it is really closer to about 50 years old, originally called Kaatsu training, it originally started with straps that weight-lifters would tighten around their arms or thighs to restrict blood flow and basically get to that burn that people who exercise feel when they push hard. With these bands in place, they were able to get muscle strength and growth at much lower weights. What they wouldn’t know is just how tight is too tight. In order for BFR to be safe, we need to personalize it and find the exact right pressure for you to work at. Fast forward to 2024, and our BFR trained therapists at Body Mechanix Physiotherapy use personalized BFR to safely halt age-related muscle loss, bone loss and the loss of independence that comes from them all the while boosting HGH or growth hormone and testosterone.
So, how do we actually find what the right pressure is for you?
It starts with a full health history with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy to make sure that it is not only safe but the right treatment for you. Next, your Physio will use a doppler ultrasound to determine the right pressure for our pneumatic surgical grade BFR cuffs.
Now for the cool part. Normally, in order to grow muscle, you need to lift at 65-80% of your 1 Rep Max(or how much you can pick up 1 time). Now, if you suffer from joint pain or even just everyday aches and pains this would only flare your injury. With BFR, we can now work at 20-35% of that 1 rep max which greatly reduces stress to your joints or strained muscles. Now, exercises that were not normally challenging before your injury feel like a high intensity workout.
How does it work?
In order to grow muscle, you need to get that muscle to fatigue, normally with heavy weight. The “burn” you get in the muscle is a chemical called Lactate(some people call it lactic acid). That chemical then triggers other chemicals in your body like growth hormone(HGH) and IGF to start to strengthen and grow the muscle. With BFR, because we’re limiting the muscles ability to get rid of lactate, it builds and builds so that signal is really strong to the rest of your body and we’re doing it with light loads which is ideal for people whose joints are inflamed and achy.
The next big question is usually about safety?
At Body Mechanix, our therapists are specifically trained in BFR safety and use clinical guidelines to determine if using BFR is safe or not for you. Our therapists take a very thorough health history including your current vitals to determine if it is both safe and right for you. Generally speaking, if you have a history of blood clots, have super high blood pressure, or have heart rhythm issues, we generally will not use BFR. Next, we personalize your therapy using a cardiac ultrasound to determine the exact right pressure for the cuffs.
What about blood clots
Interestingly enough, when they test the blood of people who’ve done BFR, they find that the body produces several chemicals, specifically TPA which is a clot buster and prevents clots from forming.
What if I can’t put weight through a joint
Are you non-weight bearing or partial-weight bearing after your surgery or are in an immobilizer. BFR can help and is used successfully days after the surgery to stop muscle loss and stimulate muscle growth. This way, the more muscle you have when you are allowed to bear weight the better base you have to start from.
Wanting to learn if BFR is right for you? Confused about where to start? Schedule your free BFR consult and see if it is right for you. Need help now? Come by and talk with one of our Doctors of Physical Therapy at no charge. We offer FREE consultations, which give you the opportunity to come in and meet us and see for yourself how we can help you.
Here are just a few of the things you will learn in one of our free consultation:
Is BFR therapy right for you?
Roughly, how long will it take to fix the problem?
What to do to help – which doesn’t include painkillers, resting or surgery etc.
What other, natural, drug free methods are there to speed up recovery alongside treatment?
Our consultations are great for anyone that may be “unsure” if physio is right for them, and they give you the opportunity to ask questions and see for yourself if we can help you.
If you’d like one of our limited free consultation sessions, please click here to schedule your free consultation or CALL us on 850-765-2779 to make a no-obligation enquiry.
About the author
Dr. Brandon is the owner and a Physio at Body Mechanix Physiotherapy and Fitness. Four of his favorite people call him daddy while he's been married to his other favorite person for 21 years. He enjoys teaching martial arts and is a Mestrando in Capoeira while in the mornings, he can be found working out with the guys in F3 around town. He's the author of 4 pain relief guides for sciatica, low back, shoulder, and knees and the lead contributor to the Active Tallahassee Blog.
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