Blood Flow Restriction Training in Rehabilitation: A Useful Adjunct or Lucy's Latest Trick?

Abstract

New approaches that promise more for less rarely pan out despite the hopes of physical therapists. In this Viewpoint, the author discusses blood flow restriction training, an intervention claiming that some low-intensity exercise performed while wearing a blood pressure cuff will result in strength gains, improved performance, shorter postexercise recovery, and pain reduction. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2019;49(5):294-298. doi:10.2519/jospt.2019.0608.

Keywords: blood flow restriction training; exercise; hypertrophy.