BFR has been around for around 40 years, originating in Japan, known as Kaatsu
BFR sounds a bit scary but essentially it restricts ( not totally cutting it off ) the flow of blood from the veins , away from the muscle but allowing blood into the muscle via the artery. In the old days, they wrapped cloth or velcro straps around the limbs , guessing how tight they should be. Now
AirBands take all the guesswork out of that. It makes BFR working out very safe and very efficient. It produces an amazing pump and burn with little stress on the joints or tendons.
When low weight resistance is undertaken with
AirBands , it causes pooling of blood in the muscle, starving the muscle of oxygen and causes a superb pump and burn due to lactic acid and other metabolites causing stress in the muscle . Slow twitch muscle fibre runs out of oxygen and that encourages recruitment of fast twitch muscle fibre ( which does not need oxygen ) . That ultimately produces an increase in strength, performance and increase in muscle tissue.
And all this happens using very low weights or resistance ( around 25% of your usual 1 rep max weight in conventional training ) compared to 70% in conventional training. The average total workout session is only about 20 mins. No need to train any longer than that with Airbands attached.
When the
AirBands are removed and blood flow is restored round the body , it causes a multitude of other physiological benefits to other tissues, not just the arms.
AirBands are not just for biceps, you can have an exercise routine for the whole upperbody. Compound routines for Chest and Shoulder and isolation lifts for Tricep and Bicep, exactly the same as your conventional weights programme
BUT without the stress on your elbow or shoulder joints/tendons or knees and ankles. What you will get is a
fantastic BURN. And, you only need to exercise the muscle group once, multiple variations are of no benefit.There are
AirBands for Upper limb and Lower limb. For a workout , do a conventional warm up/ stretch routine, just slip on the
AirBands on to your arms or legs , auto inflate from the
App and your good to start your workout.
If your 1 repetition maximum is 20kgs, then 25% of that is 5 kgs. That`s all you need , a pair of 5 kg dumbbells. There are also routines for rubber resistance bands or using your body weight. If you are a beginner, start low with 1 kg and work your way up as your strength improves. The theory of progressive overload is still in play here. ( which means - try to train to a number of repetitions on the first set of between 27 and 33 and when you feel you have just got 2 left in reserve before failure, stop with that 2 left in reserve)
In other words, if you can do 30 reps and feel you could still do another 10, your weights are too low , so increase the weight a little. Conversely, if you get to 15 reps on the first set and you cant do anymore, your weights are too heavy, so choke back to a lighter weight. The first set of repetitions is always a Target of 30 reps then 15, then 15, then 15 , a total of 75 repetitions for that routine.
Sample AirBand Upper body workout: First, warm up and stretch without the AirBands, then fit them on and auto inflate.
Arm Curls for biceps: Perform 30 reps , then 30 seconds rest, do 15 reps, then 30 seconds rest, do 15 reps, then 30 seconds rest, do 15 reps.
PressUps for Chest , Triceps and Shoulders : as above : 30 + 15 + 15 + 15 with 30 seconds rest in between.
Bent over Rows for Back muscle groups: as above : 30 + 15 + 15 + 15 with 30 seconds rest in between.
That`s it, in just 20 minutes. Remove the AirBands, and then of course, stretch and cool down. Fresh blood pumps into the muscles and does its stuff.
3 or 4 workouts, 20 minutes each a week to start with. More workout samples to follow.
Disclaimer/Safety. The App has a Health Screening process when you first register, similar to when you first join a health club or gym. Complete the screening tool in the AirBands App prior to commencing BFR training.