BEST FOR: Building muscle bulk and enhancing muscle tone

USES: Can be worn for any exercise, but are most useful with weight training

SIZE RANGE: One size

PRICE: $430

MATERIAL: Synthetics

ABOUT THE BRAND: B Strong was founded by an MD, with the goal of bringing an Olympic athlete training method to home exercisers. Though priced at several hundred dollars, B Strong is one of the least expensive options for inflatable blood flow restriction bands. They have conducted two peer-reviewed studies on their product's effectiveness.

What Are B Strong Bands?

These don't look like your typical workout equipment! B Strong bands are inflatable bands with velcro closures that you wrap around your upper arms and legs. The velcro closure is adjustable, so that you get the tightness needed for your size.

The bands function off the premise of blood flow restriction training. That's a practice in which, by limiting the amount of blood flow to a body part, you trick your muscles into thinking they are exhausted much more quickly than they actually are. In turn, your muscles are put into hypertrophy (AKA growth) with less work. BFR training involves wearing the bands while performing exercises for a duration of time. B Strong bands can be used for both muscle bulking and muscle toning.

Asked how these came about, Dr. Jim Stray-Gundersen told me: "I saw the tremendous benefits, BFR had on the Olympians I train and the normal populations I worked with on a daily basis.  My partner and I wanted all populations, at all levels of fitness to read those benefits and developed B Strong BFR Bands in response to the many problems with other BFR bands that came before us." 

How To Use B Strong Bands

To wear these bands, you first inflate them to a pressure that is appropriate for your size. To find this number, you enter your physical information into their website, and it calculates a pressure number for you to start at. You then use the pump to inflate the bands. Then, you fasten the bands onto your limbs and exercise. The site also offers visual guidance for wear to place them, and sample workouts you can do to help you understand how to use the bands most effectively.

Just like normal weight training, for muscle toning you'll focus on smaller weights, and for muscle growth you'll focus on larger ones. Even if your goal is muscle growth, though, you'll use lower weights than one would normally choose for bulking, and for more repetitions than is standard. By improving your metabolic response, you get more benefits from the smaller weights than you would from larger ones. The usage of lighter weights no matter what your fitness goals reduces your risk of injury, and puts less wear and tear on your muscles. Because of that, these can be worn by people who are recovering from injuries, or are beginners with weights.

The guide that comes with the bands has suggestions for how to alter the pressure after your first session. That's based on how fatigued your muscles became with your first workout. The bands deflate a bit from sitting, so you should plan to re-pump them at least a little bit each time you use them. Because the pump and bands are both housed in the carrying case, this isn't an inconvenience.

One study about the effectiveness of the bands concluded, "BFR resulted in similar muscular performance (strength and endurance) and vascular improvements at a lower exercise intensity, suggesting BFR is an effective alternative to high load resistance training."

The Design: Simple And Straightforward

These bands are fairly small and unobtrusive, so they don't get in the way while you're exercising. To pump them, you just snap the hose into a nozzle on the band, then release it once pumped. To wear them, you tighten them as much as needed so that they fit snugly in your upper arms and/or legs.

One thing of note is that while the design is adjustable, the idea of "one size fits all" is fairly limited. I have definitely grown larger arms in my time spent working out than I had prior, and I still have to place these as tight as they can go with all velcro touching. If I were any smaller, the velcro would be overlapping, and less secure. Bc I'm not the smallest person I know, this is concerning. And on the other hand, there is only so large one's arms or legs could be to still have enough velcro overlap to be secure, as well.

The Feel: Mostly Comfortable

When wearing these bands, everything feels a little bit strange. While they're pretty comfortable overall, you're literally cutting off a bit of circulation to your body parts, and that feels strange. It's good to try these for short periods of time to get used to that feeling. Despite knowing they're safe, the first times I used them I worried I was doing damage by cutting off my circulation too much, because they felt so weird. Once I got used to them, this stopped being an issue, but it's still best to start slow, especially if you're someone who is hyper-aware of your body and gets discomfited by unusual sensations.