BStrong BFR does not elicit exaggerated blood pressure responses to exercise as seen with a wide-rigid cuff.

 

Stray-Gundersen et al. 2020

• This study compared the acute cardiovascular responses to two distinct forms of BFR training during light-intensity walking exercise.

• 15 young adults performed 5 bouts of 2-minute walking intervals at 3mph with a 1-minute rest and deflation period between bouts with either wide-rigid (WR)(triangles), narrow-elastic (NE)(squares), or no bands (circles) placed on both upper thighs.

• Cuff pressure was inflated to 160 mmHg in WR cuffs and 300 mmHg in NE bands while no cuffs were used for the control.

• Beat-by-beat blood pressure and heart rate were measured continuously.

• The results revealed a significant difference in blood pressure responses between the two forms of BFR, with substantially higher blood pressure levels in the non-BStrong group, whereas the BStrong bands did not elicit an increase in blood pressure more than normal walking.

• Use of wide-rigid BFR cuffs result in a marked increases in blood pressure compared with BStrong bands.

• Take-away: BStrong is an extremely safe method of BFR