Training

There has been a lot of hype around Blood Flow Restriction Training in recent years, but many people still don't know what it's all about. This comprehensive guide will introduce you to the details of this innovative training system.

Over the last two years, Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFR for short) has become increasingly popular in weight rooms around the world, but that doesn't mean it's perfectly understood by everyone. When you consider the different names (occlusion training, hypoxia training, KAATSU) by which it is known, the different styles of training (bands, cuffs and bandages) and the different goals associated with this training, the confusion seems to increase rather than decrease.

After years of researching this topic and studying it in the lab, I believe it has a lot to offer a wide range of people who want to build muscle, increase their training frequency and try something new in their workouts.

Scientists have been looking at the details of BFR training for decades, but there is also fascinating new research on the subject all the time. That's why I'm dedicating a separate guide to BFR training to answer the most common questions about this style of training. My goal is to make sure that in the future you don't have another excuse for not knowing what's going on in this exciting part of the training world.

F. What is Blood Flow Restriction training and how does it work?

BFR training involves wrapping the upper part of a leg or arm with a device such as a cuff, KAATSU bandage or even a knee bandage to restrict blood flow out of the trained muscle. During a properly performed BFR workout, blood can travel to the muscle via arterial blood flow, but because the veins are constricted by the bandage, the blood is partially prevented from leaving the muscle.

This arrangement allows the muscles to swell, which is the first mechanism of muscle growth (1). Restriction of blood flow also causes an accumulation of metabolic products such as lactic acid, which has been shown to directly stimulate muscle growth. And the direct exhaustion inflicted on the muscles forces the nervous system to recruit the largest, fast-contracting muscle fibers, which have the greatest capacity for growth (2).

Is a warm-up or warm-down necessary?

In general, a BFR workout is performed at intensities normally used for warm-up sets, which are in the range of 30 to 50% of the maximum weight for one repetition (1 RM weight). Therefore, I would only recommend a short, general warm-up of about 5 minutes duration, such as walking or light cycling, followed by 15 repetitions without bandages with the weight you are using for your first BFR set.

What should I use to wrap my limbs and how tightly should I wrap them?

Traditionally, BFR training involves the use of a special inflatable cuff known as a KAATSU cuff to restrict venous blood flow. The advantage of such a cuff is that you can precisely control the pressure and replicate it exactly during all training sessions.

Unfortunately, most exercisers do not have access to such fancy equipment, which led our lab to conduct extensive research into the practical use of BFR training. Such BFR training involves the use of an elastic bandage to restrict blood flow. In studies, we have used knee and elbow bandages, but elastic cotton bandages can also be used.

Although this is practical, one concern is that blood flow from both veins and arteries may be too restricted (3). Arteries carry blood to the muscles, while veins carry blood away from the muscles. To achieve the maximum swelling response, blood should get to the muscle and stay there.

It is important to understand this because all the potential disadvantages of BFR training come from the fact that both veins and arteries are completely tied off. In fact, there is evidence that wrapping too tightly, causing arterial occlusion, could actually reduce muscle growth in the affected area (4).

To address this issue, our lab looked at the effects of perceived pressure on blood flow during BRF exercise. We used knee bandages on the legs and used a perceived pressure of 0, 7 and 10 out of 10 in subjects, where 10 corresponds to the strongest pressure that can be achieved by the bandaging. We found that in the legs, BFR training with a perceived pressure of 7 out of 10 resulted in venous restriction but not arterial restriction. We also found that when subjects exercised at this pressure, they experienced a dramatic increase in muscle swelling, recruited more muscle, and experienced a greater amount of metabolic stress.

However, it is important to note that at a perceived pressure of 10 out of 10, both venous and arterial blood flow came to a complete stop.

Where should I bandage and how far should I bandage?

Scientific research has shown that a narrower cuff width (5 to 8 centimeters) reduces the risk of arterial occlusion compared to the use of wider cuffs (13+ centimeters). For this reason, I also recommend wrapping your arms and legs with multiple layers at the top instead of wrapping your limbs lengthwise in a spiral.

In addition, the mass of your arms and legs will also determine how tightly you should wrap them. Scientific research shows that the risk of arterial occlusion is greater with thinner limbs. For most people, I would recommend wrapping the legs with a perceived pressure of 7 out of 10 and wrapping the arms with a pressure of 6 out of 10.

Where should you wrap:

• Wrap arms and legs at the top only
• You can wrap your arms for a shoulder or chest workout and your legs for a gluteus workout. Just use common sense and keep the weights light.

Where not to wrap:

• Don't wrap your legs at knee level for your calf workout and don't wrap your arms at the elbow area for your forearm workout. In this case too, wrap your arms and legs as high up as possible.
• Do not wrap your limbs when using weights above 50% of your 1RM weight. 20 to 40% of this weight is the optimal range.

How should you wrap?

• Use a narrow bandage (5 to 9 centimeters) to minimize the risk of occlusion of the arteries.
• Use a tourniquet or elbow/knee bandages.

How not to wrap:

• Do not use wide bandages (>10 centimeters.
• Do not wrap your limbs in a spiral, which would cover a large area of the arm/leg with the bandage.

How tightly should you wrap your limbs?

• Aim for a pressure of 6 to 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.
• If in doubt, wrap your limb a little less tightly rather than too tightly. Occlusions of 40 and 80% have been shown to produce the same strength and muscle gains.
• Avoid wrapping your limbs so tightly that you feel numbness.
• Avoid wrapping your limbs so tightly that you have trouble performing more than a few repetitions. High reps (at least 15) are the norm for a BFR workout!

How heavy should I train during a BFR workout?

The primary benefit of BFR training is that you can increase your muscle mass at very low intensities. In fact, some research has shown that people who simply ran with BFR bands at low intensities were able to increase their muscle mass (5). However, we have found that resistance training results in greater muscle and strength benefits than simply walking (1).

So how hard should you train? Scientific research shows that muscle gains are possible with as little as 20% of 1RM weight. In this case, however, muscle growth will primarily come from growth in the slow-contracting muscle fibers rather than the fast-contracting muscle fibers.

One study compared moderate BFR training with 20, 30 and 40% of the 1RM weight of the test subjects. This study came to the conclusion that the fast contracting muscle fibers were not maximally recruited up to a weight of 40% of the 1RM weight. However, other studies have shown that BFR training at 80% of 1RM weight does not increase muscle fiber recruitment compared to BFR training at 40% of 1RM weight (6). In addition to this, there was less metabolic stress.

Taking this into account, for maximum muscle growth, BFR training should probably be performed at around 40% and no more than 50% of 1RM weight. However, if you are using BFR training as active recovery training, then training at 20 to 30% of your 1RM weight will still likely result in benefits in the slow contracting muscle fibers. This could be important as it is often difficult to achieve hypertrophy of these fibers.

Is it better to wrap the bandages a little too loosely or a little too tightly?

Dr. Carlos Ugrinowitsch and his colleagues conducted a study that investigated this issue (7). Ugrinowitsch was one of the first scientists to investigate the molecular mechanisms of BFR training.

In this study, the scientists placed a cuff and inflated it to either 40 or 80% of the pressure required to cause occlusion of the arteries. From a practical point of view, this would correspond to a perceived pressure of 4 or 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. Then they had the subjects perform a BFR workout with 20 or 40% of their 1RM weight.

Here's the cool result: a pressure of 40 and a pressure of 80% of an occlusion of the arteries produced the same gains in strength and muscle mass when training at 40% of 1RM weight. So the clear message is that it's better to apply the bandages a little too loosely than too tightly.

As long as you use a moderate pressure and an intensity of 40 to 50% of your 1RM weight, you should be in the right range. However, if you apply the supports too tightly, there is a risk of complete arterial occlusion (3).

Are there positive effects on muscles whose venous blood flow is not restricted?

Many people think that BFR training is only for arms and legs, but can it also be used for chest, back and gluteus? The short answer is yes - there is increased muscle activation in the muscles where venous blood flow has not been restricted.

How can this be? Simply put, by bandaging the arms and legs, the nervous system senses extreme fatigue in the limbs. Because of this, your body will do whatever it can to maintain strength and prevent failure. To compensate for this fatigue, your nervous system recruits more muscles from other areas.

For example, research published in the journal Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging found that restricting blood flow to the arms and performing bench presses resulted in a 16% increase in muscle activation in the pectoral muscles (8). Research has also shown that individuals who train their legs with a BFT workout and then perform an arm workout achieve greater muscle growth in the arms than when they train both muscle groups separately (9).

Although the exact reasons for this are still unclear, it is possible that growth factors released during BFR training and/or circulating metabolites are able to increase the metabolic effects in the arms that were not trained with BFR training. Therefore, training the chest, back or gluteus with BFR bandages on the arms or legs could also have positive effects on the growth of these muscles.

What are the recovery requirements of BFR training compared to other forms of isolation training?

Our laboratory was the first to investigate the effects of BFR training on recovery requirements compared to low-intensity non-BFR training (3). We found that even though BFR training induced greater fatigue immediately after exercise, there was no increase in muscle damage or decrease in strength 24 hours later - which is quite impressive!

As this type of training has low recovery requirements compared to high-intensity training, it is likely that it can be performed every other day, but probably not more often. We found that 2 to 3 days of BFR training was best for gains in strength and muscle (1).

BFR training makes it necessary to train with very high repetitions (15 to 30 repetitions). If you are not used to such high repetitions, this alone can lead to a certain amount of muscle damage (10). However, it is unlikely that the bandages themselves will increase the recovery requirements.

So if you are just starting out with BFR training and are not used to metabolically demanding training, I would recommend using this type of training only twice a week at first. As soon as you have adapted to this, you can use it up to three times a week for muscle groups that are lagging behind in their development.

Which is better: doing a pure BFR phase for one muscle group or alternating strength, hypertrophy and BFR days?

My student Ryan Lowery and I conducted a study on this topic a few years ago (11). We found that periodizing with BFR training for a few weeks followed by high-intensity training resulted in a lot of muscle growth.

The rate at which you periodize should depend on your training status (12). Based on research on this topic, I would say that if you are just starting out with BFR training, alternating every few weeks will work just as well as alternating every few days (13).

As your training experience increases, I would recommend a program where you alternate your training style every few workouts.

Is it necessary or advisable to go to muscle failure in a BFR workout?

A BFR workout takes advantage of a primary growth mechanism by activating the larger, fast-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are recruited either through heavy resistance or exhaustion. Scientific research shows that the closer you get to the point of muscle failure, the greater the activation of fast-twitch fibers (14, 15). Thus, muscle failure during low-intensity training is likely a prerequisite for optimal muscle fiber recruitment when using BFR training.

However, training to muscle failure can be very exhausting for your nervous system (16). Therefore, I would recommend that you save training to muscle failure until the last set, rather than going to muscle failure on all BFR sets. You could start with 30 reps at 40% of your 1RM weight, pause for 30 seconds, do 15 reps, repeat this and go to muscle failure at the end.

I'm not a bodybuilder, just someone who wants to build shapely arms. Are 2 to 3 BFR workouts per week enough for serious results?

Fortunately, plenty of research has been done with non-bodybuilders (1). In these populations, we have found that 2 to 3 sessions of BFR training per week is perfect.

Should I just do a few exercises or a full BFR training session?

While most studies have looked at BFT training on its own, our lab teamed up with Bill Campbell's lab for 2 studies to examine the effects of BFT training in combination with high-intensity resistance training (2, 17).

In both studies, we found that BFR training in combination with high-intensity training is an effective way to increase muscle mass. Interestingly, in the second study, we replaced 60% of high-intensity training with BFR training and found that subjects were still able to increase their muscle mass as effectively as with 100% high-intensity training.

What does this mean for you? Firstly, BFR training can increase muscle growth both on its own and in combination with heavy training. Secondly, because BFR training causes very little muscle damage, it can be used as a replacement for up to 60% of high-intensity training during unloading phases. This gives athletes the opportunity to continue to progress while giving their joints and/or injuries the opportunity to heal.

I usually recommend using a BFR workout as a light recovery day, as a method to unload and heal, or as a method to give the muscle the rest at the end of the training session. The latter method is supported by studies showing that a heavy workout that includes a set of very light reps at the end, performed at 50% of your 1RM weight, can increase hypertrophy and strength compared to high-intensity training alone (18).

To use BFR as a workout finisher, you should perform an isolation exercise such as curls or leg extensions for 4 sets of 30, 15, 15, 15 repetitions with 3 seconds rest between sets using 20 to 40% of your 1RM weight. Do this one to three times a week.

Is BFR training safe for my cardiovascular system?

Before beginning any exercise program, it is important that you get clearance from your physician. All recommendations given in this article apply to healthy adults with no pre-existing medical conditions who are already performing high-intensity resistance training. Also, because the safety and potential benefits of BFR training have been studied in a clinical setting, it is beyond the focus of this article. However, I can address how BFR training compares to traditional resistance training in terms of the cardiovascular and nervous system.

It has been suggested by some that restricting blood flow could cause damage to the veins and ultimately affect long-term blood flow. However, scientific research shows that even when blood flow is restricted during exercise, over time (4 weeks) there is improved blood flow compared to traditional resistance training alone (19).

In addition, it has been shown that average arterial blood pressure more than doubles during heavy resistance training (80 to 100% of 1RM weight), while heart rate reaches maximal levels (20, 21). Studies with low-intensity BFR training also show an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, but these increases are only 11 to 13% (22). Thus, traditional resistance training results in much higher blood pressure and heart rate.

What is the reason for these drastic differences? You should know that when performing low-intensity BFR training, studies have generated pressure around the limbs ranging from 50 to 230 mmHg (23). During maximal, high-intensity exercise, however, the muscles contract so hard that intramuscular pressure reaches an average of 500 mmHg, which can rise to over 1000 mmHg (24, 25).

In comparison, complete arterial restriction occurs in a range of 140 to 235 mmHg external pressure (23). It has also been shown that complete blockage of blood flow during traditional resistance training occurs at 50 to 64% of an individual's 1RM weight.

It is important to recognize that traditional resistance training results in vascular occlusion even at moderate force contractions. Thus, BFR training only mimics this response at lower intensities.

What about blood clots?

Other concerns about BFR training are related to the worry that it could cause thrombosis. Thrombosis is the formation of blood clots within a blood vessel that obstructs blood flow. The three primary factors thought to be responsible for this are a predisposition to form blood clots, damage to the blood vessels and occlusion of the blood flow.

It is important to know that the formation of a blood clot is caused by an imbalance between coagulation processes and fibrinolytic processes (breakdown of coagulation products). Research using low-intensity BFR training has shown that this type of activity does not increase blood clotting, but may actually increase the breakdown of blood clots (22, 26, 27). So based on what we know, BFR training seems to be perfectly safe and harmless.

However, it is definitely important that you do not completely cut off arterial blood flow during BFR training. Remember what I said earlier: it has been shown that 40% occlusion has the same benefits as 80% occlusion, so there is no harm in using a little less pressure rather than too much.

Is BFR training safe for the nervous system?

This is a frequently asked question. In a study published in the paper Metabolism, a small percentage of BFR training sessions resulted in numbness in the corresponding arm or leg (28). This suggested that BFT training may be too demanding on the nervous system. However, further research looking at nerve conduction velocity showed no changes after 4 weeks of BFR training at 30% of 1RM weight (26).

To me, this suggests that several of the BFR workouts that resulted in numbness were likely the result of incorrect tying technique. Learn how to do it right and you should have nothing to fear.

References

1. Loenneke JP, Abe T, Wilson JM, Ugrinowitsch C, & Bemben MG (2012) Blood flow restriction: how does it work? Frontiers in Physiology, 3, 392.
2. Loenneke JP, Wilson GJ, & Wilson JM (2010) A mechanistic approach to blood flow occlusion. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 31(1), 1-4.
3. Wilson, J. M., Lowery, R. P., Joy, J. M., Loenneke, J. P., & Naimo, M. A. (2013). Practical blood flow restriction training increases acute determinants of hypertrophy without increasing indices of muscle damage. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 27(11), 3068-3075.
4. Kacin, A., & Strazar, K. (2011). Frequent low-load ischemic resistance exercise to failure enhances muscle oxygen delivery and endurance capacity. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 21(6), e231-e241.
5. Fry, C. S., Glynn, E. L., Drummond, M. J., Timmerman, K. L., Fujita, S., Abe, T., ... & Rasmussen, B. B. (2010). Blood flow restriction exercise stimulates mTORC1 signaling and muscle protein synthesis in older men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 108(5), 1199-1209.
6. Takarada, Y., Takazawa, H., Sato, Y., Takebayashi, S., Tanaka, Y., & Ishii, N. (2000). Effects of resistance exercise combined with moderate vascular occlusion on muscular function in humans. Journal of Applied Physiology, 88(6), 2097-2106.
7. Lixandrão, M. E., Ugrinowitsch, C., Laurentino, G., Libardi, C. A., Aihara, A. Y., Cardoso, F. N., ... & Roschel, H. (2015). Effects of exercise intensity and occlusion pressure after 12 weeks of resistance training with blood-flow restriction. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 1-10.
8. Yasuda, T., Fujita, S., Ogasawara, R., Sato, Y., & Abe, T. (2010). Effects of low-intensity bench press training with restricted arm muscle blood flow on chest muscle hypertrophy: a pilot study. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 30(5), 338-343.
9. Madarame, H., Neya, M., Ochi, E., Nakazato, K., Sato, Y., & Ishii, N. (2008). Cross-transfer effects of resistance training with blood flow restriction. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 40(2), 258.
10. Wernbom, M., Paulsen, G., Nilsen, T. S., Hisdal, J., & Raastad, T. (2012). Contractile function and sarcolemmal permeability after acute low-load resistance exercise with blood flow restriction. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 112(6), 2051-2063.
11. Lowery, R. P., Joy, J. M., Loenneke, J. P., Souza, E. O., Machado, M., Dudeck, J. E., & Wilson, J. M. (2014). Practical blood flow restriction training increases muscle hypertrophy during a periodized resistance training program. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging, 34(4), 317-321.
12. Monteiro, A. G., Aoki, M. S., Evangelista, A. L., Alveno, D. A., Monteiro, G. A., da Cruz Picarro, I., & Ugrinowitsch, C. (2009). Nonlinear periodization maximizes strength gains in split resistance training routines. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 23(4), 1321-1326.
13. Buford, T. W., Rossi, S. J., Smith, D. B., & Warren, A. J. (2007). A comparison of periodization models during nine weeks with equated volume and intensity for strength. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 21(4), 1245-1250.
14. Fallentin, N., Jørgensen, K., & Simonsen, E. B. (1993). Motor unit recruitment during prolonged isometric contractions. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 67(4), 335-341.
15. Garland, S. J., Enoka, R. M., Serrano, L. P., & Robinson, G. A. (1994). Behavior of motor units in human biceps brachii during a submaximal fatiguing contraction. Journal of Applied Physiology, 76(6), 2411-2419.
16. Ahtiainen, J. P., Pakarinen, A., Kraemer, W. J., & Häkkinen, K. (2003). Acute hormonal and neuromuscular responses and recovery to forced vs maximum repetitions multiple resistance exercises. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 24(6), 410-418.
17. O'Halloran, J., Campbell, B., Martinez, N., O'Connor, S., Fuentes, J., Theilen, N., ... & Kilpatrick, M. (2014). The effects of practical vascular blood flow restriction training on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 11(Suppl 1), P18.
18. Goto, K., Nagasawa, M., Yanagisawa, O., Kizuka, T., ISHII, N., & Takamatsu, K. (2004). Muscular adaptations to combinations of high-and low-intensity resistance exercises.The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 18(4), 730-737.
19. Patterson, S. D., & Ferguson, R. A. (2010). Increase in calf post-occlusive blood flow and strength following short-term resistance exercise training with blood flow restriction in young women. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 108(5), 1025-1033.
20. MacDougall, J. D., Tuxen, D. S. D. G., Sale, D. G., Moroz, J. R., & Sutton, J. R. (1985). Arterial blood pressure response to heavy resistance exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology, 58(3), 785-790.
21. MacDougall, J. D., McKelvie, R. S., Moroz, D. E., Sale, D. G., McCartney, N., & Buick, F. (1992). Factors affecting blood pressure during heavy weight lifting and static contractions. Journal of Applied Physiology, 73(4), 1590-1597.
22. Takano, H., Morita, T., Iida, H., Asada, K. I., Kato, M., Uno, K., ... & Nakajima, T. (2005). Hemodynamic and hormonal responses to a short-term low-intensity resistance exercise with the reduction of muscle blood flow. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 95(1), 65-73.
23. Loenneke, J. P., Wilson, J. M., Marín, P. J., Zourdos, M. C., & Bemben, M. G. (2012). Low intensity blood flow restriction training: a meta-analysis. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 112(5), 1849-1859
24. Sylvest, O., & Hvid, N. (1959). Pressure measurements in human striated muscles during contraction. Acta Rheumatologica Scandinavica, 5(1-4), 216-222.
25. Sylvest, O., & Hvid, N. (1959). Pressure measurements in human striated muscles during contraction. Acta Rheumatologica Scandinavica, 5(1-4), 216-222.
26. Clark, B. C., Manini, T. M., Hoffman, R. L., Williams, P. S., Guiler, M. K., Knutson, M. J., ... & Kushnick, M. R. (2011). Relative safety of 4 weeks of blood flow-restricted resistance exercise in young, healthy adults. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 21(5), 653-662.
27. Fry, C. S., Glynn, E. L., Drummond, M. J., Timmerman, K. L., Fujita, S., Abe, T., ... & Rasmussen, B. B. (2010). Blood flow restriction exercise stimulates mTORC1 signaling and muscle protein synthesis in older men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 108(5), 1199-1209.
28. Yasuda, T., Abe, T., Brechue, W. F., Iida, H., Takano, H., Meguro, K., ... & Nakajima, T. (2010). Venous blood gas and metabolite response to low-intensity muscle contractions with external limb compression. Metabolism, 59(10), 1510-1519.

https://www.bodybuilding.com/content/your-complete-guide-to-blood-flow-restriction-training.html

Jacob Wilson, Ph.D.

Here is a brief summary:

1. Overtraining is a very rare and misunderstood phenomenon. Overtraining does not mean training too much.
2. There is a sports science definition of overtraining. It is a physiological condition caused by an excessive accumulation of physical, psychological, emotional, environmental and chemical stress.
3. If you perform a training session that puts too much stress on your nervous system, you will suffer from a kind of "post-workout hangover". This will manifest itself in a lack of focus, apathy, lack of motivation and sometimes headaches.
4. Training too hard can also overload the hormonal system. It can cause you to produce too much cortisol, which can promote inflammation and lower levels of muscle-building hormones.
5. It can take months to recover from true overtraining, but you probably won't be overtrained. Sleep, nutrition and certain supplements can help you reach a state of overtraining and prevent burnout.

Overtraining is rare, but overreaching is not

You train hard - harder than anyone else in the gym. You train so hard that you constantly suffer from sore muscles, feel drained for a good part of the day, and sometimes lack training focus and suffer from mood swings. Yet your arms just don't want to grow. Even more frustrating is that a lot of people are making faster progress than you - even though they're not literally killing themselves training like you are.

Could it be that you are overtrained? Is it that demon eating away at your gains and destroying your motivation? Calm down first. Overtraining is a very rare and often misunderstood phenomenon. However, it could well be that you are overstressing your body and its key systems.

What overtraining is not

We often get confused when it comes to overtraining because even the name of the phenomenon leads us in the wrong direction. First of all, overtraining doesn't mean you're overtraining. Just because you perform 30 sets for your biceps during a training session does not mean that you have overtrained your biceps. It also doesn't mean that what you did was necessarily particularly smart, but you didn't overtrain your biceps.

We all have our individual recovery capacities, but the point is that overtraining is not just about overtraining. And if you injure yourself, it doesn't necessarily mean you were in a state of overtraining either.

What overtraining is

The accepted sports science definition of overtraining is as follows: "A physiological state caused by an excessive accumulation of physiological, psychological, emotional, environmental and chemical stress, leading to a sustained decline in physical and mental performance and requiring a relatively long recovery period."

There are four important elements in this definition:

1. Physiological state: overtraining is not an action (like exercising too much), but a state similar to burnout, medical depression or illness.
2. An excessive accumulation of physiological, psychological, emotional, environmental and chemical stress: Stress has both a localized and a systemic effect. Each type of stress has a systemic impact on the body, but this impact is not limited to the structures directly involved in the stressful event. This systemic impact is caused by the release of stress hormones (e.g. glucocorticoids such as cortisol) and over-excitation of the adrenal cortex. Each individual type of stressor can contribute to the onset of a state of overtraining. Problems at work, tension in a relationship, a death in the family, toxins and pollutants in the air we breathe, the food we eat or the water we drink, etc. can all contribute to overtraining. Too much exercise is obviously another stressor that can promote the onset of overtraining, but exercise is far from the only suspect.
3. A persistent reduction in physical and mental performance: The key term here is 'persistent'. Some people experience a few sub-optimal training sessions and automatically assume they are in a state of overtraining. This is not the case. It could simply be acute or accumulated fatigue due to poor recovery management or inadequate nutrition.
4. A reaction to a constant overload of the nervous system, immune system and endocrine system: Incorrectly planned and executed training can indeed contribute to this excessive overload, but it is not the only factor. As such, the key to avoiding overtraining is to not push these three systems to their limits and to do everything possible to promote their recovery.

You're probably not overtrained

The likelihood of you developing true overtraining syndrome is very low. In my entire life I have only seen two or three cases and these were always Olympic athletes who trained 20 to 25 or more hours a week. If you are unlucky enough to develop true overtraining syndrome, it won't take days or weeks to get back into top shape - it will take months.

You can't develop overtraining syndrome from 4 to 6 hours of training per week, especially if you're using methods that don't challenge the nervous system. However, just because you are unlikely to develop overtraining syndrome does not mean that you will not suffer the consequences of incorrect training.

Are you a stimulus junkie?

If you read everything you can find about training and spend a good part of your day thinking about your training sessions and how you can improve them, then you're probably a stimulus junkie. Welcome to the club.

A stimulus junkie is someone who loves the act of actually working out and uses their muscles not so much for the gains, but more for the feeling of the workout. For these guys and gals, the workout itself is the reward. Being a stimulus junkie has its perks. You will rarely lose your motivation to train, you will stick with your training for the long haul and you will never shy away from hard work.

However, stimulus junkies are also the perfect candidates for excessive training and they tend to push themselves too often, too hard for too long. A stimulus junkie often takes pride in training harder than anyone else, rather than taking pride in achieving better results than anyone else. For this reason, a stimulus junkie is often their own worst enemy, using training practices that cause them to stagnate (or even regress) and feel shitty all the time.

Training hangover, lethargy and low sex drive

If you do a training session that puts too much strain on the nervous system, then you will suffer from what Paul Carter calls "training hangover". This is quite an accurate term as you will feel similar to how you feel after a night out: lack of focus, lack of energy, apathy, no motivation and sometimes a headache. Unsurprisingly, you won't be able to do a good workout in this state - on top of that, you'll feel poorly throughout the day.

You may also be overloading your hormonal system. In the case of training, this means that your body is producing too much cortisol. Cortisol is not your enemy per se. It plays an important role in the training process. It helps you to produce more energy for your muscles during the training session by increasing the breakdown of glycogen and body fat. Of course, cortisol will also increase the breakdown of muscle protein, but this is not really the problem.

The big problem is that cortisol, male muscle building hormones and estrogen are produced from the same parent hormone known as pregnenolone. The more cortisol you produce, the less pregnenolone will be available for the production of muscle-building hormones!

If you continually produce too much cortisol, then not only will you suffer from low levels of male muscle-building hormones, but what little is left of these hormones will have a harder time doing their jobs. This leads to less muscle, more fat and reduced libido. In fact, one of the best signs of a state of low androgen levels and high cortisol levels is a lack of what is commonly referred to as a morning erection, as well as reduced sexual interest. Another sign of excessive cortisol production is water retention and flat muscles.

Training to the max

Too much training volume seems to be the prime suspect, but I'll take it a step further: Any workout that causes mental stress will lead to more cortisol production. Simply psyching yourself up to complete an exercise or getting nervous about completing a max repetition will increase the cortisol response to training.

Vassily Alexeyev (an Olympic weightlifter with 81 world records) always said that his secret was to never drive himself crazy. This meant that he didn't push himself metal for any max attempt and never tried weights he wasn't sure he could handle. He understood that training is about developing the body and its capacities, not about testing its limits.

Those who have competed in sports that test their limits in terms of capacity (powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting, athletics, etc.) know that a competition where you give it your all can affect your training for 10 to 14 days. Many will even show symptoms of depression during this phase. Every time you push yourself to your absolute limits in training, you are essentially creating the same scenario (perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, but it can still be detrimental and affect your training).

Training to your absolute limits may only increase your performance by 3 to 5%, but it can double the recovery time needed after a training session. This means you can train less often and training frequency is more important than volume.

You can train an exercise or muscle frequently without overtraining and you can train it hard - but only if you avoid pushing it to your absolute limits. If you are doing work that is potentially demanding on the CNS (heavy training, explosive training, training to muscle failure) one way to reduce excessive demands on the CNS is to keep everything from the neck up as relaxed as possible. This prevents excessive shock to the CNS, which can increase your performance but also make you hit a wall faster.

Contorting your face, clenching your teeth tightly and keeping your neck tense can increase your power production and be useful when it comes to giving your all in a competition - but it comes at a price. Your nervous system will take much longer to recover and you may find yourself suffering from a training hangover the next day.

Inflammation and lack of progress

While a certain amount of inflammation from training is a prerequisite for maximum growth - it's an element that initiates the repair/growth process - too much of it will significantly slow down your progress. Inflammation will not only reduce your performance in the gym (squats with a sore thigh are much more challenging) but will also increase your body's stress response.

In addition, during recovery your body will use a lot of resources to solve the inflammation problem - resources that are no longer available for growth. While some muscle soreness the day after a hard training session is fine, killer muscle soreness - especially if it affects more than one muscle group at a time - is a sure sign that something is going wrong.

Signs that you're overworking your body

Here are some symptoms to look out for, as they could be a sign that one of the three key systems - nervous system, immune system or endocrine system - is under too much strain:

• Lack of morning erections or a significant reduction in sexual drive and performance
• A sudden increase in subcutaneous water retention
• Muscles that feel flat
• A noticeable decrease in grip strength (the pole will feel thicker and heavier)
• Reduced explosiveness (vertical jump height decreases)
• The weights will feel heavier on your joints
• Exercise execution feels less precise, you get out of your groove
• Increased blood pressure at rest
• Itchy eyes
• Persistent muscle soreness
• More frequent, longer-lasting illnesses
• It takes longer to get going in the morning
• You feel like you've had a night out, or like you have a hangover

If you experience these symptoms regularly, you should evaluate your exercise program. It could be putting you in a bad physiological state.

Things that are hard on the nervous system

The following things are hard on your nervous system. Although doing any of these things occasionally may not cause serious problems, regular use will lead to periods of stagnation or even regression. If you want to achieve maximum, long-term progress, you should avoid these things as far as possible:

• Training to the max - getting mentally pumped up before a set, feeling nervous before a max attempt, etc.
• Performing multi-joint exercises to the point of muscle failure, especially when using heavy weights.
• Using the absolute maximum weight for an exercise.
• Performing more than 4 total repetitions with more than 92% of the 1RM weight during a training session.
• Performing more than 6 sets to muscle failure during a training session (which also applies to isolation exercises)

Things that are hard on the endocrine system

The endocrine system is less susceptible to acute changes than the nervous system. This means that it takes longer for problems to occur. Unfortunately, this also means that it will be harder to notice that you are doing something wrong. And when you finally notice the symptoms, it's already too late and it will take longer to repair the damage. That's why it's important to avoid the following as much as possible:

• Becoming a stimulus junkie who wants to do more and more work because they think it will help them achieve their goals faster.
• Exercising longer than 75 to 90 minutes. Most people should do even shorter workouts. The reason I gave a longer time period is because I also wanted to take into account those who work out in a commercial gym, where you may have to wait longer between sets and exercises. Volume plays a bigger role in hormone levels than pure time.
• Continue to perform sets for one muscle if you don't feel any further increase in your pump from the additional training.
• Continuing a training session if you feel a sudden and significant drop in your motivation to train.
• To continue training if your muscles feel flat during training.

Some may point out that professional bodybuilders or elite athletes break these rules. But these people should also be aware that athletes who inject large amounts of hormones every week create a hormonal environment that is immune to most mistakes. An athlete who is clean does not have this advantage.

How you can avoid burnout

Although proper training and lifestyle management are the most important elements of avoiding burnout, there are additional nutritional and supplement strategies you can use to prevent or solve problems:

• Use proper pre- and intra-workout supplementation. Not only can this help you recover faster after a training session, but it can also provide you with more readily available energy, reducing the need for excessive cortisol production. (Cortisol levels are increased to mobilize energy. If you have plenty of readily available energy, then there is no need to increase cortisol levels).
• Consider using Rhodiola during periods of high training stress. Rhodiola is the most powerful adaptogen available to help the body cope better with stress.
• Make sure you get enough sleep. This is more than obvious, but still many people jeopardize their gains by simply not getting enough sleep. We often tend to neglect the influence of sleep, but sleep is probably the most important element for the regeneration of the nervous system, the immune system and the hormonal system. If you suffer from sleep problems, you should consider using a natural supplement to promote healthy and restful sleep.
• The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and the supplement turmeric are amazing natural anti-inflammatories. I highly recommend these to anyone regardless of whether they exercise or not. Fighting systemic inflammation is one of the most important things you can do. Inflammation can affect every process in your body. This includes muscle growth and fat mobilization.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/what-overtraining-is-and-isnt

By Christian Thibaudeau

How you can build up a muscle that is behind in its development

How you should not proceed

When it comes to compensating for a weakness in muscle development, most exercisers will simply do more work for the lagging muscle: more sets, more reps or an extra training session. However, this approach can come at a price as it can affect your recovery and therefore your overall body-wide gains. Ultimately, your body only has a limited capacity to adapt to new demands.

Adding more exercises and more work to your training program should always be the last strategy you use to compensate for a weakness...and you should only use this strategy when all else has failed. Instead, follow the path of least investment to solve problems with unbalanced development.

The smart way

Look at your training program and see if there is a way to modify it to address your problem without adding more volume. Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. Modifications to some exercises
2. A switch to a few other exercises
3. A change in the way you perform your repetitions
4. Additional isolation training
5. An additional training session (but only as a last resort if all else fails to achieve the desired effect)

Step 1

The first thing you should consider is making slight modifications to some of the exercises you are already doing. For example, if your quadriceps are lagging behind in their development, then you could try raising your heels when performing squats. You could also try taking shorter steps when performing lunges and split squats. If your triceps are too small, you could try using a slightly tighter grip on all your press exercises.

Step 2

The next step is to take a closer look at your exercise selection. Can you use alternative exercises that put more stress on your lagging muscles? For example, if your quadriceps need more training and you are doing traditional squats and deadlifts, then you could use front squats and deficit deadlifts (standing on an elevation) with a wide grip (keeping your torso as upright as possible) instead. If you are doing lunges, you could use Bulgarian split squats instead.

Step 3

If this is not enough, you can take the next step to solve your problem: change the way you perform your repetitions so that they put more strain on the muscles that are lagging behind in their development. For example, if you are doing squats, you could use a 2 second pause in the 90 degree position to increase the work done by the quadriceps. If you want to emphasize the load on your chest more, you could use one and a half repetitions on the dumbbell bench press instead of regular repetitions.

Step 4

If even this isn't enough, it's now time to go one step further up the 'investment scale' and increase the volume. Remember, however, to always look for the path with the lowest investment. Do not add another heavy basic exercise to your program at this point.

Instead, choose your favorite isolation exercise for the lagging muscle group and perform 2 to 3 sets to muscle failure at the end of the training session. Focus on the quality of the contractions - don't even count the reps, just keep going until you can no longer contract the muscle hard enough to move the weight.

If this doesn't get you the results you want, do this exercise at the end of 2 to 3 training sessions per week.

Step 5

If all else has failed (which it almost certainly won't), then you can add an additional training session to your training week during which you focus on the lagging muscle group.

Build your leg flexors by training with the front foot elevated

Achieve better results in Romanian deadlifts and good mornings by elevating the front part of your foot with the help of weight plates

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-build-hams-by-elevating-front-of-feet

Romanian deadlifts and good mornings are often referred to as the best exercises for the hamstrings. The problem with this, however, is that they also heavily involve the lower back and this muscle group tends to do most of the work for most exercisers. This is especially true if the leg flexors are lagging behind in their development. Your body will always shift the tension to the strongest muscles involved in an exercise.

The trick with the weight plates

If you want to maximize the involvement of your hamstrings in good mornings and Romanian deadlifts, you can use the following trick, which is based on a simple biomechanical principle: the muscle that is stretched the most is the muscle that is recruited the most.

With this information in mind, a very simple way to achieve more growth in the leg flexor area is to raise the front of the foot by one to three centimetres during these exercises.

To do this, simply place the front third of your feet on a small weight plate or other elevation. This puts your leg flexors in a more extended position and increases their recruitment. You also move the shear point to the back of your feet, which increases the recruitment of the posterior muscle chain.

Notes on performing the exercise

You may notice that your range of motion decreases compared to regular Good Mornings and regular Romanian deadlifts. This is perfectly fine. Ultimately, you want to achieve maximum tension in your hamstrings and the actual range of motion is less important than achieving this tension.

If you want to maximize the recruitment of your hamstrings, don't focus on going as far down as possible. Instead, focus on pushing your hips as far back as possible while feeling maximum tension in your hamstrings. Use the lower back primarily as a stabilizer and not as the primary muscle for the actual movement. Concentrate on letting your hamstrings do the work.

Lift your elbows at the end of a curl movement

To build bigger biceps you need to train all three functions of the muscle. This is the forgotten function

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-raise-your-elbows-at-the-end-of-a-curl

For a long time, I used a shortened range of motion for curls. I believed that it was important to keep the biceps under constant tension, so I avoided going all the way up during the movement. Then Paul Carter convinced me to try performing the last part of the curl movement: the shoulder flexion. When the arm is fully tensed, you finish the movement by rotating the shoulders upwards, which moves the elbow upwards.

Good curl form with raising the elbow

The biceps have three main functions: the flexion of the upper arm (the curl movement) the outward rotation of the forearm (which is the reason I prefer a straight bar) and a shoulder flexion (an upward rotation of the shoulder that raises the arm). Therefore, it makes sense to finish a curl movement with a shoulder flexion.

But in the past, I always felt like I would lose the contraction if I did this. Why? Because I moved the shoulders up during the shoulder flexion and the trapezius came into play. However, the shoulders should be rotated upwards and not lifted. Therefore, you need to work extra hard to keep your shoulder blades pulled back and down. Don't let the trapezius come into play.

If you don't feel a stronger biceps contraction, then you are doing something wrong and need to learn how to perform the exercise correctly.

Skip the useless sets and train smarter

Is half of your training session worthless? This tip will show you how to recognize the useless part of your workout and put together a better training plan for muscle gains.

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-drop-the-garbage-sets-and-train-smarter

I often see people doing chest workouts like this:

• 3 sets of bench press
• 3 sets of dumbbell bench presses
• 3 sets of bench presses on the Multipress
• 3 sets of bench presses on a machine

The problem? These exercises are all more or less identical. You are training the same muscle group in all exercises using the same angle and the same movement pattern. Your training is redundant.

But not only that - in 6 out of 12 of your sets you are using inferior exercises. These 6 sets are what I call "garbage sets". You would be much better off choosing exercises that train different angles or ranges of motion instead of using redundant exercises. Here's a better plan that avoids this common mistake.

Day 1: Back and deadlift

• Exercise 1: A variation of the deadlift
• Exercise 2: A variation of the horizontal row
• Exercise 3: A variation of the vertical row
• Exercise 4: A variation of the shoulder blade lift (shoulder lift, high pull)

Day 2: Chest and shoulders

• Exercise 1: A variation of the flat bench press
• Exercise 2: A variation of the incline bench press
• Exercise 3: A variation of the overhead press
• Exercise 4: A variation of the side lift/front lift

Day 3: No training

Day 4: Biceps and triceps

• Exercise 1.1: A variation of a curl exercise with a neutral grip (hammer curls)
• Exercise 1.2: A variation of the close grip press
• Exercise 2.1: A variation of curls with an underhand grip
• Exercise 2.2: A variation of the tricep press with free weights
• Exercise 3.1: A variation of curls with overhand grip
• Exercise 3.2: A variation of the cable tricep press

Day 5: Legs

• Exercise 1: A squat variation
• Exercise 2: A variation of a one-legged leg exercise
• Exercise 3: A variation of hip extension (Romanian deadlift, good mornings, etc.)
• Exercise 4.1: A variation of the leg extension
• Exercise 4.2: A variation of leg curls
• Exercise 5 (optional): A calf exercise

Day 6: Chest and back

• Exercise 1.1: A variation of the chest press (flat bench, incline bench or reverse incline bench)
• Exercise 1.2: A variation of the horizontal row (cable pull)
• Exercise 2.1: A variation of flying movements with dumbbells
• Exercise 2.2: An exercise for the rear shoulder muscles (bent-over lateral raises, reverse butterflies, etc.)
• Exercise 3.1: An isolation exercise for the chest muscles on the cable pulley or on a machine
• Exercise 3.2: A variation of the shoulder blade lift

Day 7: Training-free

If your goal is to become more muscular and look better, then the above program will work great if you make the right exercise choices and train hard.

Use a "thumbless" grip on the bench press

This type of grip can eliminate shoulder and tricep pain during heavy bench presses. And yes. This grip is safe if you're not an idiot.

By Christian Thibaudeau

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-use-the-thumbless-bench-press

Use a thumbless grip (the thumb is next to the fingers instead of hugging the bar) when bench pressing to eliminate shoulder and tricep pain. This grip allows you to place the bar slightly lower in your hand - slightly more directly over the forearm bones - and rotate the elbows more easily.

The use of a "false" or thumbless grip is controversial. Many exercisers are afraid of dropping the barbell, which can have a very negative effect on the integrity of the skeletal structure. Others argue that because you can't grip the bar hard, you will only perform sub-optimally as you can't benefit from the radiation effect (a hard contraction of one muscle leads to a better contraction of the surrounding muscles).

However, through experimentation I have found that the thumbless grip has many advantages, including less strain on the shoulders. I noticed years ago that bench pressing with a thick bar was less stressful on my shoulders. Why? Because the thick bar forced me to use a thumbless grip.

With a regular grip, your hands turn in slightly, which automatically forces you into a position of internal shoulder rotation. This means that the "natural" path of the movement when lowering the bar includes a flare of the elbows. This puts stress on the shoulder joints and when you try to pull the elbows towards the body, you generate a lot of leverage in the elbow joint area. So you're either increasing the load on the shoulder or the elbows, both of which are bad.

By using a thumbless grip, you can easily maintain a more neutral position, which reduces the load on the shoulders without increasing the leverage on the elbows - ultimately resulting in less stressful bench presses.

Try to get used to a thumbless grip if you are prone to shoulder or elbow problems. Start fairly light for 2 to 3 workouts to get used to this grip and give your body 3 weeks to see how it responds.

But you will all die!

As for safety, I would like to mention that I have been using this technique for years in several workouts a week and have quite small hands. I use this grip on thick bars (5 centimeters in diameter), very thick bars (7.5 centimeters in diameter) and regular bars and have never been in a situation where I would have been in danger of losing control of the bar. The same applies to all my clients and athletes.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but honestly anyone who isn't a complete motor idiot can use this grip safely. A potential accident would likely happen due to poor form that comes from using weights that shouldn't have been used in the first place.

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-bring-up-a-puny-muscle-like-this

By Christian Thibaudeau