The BFR Cuffs work by inflating to restrict a certain percentage of blood flow into your limb (and all blood flow leaving your limb) during your training.
Blood carries oxygen. Less blood flow to the working muscle = less oxygen to the working muscle. This is where the”magic” happens.
Sounds counterintuitive, right? Don’t we want to increase blood flow into the muscle?
It turns out, when oxygen supply to the muscle is limited, this kicks off a cascade of responses in the body that replicate many of the benefits of high intensity training.
This is one reason why blood flow restriction training has time and time again proven through research to be extremely effective at building strength, muscle, and endurance at lower intensity and in shorter sessions.
Blood flow restriction training has consistently demonstrated in research to cause significant muscle gains with loads as low as 20% of your 1 rep max.
The temporary reduced oxygen flow to the muscles combined with the magnified muscle cell swelling (i.e. “the pump”) are powerful muscle-building stimuli.
Training under BFR can significantly increase lactate accumulation and hypoxia (low oxygen in the working muscle), leading to extraordinary improvements in endurance.
Because BFR training allows you to build muscle while training with a
fraction of the weight, you can spare your joints without sacrificing
muscle gain.
Harness BFR training to reduce fatigue, keep muscle during injury rehab,
or spare your joints.
Blood flow restriction training has been studied in many populations - from youth athletes all the way to elderly individuals with congestive heart failure and other health conditions.
We have yet to see evidence of negative health outcomes directly attributable to BFR training, and the general consensus from the scientific community is that BFR training is safe for most people.
Great question.
Remember a bit ago when we referenced how the goal with BFR training is to restrict a certain percentage of blood flowing into your limb and all blood from leaving your limb?
This is because we still want some blood flow getting into the limb during training.
We want enough blood flow going in to allow the muscle cells to swell - this is what the infamous “pump” is.
Bodybuilders always talk about the pump - and while it may seem like broscience, research actually suggests the pump itself is anabolic.
When you’re lifting weights and start to get a pump, this is the result of more blood getting into the muscle cells than is leaving, which actually causes the cells themselves to swell.
This swelling of the cell actually helps communicate to the cell that growth should occur.
This is where BFR cuffs again can be powerful.
They allow some blood flow in and no blood flow out while inflated.
This allows you to get enough blood flow into your limbs to get a sufficient workout (you won’t go too far with NO blood flow) while also maximizing the cell swelling benefit.
The problem with rubber bands or straps is you have absolutely no idea how much blood flow is being restricted.
Remember all the research we mentioned?
Those studies are done with devices that provide a reading on how much pressure is being applied.
Enter SAGA’s BFR Cuffs (that’s what we do).
We launched SAGA with a bold mission: deliver the same
precision blood flow restriction measurement that pro teams and physical therapy clinics use with their athletes/patients at an affordable price point.
We built a device that takes the guesswork out of your BFR training.
Because it can work backwards from there to determine any other percentage. Let’s say the cuff measures blood flow to your legs stops at 200 mmHg of pressure.
If you want to train at 50% occlusion, the cuffs will just inflate to 100 mmHg! Generally, 80% occlusion is good for lower body training and 50% occlusion is good for upper body training (so the app will have those as an option for you).
If the pressure is too much or too little during the session, you can increase it in small increments with one tap as well. We built these cuffs to deliver a precision BFR solution to a broader market.
Funny enough, we created such a quality product that we still get dozens of orders every month from pro sports teams, physical therapy clinics, and military groups.
If you’re wondering where to start, download our free Ultimate Guide to BFR Training PDF to learn everything you need to know to pile on muscle, build endurance, and recover faster with BFR training.
This guide includes:
If you’d like to jump right in and pick up a pair of our BFR cuffs along with the guide, we want to eliminate the risk for you. We’re confident you’ll love our BFR cuffs, so we include a 30 day money back guarantee with every order.
Either you love our BFR cuffs or you get your money back - it’s that simple.
You can pick up a pair of our world-leading blood flow restriction cuffs below at zero risk. Let’s get to work!
