Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training is a modality used to briefly occlude arterial and venous blood flow. The blood flow is occluded by a tourniquet cuff set at a specific percentage pressure relative to the individual’s total limb occlusion. BFR has shown to enhance muscle strength, endurance, hypertrophy, and can even serve as a pain analgesic. As a clinician, I use BFR most with my post-op patients, specifically ACL repairs. In the early stages of rehab for an ACL repair, the patient is under load restrictions for bodyweight exercises. BFR is a great way to enhance the muscle strength needed to progress in this rehab process. The idea is to perform exercises at 20-30% of the 1-rep max, but with the occlusion, the body is challenged by the submaximal loads. Muscle strength and hypertrophy can be enhanced in the early stages of rehab thus optimizing the progression to the next phase of exercise, typically without the post-operative knee brace. 

What is ITB?

The iliotibial band, ITB for short, is a structure that begins at the hips and travels down to the knee attaching into the knee. At the hip, multiple muscles including the tensor fascia latae, the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius, and more, insert into the ITB. The ITB becomes a thick, fibrous band of fascia that extends to the knee where it attaches into multiple structures providing stability, support, and an energy storage system. The ITB, due to its multiple attachments sites both proximally and distally, may cause pressure in a number of different structures.