In this video you can see some relevant BFR – running & strength drills on decline and incline surfaces. In the text below you will find the relevant results from (Paton et al. 2017)
INTRODUCTION The effects of treadmill running training performed with or without BFR / Occlusion Training on parameters of running performance.
METHOD 16 subjects assigned to BFR or CON for 8 sessions of training. Before and after the trial, subjects completed an incremental running test to determine:
Peak running velocity + maximal oxygen uptake + running economy. Followed by a time to exhaustion run performed at peak running velocity.
Training for both groups consisted of progressively increasing volumes of 30-seconds (reps) completed at 80% of peak running velocity, 2 times a week:
Repeated bouts (reps) of 30-s running interspersed with 30-s passive rest.
The initial training session consisted of 2 sets of 5 reps.
Between each set, rest for 150-s without BFR.
Thereafter the total volume of training was increased progressively by 2 min (equivalent to 2 reps per session until the final session of 3 sets of 8 reps.
RESULTS The BFR and CON groups reported gains (6.3±3.5 vs 4.0±3.3%) in VO2max following training with small differences between groups.
Similarly, peak running velocity and incremental test time increased in both training groups with a small additional enhancement in favour of the BFR group.
Running economy improved for BFR but not in CON. Time to exhaustion also increased for both (27±9% vs 17±6%) with a small favour of the BFR.
CONCLUSION Running with Blood Flow Restriction during high intensity sessions may provide additional beneficial adaptations, which may lead to practically gains related to running performance. These gains are predominately due to peripheral adaptations mostly occurring at the muscular level, possibly via an increase in muscle strength or an enhanced ability to resist fatigue inducing metabolites!?
What are you thoughts on these adaptations- Improved muscle strength or fatigue resistance?
Source: Paton et al. (2017) The effects of muscle blood flow restriction during running training on measures of aerobic capacity and run time to exhaustion.
