Your first blood flow restriction session, step by step.

Bring a list of your medications and your health history, including any blood clots, heart or blood vessel conditions, and surgery in the last year. Wear shorts if the cuff is going on your leg, or a sleeveless top for the arm. Bring your ICBC or WorkSafeBC claim details if they apply, and your extended health card if you plan to direct bill.

Before the cuff goes on, your physiotherapist checks for the conditions that rule BFR out or need a physician's input, listed in our safety guide, and re-checks at every visit. The cuffs we use, SAGA AirBands, are wireless and calibrate to your limb automatically, finding the pressure at which flow stops and setting the working pressure as a percentage of it, between 40 and 80 percent under the 2019 position stand. You feel the cuff go tight for a moment during calibration, then settle to a firm hold.

The exercise is one you can already do, at a light load you could normally lift thirty times: 30 repetitions, then 15, 15 and 15, with 30 to 60 seconds of rest and the cuff kept inflated through the rest. By the end of the first set the muscle is burning and heavy. The cuff is released as soon as the four sets are done and blood rushes back into the limb, which feels warm and full for a few minutes.

Expect ordinary muscle soreness for a day or two, often more than the light weight suggests, and possibly a mark or bruise where the cuff sat. The position stand reports muscle swelling settling within 24 to 48 hours. A limb that swells and stays swollen, or a hot, red or painful area, is a same-day call to the studio. Between sessions the rest of your program continues without the cuff, and BFR sessions run 2 to 3 times a week in a standard block.