This is an article that has been swirling around my head for a while. Don’t expect hugely practical things from it. Rather, it was just an attempt to answer two questions. First, why do leg extensions hurt so much? I mean locally, in the quads, for the same reps at the same effort they hurt far more than other exercises. Second, what do blood flow restriction (BFR, Kaaattttssssuuuuu!!!), speed skating and leg extensions have in common?
Blood Flow Restriction (BFR)
Ok, for the 3 people who don’t know what BFR is, it’s a relatively new method of training where you basically use pressure to reduce blood flow to the muscle and then use relatively light loads for training.
And research has generally found that it provides similar hypertrophy gains to muscle as heavier training and does so with lighter loads with various mechanisms being involved. Please note that the size gains are, at best, identical but not greater.… Keep Reading