Muscle Memory digital AugSept 2018 | Page 42

FITNESS BODY WORK HOW HEAVY SHOULD I LIFT WITH BFR? The primary advantage to BFR is that you can increase muscle size at very low intensities. So how heavy should you lift? Research has shown gains with as little as 20 percent of your 1RM. However, muscle growth in this case is primarily caused in the slow-twitch, not fast-twitch, fibers. One study compared moderate-pressure BFR with 20, 30, and 40 percent of subjects' 1RM. They found that fast- twitch muscle fibers were not maximally recruited until 40 percent. However, other research has shown that lifting at 80 percent 1RM compared to 40 percent does not increase muscle fiber recruitment. In addition, there is less metabolic stress. Taking all this into account, BFR for maximal muscle growth should likely be performed at approximately 40 and no more than 50 percent of 1RM. However, if you are using BFR as a recovery day, then performing resistance training at 20-30 percent of 1RM will likely still result in ben- efits in the slow-twitch fibers. This could be important, as these fibers are often difficult to hypertrophy. HAVE YOUR ARMS STOPPED GROWING? ARE YOU STUCK IN A RUT, DOING THE SAME OLD BICEP EXERCISES OVER AND OVER AND NOT SEEING RESULTS? If you answered yes, then give this arm training protocol a try. A fair warning, this is going to hurt! It is not comfortable… but most things worthwhile are not. SAMPLE BICEP & TRICEP WORKOUT First you want to go through your compound and heavier movements for the day. TRICEPS SET ONE: 30 REPS TRICEP PUSHDOWNS PICK A LIGHT WEIGHT (20-30% 1RM) REST 45 SECONDS SET TWO: PERFORM 15-20 REPS REST 45 SECONDS SET THREE: LIFT UNTIL YOU REACH MUSCULAR FAILURE REST 45 SECONDS SET FOUR: LIFT UNTIL YOU REACH MUSCU- LAR FAILURE ARMS SET ONE: 30 REPS EZ BAR BICEP CURLS LOAD UP THE EZ-CURL BAR WITH 30% OF YOUR 1RM REST 45 SECONDS SET TWO: PERFORM 15-20 REPS REST 45 SECONDS SET THREE: LIFT UNTIL YOU REACH MUSCULAR FAILURE REST 45 SECONDS SET FOUR: LIFT UNTIL YOU REACH MUSCULAR FAILURE *After completing the set above, unwrap your arms and let the blood circulate for 3–5 minutes, then re-wrap the arms as high on the biceps as possible and repeat for Triceps Pushdowns. JACOB WILSON, PH.D., CSCS Dr. Jacob Wilson, Ph.D., CSCS*D, is a professor and director of the skeletal muscle and sports nutrition laboratory at the Applied Science and Perfor- mance Institute in Tampa, Florida. 40   MUSCLE MEMORY | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018