“It’s a good addition to exercise; it’s not all your education, ”said Arent. “It provides physiological stimuli when other things might be restricted.”
Sato said he accidentally discovered the benefits of restricted blood flow more than 50 years ago during a Buddhist ceremony at a Japanese temple that required him to sit on the floor in the seiza position for a long time – knees bent with heels under his bum – Periods. His calves and toes began to tingle and after 45 minutes he couldn’t take the pain anymore. When he got up he saw blood fill his calves and his legs felt like they were exercising.
Sato thought that maybe there might be a connection between disrupting blood flow to the muscles and exercising. He started tying karate belts, and later bicycle tubes, around his legs and conducted a series of experiments to keep track of how much the girth of his thighs and calves would grow even if he did fewer repetitions.
In 1973, Sato broke his ankle while skiing and restricted blood flow to the area during rehabilitation, which allowed him to enter the area regularly. A recovery that doctors told him could take four months took a little more than one.
“Pressure on, pressure off,” he said. “The benefits for both training and recovery were understood.”
For someone like Andrew, who swims thousands of meters every day, or Rupp, whose training plan includes more than 160 miles per week plus strength training and core training, or Noah Syndergaard, the pitcher of the Mets, or Mikaela Shiffrin, the champion skier, or one of the For other elite athletes who have begun to restrict blood flow, the technique enables them to reduce the likelihood of a repetitive exercise injury and speed up recovery time.
For Andrew, the most important part of technology may be how much he believes it will work. As any sports scientist knows, placebos can often be as powerful as any drug.
“I did about 18 races in seven days and felt fresh,” said Andrew. “I’m sure it was because I was so disciplined in recovery. I’ve been using it all along. “
