Dr. Chris Gaviglio on Building Strength and Maximizing Recovery with Blood Flow Restriction Training

Today’s show features Dr. Chris Gaviglio. Chris is a current senior strength and conditioning coach for the Queensland Academy of Sport, working with Olympic-based sports and athletes. Chris has been involved with elite sport for over 15 years working across multiple Olympic sports and professional football in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Chris provides applied sports science projects for the athletes he works with, particularly in the areas of salivary hormones, passive heat maintenance, blood flow restriction training, warm-up strategies, and power/strength development. I don’t often do shows that center around a piece of training technology, and the main reason for that is simply accessibility. If a training tool costs thousands of dollars, it isn’t something a large proportion of the athletic, and even coaching population can rationalize having in their training arsenal. The nice thing about blood flow restriction training is that it is available at a relatively low price point, with common units starting around $300USD. Other setups using squat wraps, for example, can be done basically for free, but I would recommend using an automated system for the safety and precision of band tightness (see show notes regarding safety considerations and contraindications to BFR, such as concussions or deep vein thrombosis). Blood Flow restriction training has been a training tool that has been on my radar for a long time. After seeing the results that a high-level Olympic swimmer I worked with got from them, and then hearing some results from Nicolai Morris having a 1.5 second drop in the 100 freestyle of a swimmer as well, as well as several of my coaching colleagues using the method, I knew that there was absolutely something to BFR that I needed to get further into. In using the AirBands from Vald performance myself, I continued to realize how beneficial this training stimulus is to our physiological response. For today’s show, Chris takes us into many topics of BFR, including its mechanisms and many benefits. As opposed to methods of mechanical stress (such as plyometrics, sprinting, heavy strength training methods) which tend to dominate this shows podcasts) BFR is a physiological stressor, and through this discussion, we can gain an appreciation for the contrast of physiological stress to more mechanical means. Chris finishes the show talking about how coaches and athletes can integrate BFR training, and gives many anecdotes and points of research, on how BFR can improve strength and speed recovery. Finally, our sponsor, Simplifaster is doing a Blood Flow Restiction cuff giveaway (Vald Airbands) so if you would like to get in on that, until November 11th, you can sign up for a chance to win a free pair of cuffs at bit.ly/freebfr . Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 6:00 – Chris’s experiment during quarantine using lighter, or minimal weights in an at-home training setting 17:00 – Discussion on using lighter implements and bodyweight in developing one’s athleticism 20:30 – What blood flow restriction training is, and where it originated from 27:00 – How the metabolic stress from BFR creates beneficial responses, similar to high-load lifting 35:25 – What BFR definitely helps with, and what elements of performance it is not as helpful for 41:25 – How BFR can help with creating “mild to moderate” doses of lactate – Using BFR style work in warming up for a training session 53:10 – If there are any similar places in sport where athletes will experience situations similar to what is created with BFR means 57:00 – How to get as close to BFR as one can in a gym without any sort of cuffs or wraps 1:00:00 – Anecdotes on how to integrate BFR in performance and rehab based situations 1:10:00 – Where to get started for those interested in BFR “BFR is a metabolic stress” “BFR is a method of strength training with the addition of pressure” “What is BRF doing, we are partially restricting blood flow, and what that allows us to do is you are actually restricting the venous return of the blood from your muscles, so the blood flows freely into the muscle, but you are restricting it coming back out” “The first (benefit of BFR) is an increase in concentration of metabolites” “The second (benefit of BFR) is (anabolic) hormonal response” “The third (benefit of BFR) is intramuscular signaling, we are talking here heat shock proteins, myostatin, mTOR pathways” “They had two groups, they did not lifting, but one used heat sheets to heat the muscles and the second had none, and the group that used heat got stronger…. BFR can also stimulate this” “The fourth (benefit of BFR) is intracellular swelling, or “the pump” The fifth (benefit of BFR) is muscular recruitment, our slow twitch fibers tire out earlier than normal, and our fast twitch fibers get innervated” “Normally in an injury or rehab scenario, that’s where we see a lot of BFR… “In athletic populations, load is still king, but could we dial that percentage down a little bit, still use the BFR cuffs, and give them a little juice in the tank to perform their speed session the next day, could we be smarter with that?” “In long term structural adaptations, there has been some research to show that lactate increases collagen synthesis in fibroblasts, which is essential for blood vessel formation and wound healing. Also correlations have been shown between increased lactate levels and concentrations of growth hormone and noradrenaline after BFR training” “Usually if we are going to lift above 80% of 1RM, traditionally we have (the cuffs) off… I did have one athlete who was doing heavy step ups with the cuffs on, he felt he would have a good 400m time the next day” “The bands will get you (to lactate) faster, and with less mechanical stress on the system” “I have some colleagues who will do over-reaching, and in their recovery weeks, they will do a lot of BFR, high reps” “Everyone thinks the first time I have an athlete I stick a BFR cuff on them, but it’s not true” “(BFR) is a stress, and we are using metabolic stress instead of mechanical stress” Show Notes Although BFR has been proven safe, there are some safety considerations and contraindications concerning BFR to be aware of: Thebarbellphysio.com/blood-flow-restriction-training-safe/ Performancehealthacademy.com/blood-flow-restriction-training-101.html Theprehabguys.com/blood-flow-restriction-training-in-a-nutshell/ Notes on protocols and usage with Dr. Jeremy Loenneke Informfitness.com/podcast/64-blood-flow-restriction-training-with-dr-jeremy-loenneke/ About Dr. Chris Gaviglio Dr. Chris Gaviglio is a current senior strength and conditioning coach for the Queensland Academy of Sport, working with Olympic-based sports and athletes. Chris has been involved with elite sport for over 15 years working across multiple Olympic sports and professional football codes in both the northern (Bath Rugby) and southern (Wallabies – Australian National Rugby Union team and Gold Coast SUNS – Australian Football /AFL) hemisphere. During his time in the UK (Bath Rugby), Chris was involved with UKSport in multiple applied sports science projects. His major project involved monitoring salivary hormones (testosterone and cortisol) responses to competition and training in rugby union and culminated in his thesis. Chris has several papers already publish as a result of this work and other collaborative work with other applied sport scientists. Aside from an interest in using salivary hormones as a marker for training and competition, he continues to provide bespoke applied sports science projects for the athletes he works with, particularly in the areas of: Passive heat maintenance Blood flow restriction training Warm-up and peri-competition strategies Power and strength development Chris is also an entrepreneur and enjoys designing training products that compliments his strength and conditioning passion. The first two products he produced were back mobilization tools in the Thera-wedge and then the Backsak. More recently he designed the Sports Rehab Tourniquet to be used for Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) training. This is a total body training system for both the upper and lower body. As a progression from designing this BFR training tool he has developed training workshops and instructional videos to help educate users.