How Rugby League Champions St Helens Use Blood Flow Restriction Training

We predominantly use them for post-match recovery. The morning after a game, the whole squad will go through a recovery protocol wearing BFR shorts—half [the squad] will focus on active recovery, half on passive recovery, before swapping over. 

The active recovery group tighten the straps on the BFR shorts and perform an eight-exercise circuit, varying upper and lower-body moves such as press-ups, goblet squats and landmine shoulder presses. They will do two rotations of 10 reps, then release the straps. After a minute they will tighten the straps again, and do three lots of two minutes each on a treadmill, exercise bike and rowing machine or air bike. 

The passive recovery group, meanwhile, will do breathing exercises and low-level stretching, all blood flow restricted, before swapping with the active recovery group. We also use the shorts with ice baths. 

The players welcome the distraction. They will spend one minute restricted in the ice bath, then one minute in a hot shower with the straps released to flush the system, repeated five times. We typically do this after heavy field sessions or the day after a game, but we don’t use ice baths after any lower-body lifts because you’re trying to cause a little bit of damage. You want that inflammation to occur as that’s how you build your strength. 

Generally, it makes them feel better. Our players all reported improved wellbeing scores —which review fatigue levels, muscle soreness and sleep quality—after using the BFR shorts. That was all the evidence we needed. They really believe in it too. They’re pretty used to fads that come and go but this has always been a staple of their training. Our halfback Jonny Lomax, who is in his 30s now, really loves it. He never has [the cuffs] off! 

In terms of maintaining strength with injured players, we see minimal to no drop-off with those who use BFR training for the course of their rehabilitation. For example, a player might be bench pressing 100kg before injury, then have to reduce the load considerably during their rehab. If they do this using the BFR wearables, while increasing the sets and reps, once fit again they should be able to pick up exactly where they left off. For the coaches, the more players we have fit and available to train, the more productive a coaching session can be, and that’s played a massive part in being able to improve on-field as well as off-field.  

BFR is a way of manipulating or manufacturing false load. By restricting blood flow you’re making the lift harder, which accentuates all the micro-tears that occur in the muscle. The problem with regular hypertrophy exercise is that the body is too efficient. By using BFR you’re sort of cheating the body into a state of shock, reducing its ability to flush away lactic acid and replenish the muscle with oxygenated blood. It’s simple, but beautifully effective. 

It’s a weird feeling—it’s hard to explain. For recovery, it should never get to the point of pain, but if you’re lifting for a high number of reps it can trigger a strange feeling.

I genuinely think it is. I’m more of a running man these days and, because of my back, I can’t tolerate heavy loads any more. Instead, I use the BFR shorts so I can lift a little bit lighter but get just as much out of the session. The Hytro kit is pretty discreet too so it’s something you can strap on and strap off between your lifts. 

Education is key. When we first started using BFR it was a bit of trial and error but the beauty is you can’t do any damage. You’re not stopping the blood flow completely, just slightly restricting it. We’ve found established protocols that work for our athletes in a contact sport but they could evolve and develop, as we’ve seen with their use of ice baths. Some of our players use them in their pre-match warm-up, [some] when they come off [the pitch] to stay warm. Ultimately, making sure people are up to speed on how to best use them, whether for strength, endurance or power, will be key.