After doing blood flow-restricted exercise, the ultrasound images of muscles didn’t show any change in texture with different cuffs, but when more pressure was applied, the images suggested the muscle tissue became slightly more watery.

Both the pause-and-lift method and the normal heavy-lift method cause the same amount of muscle puffiness right after a workout in trained guys — neither one makes the muscles look or feel more swollen than the other.

No matter how many sets you do, your thigh muscles look the same on ultrasound before and up to three days after—so swelling isn’t worse with more work.

The second time people do a tough arm workout, their muscles show less 'swelling' on ultrasound scans, meaning there's probably less damage or inflammation.