Doing light weights with restricted blood flow seems to build leg muscles about as well as lifting heavy weights, based on what researchers have found so far.

People who had never lifted weights before were split into two groups: one group lifted heavy weights normally, and the other lifted heavy weights while wearing bands that restricted blood flow. After 10 weeks, both groups got about the same amount stronger and their muscles grew about the same size — the difference wasn’t big enough to say one method was better than the other.

Both light weights with restricted blood flow and heavy weights help build strength pretty well in healthy adults — the numbers show clear benefits for both.

If you're new to lifting weights, heavy lifting makes you stronger faster than light lifting with blood flow restriction, but both methods build muscle about the same.

Getting stronger from lifting weights doesn’t always mean your muscles are getting bigger—and vice versa. Strength and size don’t go hand in hand.

Some people grow more muscle with regular heavy lifting, others grow just as much or more with heavy lifting plus blood flow restriction — there’s no one-size-fits-all answer.