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.

People who already lift weights regularly get stronger and build more muscle from low-weight exercises with blood flow restriction than from heavy lifting, making BFR-RT a powerful tool for advanced athletes.

For most people, lifting light weights with blood flow restriction builds muscle just as well as lifting heavy weights — making it a great option if you can't lift heavy.

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.

BFR training doesn't make you stronger at lifting your heaviest weight — it helps with endurance and muscle size, but not with max strength tests like a one-rep max.

Some people build more muscle with heavy weightlifting alone, while others build more muscle when they add a special band to cut off some blood flow—so everyone might need a different kind of workout to get the best results.