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

Scientific Claim

Individual responses to high-load resistance training with or without blood flow restriction vary substantially, with approximately half of untrained individuals showing greater muscle growth from training without restriction and half showing similar or greater growth with restriction.

Original Statement

“Using a threshold of 2 × typical errors (3.24%) to compare protocols, five participants showed greater mCSA increases after HL-RT... and five did not respond better to HL-RT...”

From study:Individual muscle hypertrophy in high-load resistance training with and without blood flow restriction: A near-infrared spectroscopy approach

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

probability

Can suggest probability/likelihood

Assessment Explanation

The claim is based on direct observation of individual responses in a randomized trial. The language 'approximately half' appropriately reflects the n=10 sample and avoids overgeneralization.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Individual muscle hypertrophy in high-load resistance training with and without blood flow restriction: A near-infrared spectroscopy approach

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2025 Oct

In this study, 10 people did two types of leg workouts — one with tight bands and one without. Half of them grew more muscle without the bands, and the other half grew just as much or more with the bands — exactly what the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Individual muscle hypertrophy in high-load resistance training with and without blood flow restriction: A near-infrared spectroscopy approach

Score: 46

DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2024.2437588

Similar Assertions

Doing heavy weightlifting with your legs squeezed to restrict blood flow doesn't make your muscles grow more than just doing heavy weightlifting normally — at least not for most people who haven't trained before.

80%

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.

76%

This training makes your muscles grow and your strength go up — but not while you’re doing it. The best results show up weeks later, which means your body was under a lot of stress and needed time to recover.

76%

Most of the research on how much to lift and how often was done on young men who already train—so we don’t know if the same rules apply to women, older people, or beginners.

76%

When you do heavy lifting while restricting blood flow to your muscles, your muscles feel more burned and stressed during the workout than when you lift heavy without restricting blood flow.

76%