If you're a young guy new to weightlifting and you use a blood pressure cuff to restrict blood flow while lifting, it doesn't matter whether you squeeze the cuff while you're pushing the weight up or while you're resting between sets—either way, you'll gain the same amount of strength and muscle.

If you use a tight band on your arm or leg while lifting heavy weights or resting between sets, it won’t make your muscles work harder—measured by electrical signals—when you’re a young guy who hasn’t trained before.

If you lift heavy weights with a special band that cuts off some blood flow, it doesn’t make your muscles stronger or bigger than just lifting heavy weights alone—even though your muscles feel more burned.

If you wear tight bands around your arms or legs only when you're resting between weightlifting sets, your muscles will produce more lactic acid afterward than if you wear them while lifting or not at all—but that extra burn doesn’t make your muscles grow bigger or stronger.

After doing heavy weight training, if women who’ve never trained before use a tight band around their arm afterward, their arm muscles don’t get any thicker—but men’s muscles still grow normally.

For people new to strength training, lifting light weights with restricted blood flow works just as well as lifting heavy weights for building muscle size over 6 weeks.