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From a scale of 0 (meaning no pressure at all) to 10 (meaning the pressure before getting a limb amputated), the pressure on your arms should feel like a 7, and the pressure on your legs should feel like an 8 or 9. Apply the wrap or band as close to the top of the limb as possible – very close to the groin if occluding venous blood flow from the legs, and very close to the arm pit if occluding venous blood flow from the arms.
Use a light load (30-40 reps possible when fresh around 20-30% of 1 RM). Do as many reps as you can, rest for about 30 seconds, and do it again. 3-4 sets with short rest, aim for 60-100 reps in total. In some studies the wraps were removed, but for more convenience, I would just keep them on.
By creating this hypoxic environment within your muscles you will more quickly fatigue the type I oxidative fibers and get to the more hypertrophy capable type II fibers.
Interestingly, it seems that the additive increase in strength only applies to well-trained athletes. It could be that untrained people are already getting all the strength benefits they could possibly get just from training with heavy weight. [1]
BFR without strength training speeds up recovery from training. The study showed that 2 sets of 3 minutes of BFR for the legs immediately after a training session significantly sped up recovery and enhanced subsequent performance for power-related tests. [2]
BFR can also decrease muscle atrophy when you’re injured, and speed up the recovery of strength when you can get back to training. [3]
Keep in mind, I’m not recommending low-load BFR as the sole focus of your training plan. You should still be picking up heavy stuff. One Study showed that low-load BFR doesn’t affect tendons to the same degree as heavy training does. [4]
In my experience I would use BFR if I’m injured and thus can’t lift as heavy. You could also add it in for a 4-8 week training cycle, then replace with more isolation exercises for the next 4-8 week block.
References:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21360203
[2] https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/h2012-101#.Xr5tdS_34Uv
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11128848
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16871002
