Occlusion Training Frequency – How Often Should I do Occlusion Training?

Occlusion training demands just as much consciousness about proper training frequency as every other serious strength training styles on the map. Because occlusion training involves pressure application to the blood vessels, it's important to understand how often to do occlusion training.

Gauging Your Recovery Quality

By giving your body adequate time to recover from occlusion training’s blood flow restriction (BFR), you gradually develop a much higher level of mental and physical tolerance for it in general. The key is to make sure that the progression up to higher tolerance is traveled intelligently, not recklessly. You want to train frequently enough to make incremental progress but not too infrequently that you begin to detrain and lose progress.

To begin, you’ll want to get a good feel for how your body handles the transition from one workout day to the next with the rest that you allow yourself. Generally speaking, there shouldn’t be more then two days of rest to recover back to at least 90% after a sufficiently challenging occlusion training workout.

The 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, & 2/2 Frequency splits

Once you get a solid handle on just how hard you can stress your muscles throughout a BFR workout while being able to initiate the next workout at near-full throttle, you’ll want to replicate that yet again with another equally spaced recovery period.

One-day-on/one-day-off(1/), one-day-on/two-days-off (1/2), and two-days-on/one-or-two-days-off (2/1)-(2/2) are all popular split models for gradually exposing muscles to brand new levels of challenges with occlusion training. There is no set frequency that you must obey in order to get the benefits that you’re after, but at the same time, about two or three sessions per week is recommended to keep your progress consistently steady.

Once you’ve gotten a grip on the frequency that works best for you, try to increase intensity by adding more volume (i.e. sets and reps with good form) before increasing weight lifted. Imagine how much more you might be able to get out of every occlusion training session by training with the optimal frequency.