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Can you build serious strength without heavy weights? A clinical trial comparing resistance training and blood flow restriction methods highlights options for those seeking gains without joint stress.

Study: Comparative analysis of high-intensity resistance training and blood flow restriction training on enhancing upper limb muscle strength and mass. Image credit: Ground Picture/Shutterstock.com

A recent paper published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology compares the effects of two types of exercise training on upper limb muscle mass and strength. The results could help redirect people unsuitable for high-intensity training to another alternative.

Introduction

High-intensity resistance training (HIRT) is an effective way to achieve upper limb muscle growth, but at a higher risk of damaging the joints, ligaments, or tendons in this injury-prone area. Low-intensity training uses a low training load with more repetitions, increasing the time required. Though it is safer than HIRT, it is also less effective, reducing the final muscle hypertrophy.

Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFRT) is a low-intensity alternative to HIRT. Also known as KAATSU training, BFRT is a novel method of strength training in which external pressure is applied to the limbs using specially designed pressure equipment. This pressure obstructs venous blood flow completely and arterial flow partly. The outcome is more intense body stimulation at each load level, the goal being to increase muscle strength and size and boost endurance.

BFRT could be a safe middle path that confers muscle growth and strength comparable to that with HIRT, but with less risk of injury. BFRT combined with short-term intensive strength training improved body composition and cardiac performance, enhancing cardiovascular fitness. This is the case in young and elderly participants after a short-term intervention.

BFRT has also been demonstrated in the rehabilitation of post-surgical patients, for instance, after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Here, it improves muscle thickness and strength, helping the patient regain function. BFRT also prevents injury in older adults by increasing bone strength and exercise capacity.

BFRT can be optimized by using an exercise intensity of 20% to 40% of one-repetition maximum strength (1RM) with a high number of repetitions, during two or three sessions per week. Pressure is applied to achieve 50% to 80% vessel blockade, though there is no consensus on whether to use absolute vs progressive pressure. Each of these affects upper limb training adaptation, but they have not been directly compared with each other or with HIRT, prompting the research in the current study.

This study was a randomized controlled trial involving 34 participants, who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the HIRT, BRTF with fixed pressure (BFRT-F), or BFRT with progressive pressure (BFRT-P).

Study findings

The 1RM increased significantly in all groups, with the best results in the HIRT group, followed by the BFRT-P group.

The HIRT protocol increased all isokinetic muscle strength parameters. The highest was an increase of over 55% in the triceps extension. Peak torque increased significantly at the shoulder and elbow joints in the HIRT group compared with BFRT-F.

The BFRT-P group experienced comparable increases in strength of between 30% and 40%. Though increases occurred in the BFRT-F group, the gains were significantly below those in the other groups. With the trunk and back muscle groups, the gains in peak torque were highest for HIRT (~3%) compared to both other groups.  Still, the BFRT-P group showed a marked improvement in peak torque compared to BFRT-F.

Despite being inferior to the other groups’ outcomes, the BFRT-F also showed significantly higher peak torque in several joint extensors and flexors.

The HIRT and BFRT-P groups, but not the BFRT-F group, demonstrated increased arm muscle circumference, especially during muscle contraction, signaling muscle hypertrophy. The most significant increase occurred in the HIRT group.

Muscle mass increased in both the HIRT and BFRT-P groups. In the HIRT group, this increase was about 15.1% and 22.6% in the left and right arms, respectively, and 5.2% and 10.6% in the BFRT-P group, for the left and right arms, respectively. The BFRT-F group failed to show any significant change.  

These findings followed the predicted pattern, probably because progressive pressure with BFRT-P causes greater metabolic stress. This, in turn, induces more hypoxia and results in the accumulation of metabolites in the muscle, the probable reason for its superiority to BFRT-F.

Conclusion

The study presents the first direct and controlled comparison of high-intensity resistance training with two blood flow restriction training modalities. It demonstrated that the best results were obtained with HIRT, confirming, as expected, “HIRT’s role as the gold standard for mechanical tension-driven adaptations”. In contrast, the BFRT-F group had the lowest gains.

Notably, the BFRT-F group used a lower load at 30% 1RM but still showed strength gains, indicating that BFRT does play a role in improving strength. Certain studies suggest that BFRT can build muscle strength comparably to HIRT, but possibly only in trained individuals. BFRT may be especially important in training among older men, where it has sometimes been shown to be nearly as effective as HIRT, though the results are conflicting.

The authors noted that using fixed, absolute pressures instead of individualized arterial occlusion pressures may have limited BFRT’s full potential. They also acknowledge the absence of a low-intensity resistance training group with BFRT, which limits comparisons between BFRT and conventional low-load training. Additionally, muscle strength was estimated using an indirect 1RM formula rather than measured directly, introducing possible error.

“While HIRT is optimal for strength and hypertrophy, BFRT-P is a viable alternative for individuals contraindicated to high-intensity training.” The findings suggest that pressure progression may be crucial in maximizing results with BFRT. Future studies should explore the role of personalized arterial occlusion pressures and include a low-intensity control group to provide controls for low-load training without the effect of BFRT.

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Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ and Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) have renewed their multifacted film and television series content agreement.

Under the renewal, Movistar Plus+ will continue to be the exclusive Pay 1 home in Spain for Sony Pictures feature films following their theatrical and home entertainment windows.

The movie titles include recent release 28 Years Later and new instalments of franchises I Know What You Did Last Summer and Karate Kid: Legends, as well as catalogue franchises such as Spider-Man, Ghostbusters, Jumanji, Men In Black, Bad Boys, Hotel Transylvania, The Da Vinci Code, Equalizer and individual classics such as Little Women, Whiplash and Call Me by Your Name.

The extension also includes Sony networks’ AXN channel in the platform linear TV offering, and the return of AXN Movies, specialized in blockbuster films, which are both part of the Movistar Plus+ channel offering.

AXN series include The Good Doctor, Criminal Minds, Chicago Fire, and S.W.A.T, alongside a library of over 100 series on including award-winning drama Damages, The Shield and exclusive Sony Pictures Television shows such as Twisted Metal, High Country, and Accused.

Mark Young, EVP, Distribution & Networks, Sony Pictures Television, welcomed the extension of the “longstanding” partnership.

“We have a slate of feature and television titles here that we are extremely proud of, and we can’t wait for audiences in Spain to get to enjoy them following their theatrical window,” he said. “Additionally, our AXN networks are in terrifically robust shape and through this partnership they will continue to be a benchmark in quality programming enjoyed across Spain.

Recently installed Movistar Plus+ CEO Daniel Domenjó highlighted the renewal of the movie component.

“We want to have the best film offer in Spain and be the first to showcase the biggest international titles. The renewal of our partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment is a solid step forward for it,” he said.

The renewal announcement comes just days after Domenjó addressed Spanish fears around the future for original films and TV shows on the platform, pledging to maintain the platform’s role as a “driving force” for the local creative sector.

A charity which provides outdoor education to thousands of schoolchildren has welcomed the Princess Royal as its new patron.

Princess Anne visited the headquarters of the Field Studies Council at Preston Montford in Shropshire on Tuesday.

She met children who were visiting, and centre manager Arran Holdsworth said they “chatted at length”.

Becks Evans, assistant headteacher at Shrewsbury Academy, said her students had been “buzzing for weeks” and she added: “They were really proud to talk to her today about the time they spend here at the Field Studies Council.”

The environmental education charity, which was established 80 years ago, said it caters for more than 100,000 young people at its network of field study centres across the UK.

It said it was “engaging some of the most deprived young people in outdoor learning and giving them access to nature”.

During her visit the Princess Royal met trustees, staff from across the UK and visitors, including a group from Grantham Prep School near Nottingham.

One year six student, Freddie, had caught a butterfly when she came to speak to his group.

He said: “We thought it was a red admiral, and we were talking about ways to identify it when Princess Anne spoke and mentioned that there was a phone app to identify the butterflies.”

“I thought that was funny. She was very interested in what the children were doing and it’s been a lovely experience for us all.”

Ethan, who was taking part in a bug hunt, said: “She was very nice. I’ve seen her on the TV many times so it was amazing to meet her.”

At the end of the visit, Princess Anne was asked to unveil a plaque to mark her patronage of the charity and was given locally-grown flowers.

Later in the day, the princess visited HM Prison and Young Offender Institution at Stoke Heath near Market Drayton.

She was there in her capacity as patron of the Butler Trust, a charity which celebrates excellence in UK prisons, probation, youth justice and escort services.

As Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie took to the stage in a hall in the south-eastern Nigerian city of Enugu, dressed in a vibrant burnt orange African-print outfit, her hair styled in an elegant afro, the audience clapped and ululated in appreciation.

“It’s always a homecoming when I return to the south-east,” the novelist, who was born in the city, began. “But it no longer feels like home – the calm, the warmth, the essence seems to have faded,” she added, in an allusion to the violence associated with an armed separatist movement in the region – where 90% of people are from the Igbo ethnic group – and a recent rise in ritual killings.

Adichie was making the keynote speech at the closing ceremony of the inaugural Things Fall Apart festival, which celebrates the 67th anniversary of the release of the seminal novel by Chinua Achebe.

Organised by the Enugu-based Centre for Memories, the festival marks a significant expansion of the annual Things Fall Apart Day, now in its fifth year. Set in the fictional Igbo village of Umuofia, the book explored how colonialism and cultural misunderstandings fissured traditional African societies. It was written as a counter to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, which portrayed Africa as a dark place.

Iheanyi Igboko, the centre’s executive director, explained the festival’s significance. “Things Fall Apart is not just a book,” he said. “It is a mirror, a declaration of identity, and a provocation. It represents the Igbo worldview and African traditions – and still challenges us today.”

Adichie’s presence was part of her book tour for her new novel Dream Count – her first in over a decade – which tells the story of four women grappling with questions around love and identity.

Her speech focused on the preservation of the Igbo language, culture and identity – just as Achebe did with Things Fall Apart almost seven decades ago.

Between 1967 and 1970, a brutal civil war fought between the government and the secessionist state of Biafra killed an estimated 1 million people, mostly in the south-east.

Over the last decade, a separatist movement citing continued political and economic marginalisation in the region has turned increasingly violent. In the past four years more than 700 people have been killed either for defying the separatists’ weekly stay-at-home order every Monday or from clashes between the separatists and Nigerian security forces.

“Let us wake up,” Adichie said. “We often speak of political marginalisation. While that exists, we must pause that conversation until we have cleaned our own house. We must unite. Unity doesn’t mean the absence of differences – it is the decision to come together despite them.”

Adichie also lamented what she called a growing disregard for human life and the erosion of community values among Igbos. “Today, we hear grotesquely inhumane stories of people murdered in ritual practices for money,” she said. “It is important to note that the victims of this recent upsurge of barbarism are mostly women … In Igbo culture, nothing is more sacred than life itself [as] Things Fall Apart teaches us … we are participating in our own destruction.”

The week-long festival, which began on 29 June, brought Achebe’s fictional world to life. Highlights included a reimagined Umuofia village, theatrical performances, dramatic readings, and a stunning appearance by the Ajofia masquerade – one of the novel’s powerful symbolic figures.

The Things Fall Apart village had depictions of a shrine, huts, a yam barn, a waterfall, and men on guard at the entrance in traditional warrior attire holding spears, as in Umuofia in the book. Visitors were given palm wine in cups made from coconut shells as the Ijele Renaissance theatre group re-enacted a playground scene where the protagonist, Okonkwo, gained fame by defeating Amalinze the Cat in a fierce wrestling bout.

James Ngwu Eze, an organiser, emphasised Enugu’s symbolic relevance to the book and the festival. “Achebe spent many productive years in the city and taught at the University of Nigeria Nsukka,” he said. “Enugu is also the cultural and political capital of Igboland and Things Fall Apart was set in the Igbo culture.”

Present in the audience were dozens of writers, artists, students, actors, and scholars including the Nollywood veteran Nkem Owoh, who featured in a 13-part screen adaptation of Things Fall Apart in 1987.

For many in attendance, especially the younger people, the festival was an awakening. Janeth Sule, a banker, described it as “a reminder to preserve culture and tell our stories”. John Tochukwu, an artist who crafted festival items such as lanterns and plates from coconut shells, said Achebe “helped us see who we are – not as people of darkness, but of dignity and tradition”.

Vulnerable freelance workers in television feel “real fear” about coming forward to complain about stars like Gregg Wallace, the head of the broadcasting union has said.

Wallace was fired from MasterChef on Tuesday after fresh allegations to the BBC about his behaviour from a further 50 people.

The general secretary of the Bectu union, Philippa Childs, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was not surprised about the further allegations about Wallace and said the union had also received complaints about his conduct.

Among the new complaints were allegations that Wallace took his trousers down in front of a woman in a dressing room in 2012, while a participant on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen said Wallace had put his hand under the table and on to her groin and said “Do you like that?” during a dinner before filming in 2002.

Childs said: “Lots of these people are young female freelancers, and there is a real fear. I can’t overstate the fear of freelancers feel about coming forward in such cases. Because, first of all, they think that … someone like Gregg Wallace is extremely powerful, and therefore who’s going to listen to them?

“And secondly, because they’re freelancers, they feel very vulnerable in terms of their careers and their futures in the industry. So it’s a real problem for the industry to tackle, and it really must tackle it going forward.”

The BBC sacked Wallace before publication of a long-awaited report on a series of allegations last year. In December the BBC confirmed that Grace Dent, who hosts the Guardian’s Comfort Eating podcast, would replace Gregg Wallace alongside John Torode for the next series of Celebrity MasterChef.

Wallace stepped down from the series at the end of November while its production company, Banijay UK, investigated claims of misconduct, which he denies.

The new claims were made as Wallace admitted using inappropriate language but claimed to have been cleared of “the most serious and sensational accusations made against me”.

In a statement on social media, the former BBC presenter said he had now been diagnosed with autism. He said while his neurodiversity was discussed across “countless seasons of MasterChef”, he was given no protection.

“I will not go quietly,” Wallace wrote in a furious Instagram post. “I will not be cancelled for convenience. I was tried by media and hung out to dry well before the facts were established. The full story of this incredible injustice must be told and it is very much a matter of public interest.”

The BBC reported that the majority of new allegations were about claimed inappropriate comments. However, it said 11 women accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour such as groping and touching. Wallace has denied the allegations.

Among the new allegations were claims that Wallace took his trousers down in front of a woman in a dressing room. The woman, who worked on MasterChef between 2011 and 2013, described his behaviour as “disgusting and predatory”.

She claimed to have reported what had happened but said she was told by staff who were more senior: “You’re over 16. You’re not being Jimmy Saviled.”

A participant on Saturday Kitchen claimed that during a 2002 dinner before filming, Wallace put his hand on her groin and said: “Do you like that?” The BBC also reported that a 19-year-old MasterChef worker tried to complain in 2022 about Wallace’s comments about her body.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Banijay UK instructed the law firm Lewis Silkin to run an investigation into allegations against Gregg Wallace. We are not going to comment until the investigation is complete and the findings are published.” Banijay is not commenting on the report until it is officially published.

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“We are like kids at Christmas today. We have been holding these news in for months now and we are so excited to share it with you,” said Schiaparelli CEO Delphine Bellini at a press conference taking place at the house’s historic HQ at 21 Place Vendôme in Paris this morning. The conference was called on the occasion of ‘Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art’ — a new retrospective set to open at the V&A South Kensington, in March 2026. It will be the first exhibition ever staged in the UK that is devoted to the surrealist house.

“One of the intentions of this exhibition is to highlight the relationship between the house of Schiapparelli and London – Elsa Schiaparelli was highly involved in the location,” continued Bellini. “We have been at Harrods since January 2023 but we recently moved to another space, within the prestigious store – one that really speaks to Daniel Roseberry’s vision. So this really is the time for us to take over the city of London.”

Founded in 1927 by Elsa Schiaparelli, the brand became synonymous with innovation and famous for its metaphysical and artistic themes. Schiaparelli, who had no formal couture training and constructed clothes by draping the fabric directly onto the body, was one of the first designers to introduce the concept of the wrap dress, as well as zippers. She is, perhaps, most famous for her involvement with the surrealist and Dada movements, and collaborations with artists Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, Jean-Michel Frank and Giacometti, among others.

The couture house shut after struggling financially following WWII, before being revived in 2007, when it was bought by Tod’s chair Diego Della Valle. However, the first modern couture collection, comprising 18 outfits designed by Cristian Lacroix, was not presented until June 2013. That was a one-off, with Marco Zanini taking over the following season, only to be replaced by Bertrand Guyon in 2015. Zanini and Guyon’s collections received positive reviews, however real commercial success came only after current creative director Daniel Roseberry took to the helm in 2019.

Two hundred objects spanning the house’s history will make up the exhibition. These will include the famous Skeleton and Tears dresses that already belong to the V&A, along with a hat shaped to look like an upside-down shoe, all conceived in collaboration with Dalí. Artworks by Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau and Man Ray will also be on display.

“The response from collectors and other museums has been unprecedented. We have been able to secure some of the best loans in terms of fine arts that we have ever had in a fashion exhibition before,” noted V&A head of exhibitions Daniel Slater. “That speaks to the level of respect the house of Schiaparelli has within the art community and Elsa Schiaparelli’s impact on the arts.”

One could argue there has never been a more relevant time for a Schiaparelli retrospective. Roseberry dedicated the Winter 2025/2026 couture collection he presented on Monday, “to [the] period when life and art were on the precipice: to the sunset of elegance and to the end of the world as we knew it”, hence drawing parallels between pre-WWII Paris and the state of our world today. Worth a visit this spring — hopefully nothing changes too much until then.

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Behind the scenes: Schiaparelli distils its ready-to-wear vision

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PARIS (AP) — Models and celebrities showed off looks that included bioluminescent algae and a live crow at Paris couture week as renowned designers presented their Fall-Winter 2025/26 haute couture collections.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.