Jun 3, 2021UFC Performance Institute Partners with Next-Gen Tech Product
Australian fitness-technology company SAGA Fitness has announced an exciting new partnership with the UFC Performance Institute (UFC PI) the state-of-the-art, mixed martial arts training, research, and sports performance innovation leader, to provide next-generation blood flow restriction (BFR) cuffs to its athletes.
The world’s first wireless, intelligent blood flow restriction cuffs, SAGA’s BFR Cuffs are a compact, easy-to-use device that will help the UFC Performance Institute support an athlete’s performance and rehabilitation.
Led by Vice President of Performance, Dr. Duncan French, the UFC PI reviewed a range of BFR devices to find the most suitable product for their needs, eventually arriving at SAGA’s BFR Cuffs as their preferred portable BFR device.
“Our vision at the UFC Performance Institute is to further optimize an athlete’s performance by utilizing the best science and technology available,” said Dr. French. “Science has proven the effectiveness of BFR for improving performance, yet traditional BFR devices have often been inaccessible or inaccurate. SAGA Fitness has solved this problem and revolutionized BFR by introducing a simple, portable device that allows the user to self-manage occlusion calibration and pressure, all via an easy-to-use mobile app. SAGA’s innovation has given us the ability to not only use the cuffs to treat and train athletes at our Las Vegas and Shanghai facilities, but thanks to the tech’s simplicity, we can also distribute them to athletes for remote use worldwide.”
Blood flow restriction is a highly researched training method that has historically been used to support rehabilitation and enhance the adaptive response to strength training. The most well-known benefit of BFR training is its ability to increase or maintain physical strength while performing only low-intensity exercise. This makes BFR training highly beneficial during post-surgical and early-rehabilitation phases when athletes are unable to perform traditional high load strength training and typically experience a loss of muscle mass and strength.
Numerous research studies also show that BFR training offers significant benefits for maintaining strength and improving both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, making the BFR Cuffs a versatile tool that can be utilized throughout the UFC PI’s full program of training and rehabilitation.
“The UFC Performance Institute is dedicated to understanding and improving the health, wellbeing, and performance of MMA athletes, and their leadership in this field is unparalleled,” said Erin Kearney, General Manager of SAGA Fitness.
“We’re extremely honored to support their vision and help keep athletes healthy and performing at their best. We’re also excited to watch the various ways our technology will be implemented for performance and rehabilitation. The portable, wireless nature of the BFR Cuffs really makes it a versatile training tool for the MMA athlete.”
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Both the Las Vegas and Shanghai UFC PI locations will be equipped with the BFR Cuffs for fighters and staff to use, while some devices will also be sent to athletes in remote locations.
SAGA Fitness launched in January 2021 and is based in Brisbane, Australia. Their mission is to drive people to train smarter, work harder and expand their potential. The BFR Cuffs are SAGA’s flagship product.
