We Give You:
The BfR Annual Report 2017!
Curious for a look backstage at BfR Professional? Well, here’s your chance…
Almost one year ago, our New Year’s resolution was to make BfR Professional happen – for real. As founders of BfR, we (Lars and Martin) had already spent over one year meticulously planning and testing prototypes for our occlusion straps. Now a Kickstarter campaign starting in December 2016 would demonstrate to us whether there was any interest out there. After all, not that many people knew about blood flow restriction training then.
Off to a flying start
Fortunately, you guys were curious about this totally new way of working out – and about us. Our Kickstarter left us 125% funded, and in January and February 2017 we sent out our first products: the BfR Pro ARMS straps and the BfR Pro Elastic Training Tube. By then, our website and newsletter were also up and running. Things were quickly picking up speed, and in April we got our first interns in order to increase our efforts within sales and market research.
In mid-May, two other BfR babies were born: the BfR Pro GluteBuilder and the BfR Pro LEGS. Like all other fathers, we were of course extremely proud to send them off into the world!
Bumpy road ahead?
Creating and launching new products can get rather addictive, and over the summer we decided to up our game and start developing the prototype for a digital product. Second generation BfR equipment, enabling you to take your training to the next level. We’d just received a grant from The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship, so we knew we had the money as well as the vision.
However, no pain, no gain; things got a bit uphill for a while... Imagine dozens of meetings with potential business partners, redesigning packaging, insane amounts of coffee and equally insane hours. And ordering a thousand new product manuals, only to find out that you’ve managed to turn the text upside down, doesn’t exactly help! But the point of mistakes is that you learn from them. That’s always been our philosophy.
For example, we learned that always doing things at the very last minute isn’t a sensible idea. Unless you like high blood pressure, that is. After having to speed build a wooden promo stand minutes before a crowd of eager bodybuilders and athletes would come surging through the doors of the Newcomers 2017 in Herning, we’ve solemnly made each other a promise to at least try to be in good time.
The Newcomers fair turned out to be a huge success, though, and our digital dreams are well on their way, so basically we haven’t looked back. Another philosophy of ours is that success isn’t something you get – it’s something you create.
Autumn ramp-up
In the second part of 2017, we brought in graphics and communications interns because we wanted to boost the visual identity of BfR and give our communication an overhaul. After all, everybody wants to look and sound good, right?
At BfR, we’re always eager to improve not just our muscles but also our minds, so in August we attended Inspire Convention 2017 in Denmark where one of the world’s leading BFR researchers, Prof. Jeremy Loenneke, spoke. And in November we flew to Portugal to join Web Summit 2017 in order to show off our digital prototype and do some serious business dating.
On Black Friday we were lavishing discounts on you guys, which you generously rewarded. Now it’s December, and we’re finishing off 2017 with an Advent Calendar on Facebook and Instagram. So swing by our page and profile if you feel like getting your hands on our products, body boosting supplements and a unique Christmas discount.
One big BfR family
All in all, it’s been an amazing year, and although we’ve learned a few lessons, getting enthusiastic feedback from you guys makes it all worthwhile. Lots of exciting things are in the pipeline for 2018, probably including our digital BfR product, an app and more youtubing.
So, the humble wish we want to make for Christmas this year is that you will keep following us and share your personal BfR stories with us and the rest of the BfR family. We’re together on this one.
Thank you for making 2017 an awesome BfR year!
Lars and Martin
Team BfR Professional
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High-Level Business Dating
On a gloomy November morning, at a truly ungodly time of day, three guys got on a plane in Billund Airport. They were sleepy and had barely had the time to grab some breakfast or do their hair. And then there was that slightly nervous sensation in their stomachs. All in all, not the best basis when going on a date.
Pleased to meet you, Web Summit
Fortunately, a case of the jitters tends to go away once you’re on a roll, and we’re proud to say that that was exactly what happened. You see, those three Danish guys were us: Lars and Martin, the BfR founders, and Peter, our new tech consultant. As announced in our November newsletter, we were headed for Lisbon, Portugal to attend the world’s largest tech summit as part of its ALPHA programme. The goal: to promote ourselves, do some sweet talking and make new acquaintances. (Basically, everything you do on a standard date, right?).
Being a small Danish start-up at an international summit boasting 60,000 participants can be a bit daunting, but people there proved very open and curious. The opening ceremony on Monday with top speakers like Stephen Hawking and Margrethe Vestager dazzled everybody.
Abu Dhabi living
On Tuesday, we were busy at our BfR Professional stand promoting our occlusion training equipment, getting feedback on our digital prototype for the next BfR generation and connecting with potential investors. (This was when we got a memorable offer to move our business to Abu Dhabi!).
Wednesday was just as busy and exciting: Various business people from China, Hungary and Chile requested meetings with us, and we even managed to get roped in for two interviews for Portuguese television. On Thursday, we wrapped up our summit adventure by going to heaps of workshops and talks to gather inspiration.
The end of single life?
Now we’re back in Aarhus, processing our experience. Was it worth the time and money for us to go to Web Summit 2017? Absolutely. We may be a young company, but we’ve come home with international inspiration as well as a number of potential sales leads and partners. And let’s face it: Everybody likes being liked. That’s what dating is all about. So, motivated as ever, we’re going to transform all of this into value for you.
Whether we end up pursuing high living in Abu Dhabi, sipping cocktails in rooftop bars, remains to be seen..! But for now, we're staying put here in Aarhus.
Team BfR Professional
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Something’s Cooking at BfR!
Here at BfR Professional we are proud to announce that we have received a grant from The Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship (Fonden for Entreprenørskab). For the uninitiated, this is the Danish national knowledge centre for the development of entrepreneurship. It also allocates grants for students with great ideas in order to promote entrepreneurship as a career path.
Competition is fierce, which is why we are incredibly proud and excited about this grant. Those of you who may be entrepreneurs yourselves will know just how taxing startup life and building a business can be. However, receiving a stamp of approval like this makes it all worthwhile! Now we want to turn this into even more value for you.
Great application and we believe there is a huge potential in this niche. At the same time, it is nice to see how far you’ve taken this as a team already with the development process.
Feedback from the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship
World domination, here we come!
Oh, we have big plans… Here at BfR we constantly want to stay innovative and ahead, and one of the many things we are currently looking into is prototyping. We’ll give you a small hint: It has to do with digital. The time is right to take BfR and you to the next level. For the moment, we want to keep our cards close to our chest, but stay tuned for more information by signing up to our newsletter here or follow us on Instagram here.
On a related note, this grant has also enabled us to join Web Summit 2017 in Lisbon on November 6-9. This is the largest tech summit in the world as well as a hotspot for entrepreneurs as well as investors, and as part of the ALPHA programme we are keen to exhibit BfR while boosting our inspiration and network.
Come and meet us there or stay tuned to our blog for a report on the summit. We will also be posting on Facebook and Instagram during our time in Portugal. As always, we welcome your feedback and personal BfR stories. Simply use the @bfrpro or #bfrpro on Instagram and we promise that we will find you.
Take care,
Team BfR Professional
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Why You Should Buy a Premium Product for Occlusion/ BFR Training
Since we launched BfR Professional using the world’s largest crowdfunding platform called Kickstarter to distribute our premium product for blood flow restriction (BFR)/occlusion/KAATSU training, we’ve been asked quite a few times why you can’t just use a rope or regular elastic band when performing this new training hack?
Of course, it all comes down to preferences, but we've tried a lot of different alternatives ourselves over the past two years, and the conclusion is that the design and comfort of the strap/band/cuff absolutely matter! In fact, our British BfR Pro Ambassador and guest blogger James Ruckley has been through the same trying to find the perfect occlusion straps; read more about his experience here).
Below are some of the things we have taken into consideration as we designed the BfR Pro ARMS for ourselves and you…
Different sizes
As BFR training becomes increasingly popular within fitness and for rehabilitation, more products will naturally hit the market, but the quality of them already varies greatly. Most of the current products come with a “one-size fits all” mentality, which may be just fine for you. Indeed, our own BfR Pro LEGS is a one-size product as this made sense to us in the case of leg training.
However, we decided to focus on offering a customised arms product in different sizes to match the needs of the individual, and this is how our top teller BfR Pro ARMS came to be. This makes it not only more comfortable to wear but also a lot nicer to look at from an aesthetic point of view without half of the band flapping around your arm as you work out. (If you're as vain as we are from time to time, you'll surely appreciate this!).
Finding the right size for you
Our website has a size guide as well as instructions on how to measure your upper arm correctly in order to pick the right strap size. In short, you should measure the area below your shoulder but above your biceps and triceps – not the area around the middle of your biceps where the circumference is naturally larger.
You may ask, “I’m between two different sizes, so which one should I choose?” We always recommend going for the larger one since it's better to apply a lower pressure than too hard of a pressure which can have a negative effect on your muscle-building and in worst cases cause an injury. Another advantage is that picking the larger of the two will allow you to grow - and believe us, you will!
Single-handed fitting
One of the major challenges using knee wraps or other one-size occlusion bands can be to strap it on in the first place without the assistance of a buddy since this kind of product is typically long and unhandy.
And although you may be the type of person who welcomes any opportunity to interact with your fellow gym-goers, these makeshift bands may often also cause an uneven pressure to be applied to the muscle which may decrease the actual physiological effect of your training.
We solved this by designing a product that you can strap on and release with one hand making it even more simple to use leaving you to focus on finding and applying the right pressure for you.
In doubt about how to find the correct pressure? Read this post with 4 easy tips that will enable you to take your workout to the next level.
Anti-slip technology: Don't worry, we got you
The white anti-slip stripes embedded in the specialised elastic band support the single-handed fitting as they grab on to your skin once you tighten the strap around your arm.
The anti-slip technology eases the use of this new and intelligent training method considerably. After all, BFR training should propel your workout forward and challenge you to break free of your routine - not be the cause of frustration because you can't even strap on the product to begin with.
Width; wider is not always better
Unlike most other products available for occlusion training on your upper body, we decided to create our strap with a width of 3 cm. According to the latest scientific research done on the practical application of BFR training, it's recommended that the straps used on your upper body extremities (meaning your arms) should be between 3-5 cm wide.
After hours of testing prototypes ourselves in the gym and outside doing functional training, we found that applying a wider strap was less comfortable and often annoying, especially to your biceps during sets.
Lastly, to see our BfR Pro ARMS straps in action, check out our 3 min Kickstarter campaign video here.
We hope you find this an inspiring read! If you've got any questions, don't hesitate to hit us up via e-mail at contact@bfrpro.com or on Facebook.
All the best,
Team BfR Professional
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Kickstarting a Startup Success
The idea behind BfR Professional all began more than two years back when one of our founders, Martin, first heard about the concept of blood flow restriction training and how it has the potential to revolutionise the way people do fitness today.
He enthusiastically shared this knowledge with his longtime friend Lars, who would later become the other founder, and thus the seeds of what would eventually become BfR Professional were sown.
Want something? Go create it yourself!
The scientifically proven training method of blood flow restriction (BFR) has been rather extensively researched and especially within the recent decade. The idea of training with lower weights, while still gaining significant muscle strength and growth, is appealing to many of us.
However, we became increasingly frustrated about not being able to find any customised equipment for this new training method, so we decided to create our own product.
After many months of product development, tests and redesigning, we're now ready to introduce and share with you the first generation of our blood flow restriction gear. The product is named BfR Pro ARMS, which is essentially a custom-made elastic anti-slip band designed to be used on your upper arms for blood flow restriction training, which is also popularly known as occlusion training.
ARMS will come in four different sizes suitable for more or less everyone who wants to take on this new and upcoming way of training to complement their existing workout routine. Furthermore, we are already now planning to introduce the LEGS version specifically designed for blood flow restriction training, so stay tuned here on our blog and social media. Also don't forget to sign up to our newsletter on our website!
Come cheer us on
We'ill be launching our product and opening for sales this coming October through an online campaign using the world’s largest crowdfunding platform: www.kickstarter.com. Naturally, we will be posting and keeping you updated about our progress and details concerning the campaign continuously, and we urge you to stay tuned if this new and scientifically proven training method is something which you would like to try out for yourself. Obviously, we would love your support on kickstarter.com!
After all this time, we are more than keen to share our knowledge and our products with the world. We promise that we'll aim to give all the guidance necessary both here on our blog, Instagram, and Facebook, where we'll be talking about not only how our specific product can help you in connection with blood flow restriction training and reaching your physical goals, but also more generally how blood flow restriction training can benefit you. We simply want you to train smarter and better. We believe in your potential.
Take it to the next level
Lars & Martin
Team BfR Professional
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