Friday, September 25, 2020

Dr. Joseph Mercola On KAATSU, The Original BFR

For who? Biohackers, retirees, Baby Boomers
For what? Strength, functional movement, wellness, fitness, longevity



Dr. Joseph Mercola explains KAATSU the original BFR, "KAATSU involves performing strength training exercises while restricting blood flow to the extremity being worked on. This method is beneficial as it allows you to perform strength exercises using 30% to 50% of weight you'd normally use, while still reaping maximum benefits.

In a way, you're trading weight for repetitions, in that you're using less weight but doing more reps — up to 20 or 30 repetitions — as opposed to the 10 or 12 you might normally do.

This training method uses cuffs or bands, like elastic knee wraps, that are just tight enough to allow arterial blood flow, but not venous flow. This restriction causes lactic acid and other waste products to build up, giving you the same benefit as heavy lifting without the dangers associated with heavy weights.

Forcing blood to remain inside your muscles longer than normal by restricting venous flow also promotes more rapid muscle fatigue and muscle failure that prompts subsequent repair and regeneration processes.

A typical training session involves three sets, with repetitions ranging from 20 to 30 reps per set, while using half or less of the weight you'd normally use. Rest periods between sets are typically short, possibly lasting 30 seconds.

As a result, you end up doing upward of 90 repetitions of any given exercise. You would want to perform that many reps because you need to work the muscle long enough to create the "metabolic crisis" conditions described earlier. It is this metabolic stimulus that drives muscle adaptation and rapid growth.

When performing blood flow restriction exercises, avoid excessive restriction as this may lead to severe bruising and dizziness. If you band your arm or leg to the point that all blood flow is completely cut off while leaving it there for too long, it may lead to nerve and muscle damage. While such risks are said to be relatively low and simply uncomfortable, keep them in mind because they could lead to events that are the opposite of what you’re aiming for.

If your limb starts tingling or turns red, blue or purple, or you notice you're losing feeling in it or cannot detect your pulse, this means that your band is too tight, so loosen it up — or simply remove it and stop the exercise. Other side effects that may arise from wrongfully doing blood flow restriction training exercises, although rare, include rhabdomyolysis, a condition that can trigger kidney failure or cardiac arrhythmia due to the release of intercellular contents from damaged muscle
."

For more information, visit here.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Berra On The Background And Benefits Of KAATSU, The Original BFR

For who? Competitive athletes
For what? Strength, functional movement, mobility

Yoga Berra is one of the greatest catchers in American baseball history and a popular Hall of Famer. He once said, "Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical."

Something similar can be said of KAATSU because KAATSU is a catalyst for many beneficial biochemical reactions that occur in the brain while enabling the physicality of the body (muscle, bones, ligaments, tendons) to improve.

Berra's granddaughter is Lindsay Berra, a former Major League Baseball reporter and ESPN Magazine writer who specializes in fitness.

She wrote about the background and benefits of KAATSU Fitness in the October 2020 issue of Men's Health Magazine (US edition see Blood Rush article here).

In her article, Berra writes about the origins of KAATSU the original BFR. "Yoshiaki Sato, Ph.D., M.D., a Japanese bodybuilder, sat in an hours-long Buddhist ceremony in the Seiza posture, thighs folded onto his calves. When he stood, he felt his calves throbbing. He theorized that this was due to restricted blood flow and spent the next 20 years working to re-create the feeling by wrapping his muscles with bike-tire tubes, ropes and judo belts (with uneven success)."

To be precise, Dr. Sato worked relentlessly and experimented constantly between 1966 and 1995, developing the KAATSU protocols Then in the mid-1990's, he began collaborating with Professor Ishii at the University of Tokyo, and then later with cardiologists Dr. Nakajima and Dr. Morita at the University of Tokyo Hospital.

Ultimately, Dr. Sato and his collaborators tested KAATSU on over 7,000 cardiac rehab patients, developing the safe protocols that are used today.

Berra continued, "Only when Dr. Sato attached pneumatic bands to a digital control system did he find he could consistently and safely restrict blood flow. He dubbed his machine the Kaatsu (Japanese for “additional pressure”), and it remains one of a handful of tools that deliver proper and precise pressure to restrict blood flow. These tools cost serious coin. (The Kaatsu runs $900, and the units used by NFL teams are as much as $5,000.) But that hasn’t stopped Mark Wahlberg, Lakes center Dwight Howard, and many others from turning to BFR for an edge."

The KAATSU equipment that she refers to is the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 device [shown above with 72-year-old Dr. Sato]. The device that costs more is the Delfi Portable Tournique System for Blood Flow Restriction.

"KAATSU and Delfi are very different systems," explains Steven Munatones, CEO of KAATSU Global. "When the wide bands of the Delfi unit are used, you can see how the device is a modified tourniquet that is designed to occlude blood flow.

In contrast, nothing about KAATSU is about restricting blood flow, especially arterial flow into your arms or legs. The narrow elastic, stretchable bands of the KAATSU equipment allows freedom of movement so athletes can throw balls, musicians can play instruments, businesspeople can type emails, and others can easily do everything from household chores to physical therapy.

With the wider tourniquet bands, the increased girth of the arms pushes hard against the unforgiving cuffs that serve to occlude arterial flow which is why a Doppler device is required. You do not want to occlude too much which is why the occlusion rate is always monitored. In contrast, when occlusion is not a part of the equation, like with KAATSU, this risk is eliminated. This was one of the outcomes of the decade-long study of KAATSU at the University of Tokyo Hospital by cardiologists
."

Berra described the benefits in her article, "The promise is enticing, and BFR’s mechanism is based in sound physiology.

Lifting heavy weights forces your muscles to contract so tightly that they briefly trap blood, causing the sought-after pump.

That natural blood flow restriction also causes lactic-acid build-up, triggering the release of muscle-building proteins and hormones, like HGH and insulin-like growth factor. BFR mimics the effect of heavy weights, causing the body to release the same proteins and hormones. When done properly, with a device that monitors the pressure in your arteries, it can increase muscular strength and growth, according to 2019 research published in Frontiers in Physiology.


Berra understands the need to be safe. She writes, "Message boards claim you can DIY bands and skip precise tracking, but experts disagree. At worst, you’ll tighten the bands too much, risking nerve and vascular damage. Leave them too loose and BFR won’t work, says Adam Anz, M.D. of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. To achieve the effects of BFR, you must completely compress your surface veins, he says, trapping that blood in your muscles. That’s difficult to do without equipment and constant monitoring."

"With KAATSU Fitness or KAATSU Therapy, however, you do not have to completely compress your surface veins - not even close," explains Munatones. "The arterial blood flow continues uninterrupted and the venous return is only slightly modified [see image below]."

"While occlusion training advocates recommend fully occluding blood flow, KAATSU Specialists would never do that.

And we work with people with all kinds of stages of health in several dozens of countries up to the age of 104
," says Munatones.

As Berra explains about antiaging, "BFR may help combat sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass.

According to a 2019 Sports Medicine review, older adults utilizing BFR achieved more muscle hypertrophy than those doing classic resistance training
."

That is certainly true, as described is this post about the oldest client of KAATSU Fitness, doing the original BFR:



Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Sunday, September 13, 2020

A Transformation With KAATSU, The Original BFR, From The Loss Of A Father And Husband

For who? Widows, widowers
For what? Parasympathetic nervous system, stress relief

"

"I am trying to remain steady in a world with so much chaos," said Tina Newman after one of her recent KAATSU sessions.


The 56-year-old Southern California native has been a popular aesthetician for nearly 30 years. Her studio is warm and inviting and she has worked very hard to establish her reputation.

For years, she juggled raising two children with her clinic and it was never easy.

But then she was hit with a double loss, made even more traumatic because they were unexpected. The two men in her life, her tennis-loving, retired orthodontist and father Dr. Ernie Follico, and her stoic, gentle musician husband who long served as a captain in the police force in the City of Newport Beach, both passed away.

She took it hard as they were both larger-than-life personalities with charisma that filled every room they entered. They took care of Tina and made her feel like a princess. She explains, "After the loss of my father and my husband, I had a tough time. I still am, but am getting better at dealing with the pain. , "When people see me at the store or around the neighborhood, they think that I lift weights and spend hours in the gym. But I just use my KAATSU bands with simple movements - sometimes without anything while I just move - or with balls and resistance bands.

The emotional pain was one thing to deal with, but I also faced excruitiating physical pain in my forearms. The pain nagged me constantly and the only thing that doctors recommended was to work less. But with the loss of my father and husband, I dove into my work even more.

But with KAATSU the original BFR, I do not feel the pain anymore. I don't know how to explain it, but the pain just went away
."


She does KAATSU twice per day.

Sometimes, all she does is relax after work and let her KAATSU Cycle 2.0 do all the mechanical work while lying or sitting down. "It is so relaxing," she says.

Other times, she will ride her bicycle with the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 unit rhythmically inflating and deflating her KAATSU Air Bands at gentle pressures. Other times, she will get on a bench in her garage and simply go through the motions of doing butterfly or backstroke. "I never expected to get these muscles in my back. I used to be self-conscious of my musculature. But now as I approach my 60's, I know it is healthy.

And what is best is that my skin is tightening up. I could not even imagine that benefit - but I will take it
," she laughed with a twinkle in her eye.

As a result of her new body and gradually brighter outlook on life, she described her new path going forward. "I am learning to love myself again, regain self confidence, and have a sense of calm. It has proven to be one of the hardest comebacks after the death of Ernie and Tim. I owe so much of this to KAATSU. I am able to deal with my PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome)."

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Thursday, September 10, 2020

KAATSU At Home With Laurel Kuzins

For who? Work-at-home employees, student-athletes, competitive athletes
For what? Functional movement, strength, flexibility, mobility

KAATSU At Home Workout on August 28th


Laurel Kuzins is a KAATSU Functional Mobility Specialist from Santa Monica, California who established KAATSU At Home workouts, aimed at Competitive Athletes (high school + collegiate + Olympian + professional + fitness + masters). She used the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 during the KAATSU At Home workouts.

KAATSU At Home Workout on August 31st


KAATSU At Home Workout on September 1st


KAATSU At Home Workout on September 2nd


KAATSU At Home Workout on September 3rd


KAATSU At Home Workout on September 4th


Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU, the Original BFR

KAATSU Fitness On The Go With David Tawil

For who? Road warriors, competitive athletes, executives, travelers
For what? Travel, jet lag, insomnia



KAATSU Master Specialist David Tawil travels frequently between Tokyo and Tel Aviv, teaching KAATSU to individuals, professional athletes and military personnel in Europe, North America, Israel and Japan.

Tawil demonstrates a few of the various ways how he integrates KAATSU the original BFR into his travel - for business or pleasure - by getting a full workout in his hotel room without any special equipment.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global