Sunday, February 27, 2022

Results of National Survey on KAATSU Usage in Japan (2017)

U.S. Marines Major Gamal Awad and his two-time Olympian wife Hawley Bennett use KAATSU regularly.

Major Awad is a tactical athlete who has pushed himself for years to maintain sufficient strength, speed and stamina for his military responsiblities. Hawley competes in elite equestrian events representing her native Canada. They both have used KAATSU to help with their rehabilitation from numerous injuries - from broken pelvis bones to broken backs.

Awad and Bennett are quite confident of the safety of the KAATSU Cycle modality.

Cardiologist Dr. Toshiaki Nakajima, MD, PhD, formerly head of the Department of Ischemic Circulatory Physiology at the 22nd Century Medical Center in The University of Tokyo Hospital, reported on the use and safety of KAATSU. In his published results of a 2017 national survey of KAATSU users in Japan, Dr. Nakajima said, "We examined the use and safety of KAATSU training in a national survey in 2017. An online questionnaire survey was answered by the participants of the annual academic symposium.

We received replies from 232 facilities throughout Japan where KAATSU had been applied to different types of situations. These included health promotion (87% of all facilities), diet (85%), cosmetology and anti-aging (70%), increased muscle strength (71%), muscle hypertrophy (72%), improved sports performance (53%), and others.

KAATSU was also used for rehabilitation (38%); orthopedic disease (38%), obesity (17%), diabetes (12%), cerebrovascular disease (11%), cardiovascular disease (8%), depression (7%), infertility (6%), neuromuscular disease (5%), and immune disorders (3%).

The effectiveness or improvement accounted for 92% of the total number of users without any serious side effects such as rhabdomyolysis, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke or thrombosis.

Our conclusion of this 2016 national survey was that KAATSU under the guidance of an appropriate Kaatsu instructor seems to be able to achieve safe and beneficial effects regardless of the age, gender, disease, etc. of the institutional target. The results were similar to those found in the 2006 national survey
."

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

KAATSU Helps the Healing of Hands of Hard Work

If you have hands of hard work or gym hands, you are often faced with raw, dry skin often with calluses and blisters. Your hands can get dry, itchy, irritated, painful, and, in some cases, embarrassing or debilitated.

Whether you workout in a gym, rock climb, row, ride, do gymnastics, play musical instruments, or use your hands in your daily work in construction, all your repeated hard work can cause cause pain, discomfort, and inflammation in the skin of your hands as well as strain on its ligaments and tendons.

While your child, partner or other family members appreciate your hard work, they undoubtedly prefer a smoother, softer, more tender touch when you place your calloused and blistered hands on them - out of their love, care and appreciation for you.

KAATSU allows you to achieve both: continue hard work and tender loving care of your hands and skin.

In the same way that KAATSU can immediately help with reducing the red marks of cupping (see here), the reduction of inflammation and pain from getting tattoos (see here), a remarkably fast recovery from surgical incisions (see here), tendinitis (see here), carpal tunnel syndrome (see here), and broken toes (see here), KAATSU can help keep your hands and fingers smoother, softer, more tender no matter what your sport or profession is.

The key is to do KAATSU Cycle sets (on a KAATSU B1, KAATSU C3, KAATSU Cycle 2.0, KAATSU M3, KAATSU Master 2.0, or KAATSU Nano) before and after your workout or work session.

With KAATSU Air Bands on your upper arms in the KAATSU Cycle mode, you can automatically apply progressively, incrementally, and repeatedly higher pressures.

This protocol starts from the point of a very gentle pressure to the point where the tiny capillaries in your fingers, hands and wrists are fully engorged with blood.

This process of pressure on for 30 seconds and then pressure off for 5 seconds - performed automatically with KAATSU equipment - kickstarts curative biochemical reactions in your body.

As the vascular tissue is engorged with blood and then released, there is a cascade of plasmalogens, ceramides, and growth hormone that is naturally produced. These help heal the stress that is placed on your hands and fingers. The process also enables the increased elasticity of the vascular tissue in your hands that augment this healing process.

Photo on left shows a black KAATSU C3 model




























Photo above shows the difference in color of the skin and the distension of the veins that indicate the engorgement of blood in the vascular tissue on the right where the KAATSU Air Band is placed on the upper arm

Key Points
o Do KAATSU Cycle sets first on your arms (and then on your legs, if you have time) for optimal systemic results.
o Do between 3-6 KAATSU Cycle sets on your arms for optimal systemic results.
o Ideally, do KAATSU Cycle sets before and after each workout or work time, but if you have less time, do it afterwards for best results. Optimally, do KAATSU Cycle sets before and after, and then once again within an hour of going to bed.
o Start with a low pressure and build up to higher pressures during each KAATSU session.
o Relax, sit down, chill out, or do light stretching or casual walking or isometric exercises during the KAATSU Cycle sets on your arms.
o Ideally, the skin of your fingers and toes should get pinker or redder (a beefy red) as you do the KAATSU Cycle sets. You want the blood engorgement in the veins and capillaries of your hands.
o There is no need to use the KAATSU Constant mode. In fact, the KAATSU Cycle mode is better. You especialy want the flush of waste products after each workout or work session.

Reoovery Protocols
1. Manually tighten your KAATSU Air Bands on your upper arms below your deltoids by your armpits and above your biceps and triceps (shown below).


























2. Begin the KAATSU Cycle sets by starting in the LOW pressure setting. Each KAATSU Cycle set will take about 5 minutes. You can keep the pressure at LOW pressure settings if it feels good or increase to MEDIUM or HIGH pressure settings on the subsequent sets, if you wish.

o Note 1: Even if the first KAATSU Cycle set does not feel tight enough, it is perfectly acceptable to start at the LOW pressure.

o Note 2: As a workout finisher, you can do the KAATSU 3-Point Exercises while sitting down (Hand Grips, Biceps Curls, Triceps Extensions), performed slowly and with maximum muscle contraction.

3. Remove the KAATSU Air Bands from your arms and rehydrate. Then apply the KAATSU Air Bands on your legs.

4. Similar to your arms, you can relax, sit down, chill out, or do light stretching or casual walking, or isometric exercises during the KAATSU Cycle sets with the KAATSU Air Bands on your legs.

Therapeutic Protocols

o Do the following exercises slowly and deliberately with the KAATSU Air Bands on your arms.

o If you feel any numbness or pain during or after exercising, stop immediately and contact your therapist or physician.

o As you do the progressive KAATSU Cycle sets, you can see your fingers and hands get pinker or redder. In some cases, the vascular tissue may be so engorged that your hands may even have a purple hue.

Sample Range-of-motion Movements

o You can slowly open and close your hands. Try to widely stretch your fingers as far as possible, performed either deliberately or casually.

o You can gently bend and move your fingers or even tap out text messages your phone or write emails on a laptop.

o You can do any kind of wrist extension and flexion exercises.

o You can do extend your arms out from your body and then slowly and repeatedly twist your arms clockwise and counterclockwise (arm supination and pronation. That is, when your palms or forearms face up, they ar supinated. When your palms or forearms face down, they are pronated). o You can also do this arm supination and pronation while your arms are down by your side.







Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Friday, February 25, 2022

Dr. Peter Lansbury on the Benefits of KAATSU



Dr. Peter Lansbury, Professor of Neurology, talked on his use of KAATSU in the video above.

Since first trying KAATSU in 2014, Dr. Lansbury has used the KAATSU Master 2.0, KAATSU Nano, KAATSU Cycle 2.0, and KAATSU C3 products. Next month, he will start using the latest model, the KAATSU B1.

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Andrew Matejka, KAATSU Ambassador at Stanford University

Andrew Matejka is a 6'-7" (200.6 cm) junior at Stanford University, a double major in history economics.

Originally from Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts, he is one of America's fast middle distance freestylers - and looking to get faster. With a newly minted dual citizenship of the Czech Republic, he is looking forward to possibly competing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Andrew may have the edge now to realize his dream. He was first introduced to KAATSU in high school by his club coach Chris Morgan at the Gator Swim Club.

Andrew and his brothers - Matthew, Benjamin and Owen - are all hard-working athletes. Matthew rowed at Yale, Ben was a cross country runner at Dartmouth, and Andrew spends his time training and competing for the renowned Stanford University swim team. The Matejka brothers know - and welcome - hard work.

But Andrew has a not-so-secret weapon: he uses KAATSU equipment. Andrew uses for performance enhancement in an innovative way: for recovery. After his intense training sessions on the Stanford campus and between his individual swims at dual meets and invitationals, he puts his pneumatic KAATSU bands on his arms and does KAATSU Cycle sets. A metabolic flush results and he is ready for his next workout or race.

KAATSU not only makes Andrew feel more recovered than a normal "swim-down", but KAATSU also helps him feel mentally prepared for his next bout of intensity. The first time he used KAATSU at Stanford, he set his personal mid-season best times.

The KAATSU recovery of 30 seconds of pressure followed by 5 seconds of release - performed automatically, repeatedly, and progressively but in incrementally higher pressures - is the same protocol that hundreds of Olympic medalists in a wide variety of sports - from wrestling to track, from ski jumping to swimming - have followed since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

What Andrew finds is most useful is that his KAATSU device is portable. Its compact so this enables convenience: he can take it with him around campus, in the team bus, in airports, and in his school apartment in addition to using it at the pool and training gym.

Andrew says, "With so many hours spent per week in the pool, weight room and classroom while pursuing my studies at Stanford, I used to feel like I didn't always have time to adequately recover. KAATSU has helped solve that problem. KAATSU allows me to spend time recovering from my grueling workouts from the comfort of my dorm room or even while studying in the library. I couldn't be more excited to partner with KAATSU as I pursue the highest levels in competitive swimming."

Andrew cuts an imposing figure wherever he goes while his ubiquitous KAATSU Air Bands helps stand him apart even further.

Matejka started his use of KAATSU under the director of Chris Morgan, an Olympic coach and the Head Coach of Gator's Swim Club in Massachusetts where Matejka trained in high school.


























Morgan recalled, "We work on speed, strength and stamina every workout at the Gator's Swim Club. Back in 2016, our swimmers began KAATSU Aqua, an innovation to our entire training regime that has resulted in unprecedented drops in time."

Over a 3-month period, some of the swimmers' improvements included:

Henry Gaissert (17 years old)
• 100 freestyle: from 47.0 to 44.8 (44.1 relay split)
• 100 butterfly: from 52.4 to 49.8
Maddie Wallis (16 years old)
• 100 backstroke: from 57.1 to 54.9
• 200 backstroke: from 2:07.9 to 2:00.3
Johnny Prindle (17 years old)
• 100 freestyle: from 48.1 to a 45.9 relay split
• 200 freestyle: from 1:47.2 to 1:41.5
• 100 breaststroke: from 59.0 to 57.5

Morgan continued, "What is our secret?

In a word, KAATSU. KAATSU is what we use to gain specific strength in order to improve speed and increase stamina in the water.

We use very specific and customized pressures with carefully engineered pneumatic bands used in short durations. These pressures are specific for each athlete that can vary from day to day and workout to workout. Those specific pressures, that vary from athlete to athlete, are how our athletes have maximized the benefits of KAATSU.

I learned how we could replicate 'race pain' without the need for traditional time-consuming sets in the pool by using the KAATSU bands. By engorging the vascular tissue in the muscles in blood. In addition and equally as important, Andrew and his Gator teammates used KAATSU for recovery, too.

We use KAATSU to quickly recover sore shoulders and to overcome overuse injuries without ice or any kind of medical procedures. We use the KAATSU Cycle modality that starts off with lower pressures and gradually builds up to higher pressures. These protocols are the same protocols that are used by Olympic gold medalists and members of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympians and 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic athlete. Andrew learned long before he got to Stanford how to use the KAATSU Cycle modality between his races and between his preliminary heats and final races during a multi-day event to help him.

For 'race pain' training with the KAATSU bands, our sets can range from 10 x 15m breakouts to 10 x 50 at a specific pressure."

So Andrew has a lot of experience - in training and in competition - that he can share with others
.".

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Thursday, February 10, 2022

The Collaboration Between Dr. Sato and Professor Ishii




















Dr. Yoshiaki Sato invented KAATSU in 1966, but it took him decades of further discovery and fine-tuning both the usage protocols and equipment before he met Professor Naokata Ishii of the University of Tokyo, a renowned Japanese exercise physiologist.

Their work ultimately led to the first seminal paper on KAATSU called "Effects of resistance exercise combined with moderate vascular occlusion on muscular function in humans", published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2000.

The paper concluded, "Owning to its small mechanical stress and large effect in inducing muscular hypertrophy, the deliberate combinatino of low-intensity resistance exercise and moderate vascular occlusion is potentially useful for accelerating the recovery of muscular strength in patients and aged people."

The paper explained, "Among aged populations, weakening of muscles in the lower extremity gives rise to serious problems such as inability to stand up and lethal injuries associated with a fall. Postmenopausal older women are subjected to an additional risk of osteoporosis."

Based on the practical applications of KAATSU over the last two decades and this basic information explained by Dr. Ishii and Dr. Sato in the 1990's, the use of KAATSU can significantly grown among Baby Boomers since.

For more information on Professor Ishii, see here.




































Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Round Red Cupping Marks Go Away Quickly With KAATSU

A 48-year-old woman and KAATSU user did cupping with an acupuncturist. The photo on the left shows the back of her shoulder after cupping. The 2 days after her cupping session, she did 4 KAATSU Cycle sets per day.

The photo below shows the same location 4 days later. Her doctor was pleasantly surprised, "It usually takes about two weeks for the round red spots disappear. But in her case with KAATSU Cycle sets, her spots disappeared in a few days with only two KAATSU Cycle sessions."

Can KAATSU help a much faster removal of the round red cupping marks? Yes.

Can KAATSU replace cupping? Yes.

The Greatest Olympian of All Time, Michael Phelps, attracted a lot of attention to the ancient Chinese art of cupping during his gold-medal run at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Along with other American Olympians like 12-time medalist Natalie Coughlin and actresses like Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Simpson, were also seen with several visible red round marks on their body.

Cupping has long been used for recovery and to relieve pain. It is also used to treat pain, shingles, acne and breathing difficulties.

Practitioners of cupping use small glass cups that are placed over the skin and then a vacuum is induced inside a cup. The suction pulls the skin up into the cup that breaks the capillaries and causes the blood to pool and stagnate. This creates a bruise and leaves circular spots on the skin.

Cupping is commonly used among athletes because they want to stimulate blood flow in order to help muscles heal more effectively and quickly.

But physicians and physiologists know that bruises happen when a physical trauma causes blood to leak into surrounding tissues.

While improved blood flow or not may not matter to Olympic athletes if the placebo effects of cupping provide them with a psychological advantage. This positive mindset may be enough to provide a 0.04 second boost – or the difference between Michael Phelps’ gold medal performance in the 200m butterfly and the time of the silver medalist.

But there is an alternative to cupping, a scientifically proven, effective, and safe way to improve blood flow and enhance recovery from strenuous exercise, either in competition or in training: KAATSU.

KAATSU, or generically described a blood flow optimization exercise, was invented in Japan in 1966 by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato. After three decades of meticulous testing with people ranging from 4 to 104 years and years of research, athletes in 70 countries have discovered what has been describe in 100+ peer-review published papers.

KAATSU is now used by athletes and teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball as well as Olympic swimmers, runners, triathletes, judoka, rowers, wrestlers, basketball players and rugby players from the United States, Japan, Brazil and China, as well as countries ranging from Hungary to Tunisia.

It is also used by NASA, American colleges from West Point to the University of Missouri, and in hospitals and clinics from the University of Tokyo Hospital to the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paolo.

KAATSU equipment consists of a portable handheld unit that carefully monitors the external compression of pneumatic bands placed on the upper arms and upper legs.

These pneumatic KAATSU bands serve to safely, briefly, gently, progressively and repeated reduce the venous flow in the limbs, thus leading to an effective pooling of blood in the arms and legs. Through stretching or any form of movement – either strenuous exercise or physical therapy – with the KAATSU Air Bands on, the pooling of blood helps expand the veins and capillaries. Additionally, the KAATSU Cycle function effectively flushes out lactate in the muscles.

After 5-10 minutes of KAATSU Cycle sets, athletes feel rejuvenated because the lactic acid is not only effectively removed from the muscles, but also the expansion of the vascular walls leads to an increased elasticity of the veins and capillaries.

There is also a concurrent release of growth hormones and nitric oxide caused by this blood pooling that aids recovery. This biochemical reaction is a natural effect of blood pooling that has positive systemic effects on the body. The hormones are transported throughout the body via the vascular system. When these hormones reach muscle cells that are under stress, cell receptors in these cells interact as the body is designed to do.

Therefore, KAATSU is a scientifically proven modality that has natural systemic effects on the body. These are not only more healthful and effective than localized cupping, but it also leads to a natural hormonal release and improved elasticity of the vascular system.

KAATSU versus Cupping, Advantages versus Disadvantages:

*Cupping breaks the capillaries in a localized area. KAATSU improves the elasticity of the capillaries.
*Cupping creates bruising in a localized area. KAATSU leads to a natural hormonal response.
*Cupping leads to visible red spots on the body. KAATSU leaves no visible marks on the body.
*Cupping requires an experienced practitioner. KAATSU can be done anywhere anytime by anyone who follows the standardized KAATSU protocols.
*Cupping feels very good to many people after a session. KAATSU makes the body feel recovered and very good after a session.

Of course, if you want to cup, but do not like the round red spots to be visible, do KAATSU Cycle sets. KAATSU can quickly help heal the damaged capillaries caused by cupping.

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Broken Little Toe? No Problem with KAATSU

Dave Carlson broke his two smallest toes this week. It was the second time that he had broken his small toes - and it hurt. "The last time, I was walking in pain for over a week. I went to the doctor, but he said the body will recover."

So he did repeated KAATSU Cycle sets - both single-leg and dual-leg sets. "By the second day, I was no limping. I had almost no pain if I don't touch the toes. Of course, if I do touch my toes, I feel pain. When I started to do the KAATSU Cycle sets, I noticed that the bruising started to spread, but I felt less pain. By Day Four, I had no pain. I could not believe how fast it healed with KAATSU. I'm stoked. When I tell people what happened the last few days, they find it hard to believe. I take fast recovery for granted now with KAATSU."




























Day 1




























Day 2 - no limping, almost no pain




























Day 3 - no limping, almost no pain




























Day 4- no limping, no pain

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global

Thursday, February 3, 2022

John Doolittle Featured On An Open Water Swimmer's Podcast

William Henry Ellis, a British open water swimmer, prolific film, television, theator and radio actor, and voice artists, hosts An Open Water Swimmer’s Podcast, Chartable #1 UK Swimming Podcast.

During his first two seasons, Ellis has interviewed the venerable Who’s Who of the global open water swimming community: the best of the best, the most hardened and the most extreme athletes who venture beyond the shoreline.

His latest guest is former Navy SEAL captain John Doolittle. Ellis says, "John swam the English Channel in memory of his friend Neil Roberts who was the first SEAL killed in combat after 9/11. John continues to raise money for fallen and injured servicemen and their families through open water swimming (Tampa Bay Frogman Swim).



We chat about all sorts on this one including shallow water blackouts, hammerhead shark breeding grounds and boxing eagle rays in the ocean, [from] a man who has been around the world many times over as an American special forces operative who has seen it and done it [shown on left entering the Gulf of Mexico)
."

To listen to the 1 hour 8 minute podcast with John Doolittle and William Ellis where they touch upon KAATSU among many other far-reaching subjects and questions, visit here.

Copyright © 2014 - 2022 by KAATSU Global