Dr. Cory On Doing KAATSU Anywhere Anytime

For who? Work from home employees, parents, retirees
For what? Functional mobility, strength, rehabilitation stress relief



KAATSU Master Specialist Cory Keirn DPT explains how and where KAATSU the Original BFR can be used...anywhere anytime, including in your car while waiting for your children.

You can use KAATSU for exercise or rehabilitation while...

* typing an email in your office
* waiting for an airplane or the train
* sitting in the passenger seat on a long drive
* doing the dishes or folding clothes
* watching TV
* doing homework or reading a book
* walking your dog
* stretching
* packing your bags or tidying up your room

Once you understand that exercise and rehabilitation can be done anywhere anytime, your efficiency and effectiveness in getting things done goes way up. And exercise is transformed to simple movement - that you constantly do during the course of your day - with KAATSU equipment.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Dr. Cory On KAATSU, The Original BFR

For who? Retirees, Baby Boomers, competitive athletes, work-at-home parents
For what? Rehabilitation, recovery, functional movement, strength, flexibility, mobility, KAATSU At Home

Cory Keirn, DPT, OCS, CSCS, TSAC-F, XPS is a Doctor of Physical Therapy located in Tampa, Florida. He is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the Philadelphia Phillies, a Major League Baseball professional team. He did his residency in orthopaedics with a focus on complex orthopaedic cases and advanced physical therapy integration for tactical athletes.

KAATSU Master Specialist Keirn explains how to use the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 from many perspectives and for various applications. These videos summarize the information that he shares with his patients who regularly use KAATSU, the original BFR for their rehabilitation and recovery.

Introducing KAATSU


How Does KAATSU Work?


KAATSU, The Future of Exercise


Unboxing the KAATSU Cycle 2.0


KAATSU Full-Body Warm-up, Part 1


KAATSU Full-Body Warm-up, Part 2



KAATSU Published Research [shown with KAATSU inventor Dr. Yoshiaki Sato]


KAATSU Cycle and Warm-up


Doing KAATSU on Your Arms






Putting KAATSU Air Bands On Your Legs


Using The KAATSU Cycle 2.0 On Your Legs


Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Dr. Cory On Why People From All Walks of Life Use KAATSU

For who? Baby Boomers, retirees, competitive athletes, work-from-home employees, study-at-home students
For what? Strength, stamina, functional movement, mobility, flexibility, warm-up, recovery, KAATSU Cycle



KAATSU Master Specialist Cory Keirn DPT, DPT, OCS, CSCS, TSAC-F, XPS explains how to put on the KAATSU Air Bands on your arms and legs and how to use the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 for first-timers who want to KAATSU for exercise, rehabilitation and recovery.

Cory Keirn is a Doctor of Physical Therapy in Tampa, Florida. He is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the Philadelphia Phillies. He did his residency in orthopaedics with a focus on complex orthopaedic cases and advanced physical therapy integration for tactical athletes.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Dr. Cory On Using KAATSU Cycle 2.0 On Your Arms

For who? Baby Boomers, retirees, competitive athletes, work-from-home employees
For what? Strength, stamina, functional movement, mobility, flexibility, warm-up, recovery, KAATSU Cycle



KAATSU Master Specialist Cory Keirn DPT , DPT, OCS, CSCS, TSAC-F, XPS explains how to use KAATSU on your arms for exercise, rehabilitation and recovery.

Cory Keirn is a Doctor of Physical Therapy in Tampa, Florida. He is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the Philadelphia Phillies. He did his residency in orthopaedics with a focus on complex orthopaedic cases and advanced physical therapy integration for tactical athletes.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Dr. Cory On Using The KAATSU Cycle 2.0 On Your Legs

KAATSU Master Specialist Cory Keirn DPT , DPT, OCS, CSCS, TSAC-F, XPS explains how to use the KAATSU Cycle 2.0 on your legs with a wide variety of exercises and rehabilitation.

Cory Keirn is a Doctor of Physical Therapy in Tampa, Florida. He is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the Philadelphia Phillies. He did his residency in orthopaedics with a focus on complex orthopaedic cases and advanced physical therapy integration for tactical athletes.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

Dr. Cory On Putting KAATSU Air Bands On Your Legs

For who? Baby Boomers, retirees, competitive athletes, work-from-home employees
For what? Strength, stamina, functional movement, mobility, flexibility,recovery



KAATSU Master Specialist Cory Keirn DPT , DPT, OCS, CSCS, TSAC-F, XPS explains how and where to put the KAATSU Air Bands on your upper legs for exercise, rehabilitation and recovery.

Cory Keirn is a Doctor of Physical Therapy in Tampa, Florida. He is a former Strength & Conditioning Coach with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) and the Philadelphia Phillies. He did his residency in orthopaedics with a focus on complex orthopaedic cases and advanced physical therapy integration for tactical athletes.

Copyright © 2014 - 2020 by KAATSU Global

KAATSU Is The Original BFR - But It Is Not What You Think

For who? Baby Boomers, retirees, student-athletes, researchers
For what? Strength, stamina, functional movement, mobility, flexibility, recovery





























Many people interchangeably refer to KAATSU as BFR and BFR as KAATSU. In fact, KAATSU is the original BFR.

But the contemporary use of the acronym BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) in the United States and Europe is much different than the original definition of BFR. The seminal paper on KAATSU was described by Drs. Takarada, Takazawa, Sato, Takebayashi, Tanaka, and Ishii in their paper entitle "Effects of resistance exercise combined with moderate vascular occlusion on muscular function in humans", published in 2000 in the Journal of Applied Physiology.* It was this paper that gave impetus for others to research and publish articles where vascular occlusion gradually was replaced by BFR or Blood Flow Restriction.

But the KAATSU equipment and protocols are different with different outcomes and mechanisms than the BFR equipment and protocols currently practiced in the United States and Europe where Limb Occlusion Pressure (LOP) and other concepts are completely foreign and unnecessary with KAATSU.

This post attempts to explain in easy-to-understand, non-medical terms, why these differences and background. KAATSU was the original BFR because the editors of the first peer-review published studies did not recognize the word KAATSU and required that blood flow restriction or BFR was used. That being said, there are differences between KAATSU and BFR from a medical perspective.






























First, let's review the vernacular used for both BFR and KAATSU:

Restriction (noun): something that restricts, an act of restricting, the condition of being restricted from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary

Occlusion (noun): the act of occluding (or close up or block off or obstruct) from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary

Patent: open, unobstructed, affording free passage from MedicineNet

KAATSU (or 加圧 in Japanese): translated as additional pressure in English.

Blood Flow Restriction (or BFR): a training strategy that involves the use of blood pressure cuffs, tourniquets or occlusion wraps placed proximally around a limb that maintains some arterial inflow while occluding venous return during exercise or rehabilitation. KAATSU was original defined as such.

The Doppler ultrasound images above show the arm's artery and vein of a male using KAATSU Air Bands at different pressures. The ultrasound shows that the blood flow from the torso to the arm (arterial flow in the artery) and the blood flow back from the arm to the torso (venous flow in the vein) remain open and not occluded or restricted.

Second, how is the pressure in BFR and KAATSU determined?

BFR is commonly started by occluding the brachial systolic blood pressure in the arms or the femoral systolic blood pressure in the legs. Once this pressure, measured in mmHg, is determined, then the BFR bands are set at a certain percentage of that pressure measured in mmHG. In other words, BFR starts by cutting off the arterial flow from the torso to the limbs - and then proceeding with exercise or rehabilitation at a lower pressure.

Some BFR advocates, with inexpensive equipment, recommend using the Borg Scale; a simple self-determination of the perceived exertion on a scale of 1 to 10. The ideal tightness for these BFR (or Occlusion) bands is reportedly 7 on the Borg Scale; but, if there is numbness, the BFR advocates recommend loosening the pressure.

In contrast, KAATSU starts at homeostasis or the stable state of equilibrium in the body with complete patent (i.e., open) arteries and veins. From this point, the "KAATSU Cycle" is used to very gradually and precisely increase the pressure until an "optimal pressure" for each person and each limb is reached (note: the pressure on each limb can be different if there is an injury or significant difference in limb strength, range of motion, or girth).

BFR equipment such as Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction, Air Cuffs, and Smart Bands start at the point of occlusion.

The user of these types of equipment place the tourniquets and cuffs around their arms and tighten the cuffs until there is no arterial blood flow to the limbs - this point is the well-used term, Limb Occlusion Pressure. In contrast, KAATSU starts at the point of homeostasis where there is complete and open arterial blood flow to the limbs.

Even when the KAATSU Air Bands have significant air pressure inside them, there is no occlusion of arterial or venous flow [see photos above and read here]. The KAATSU Air Bands are specifically designed to allow this condition to occur even at the highest KAATSU pressure possible.

Decades of trials and testing with different material types, material elasticities, and widths enabled the KAATSU inventor, Dr. Yoshiaki Sato to come up with this innovative design. KAATSU protocols were tested and studied at the University of Tokyo Hospital under the supervision of trained and experienced cardiologists including Doctors Nakajima and Morita.






















Third, the structure and composition of the KAATSU Air bands are different than all the other BFR and Occlusion Bands on the market today.

BFR or Occlusion bands are engineered to cut off or restrict blood flow - similar to blood pressure cuffs. Their structure and materials are purposefully designed to achieve this objective.

The width of the bands apply a pressure that is effective in reducing or restricting arterial flow.

In contrast, the KAATSU Air Bands are specifically engineered to maintain arterial flow, and only modify the venous flow. The width and the center axis of the inflated KAATSU Air Bands are significantly different than BFR / Occlusion Bands or modified tourniquets / cuffs. This means that the pressure transmission region of the KAATSU Air Bands - especially within the limb on the arteries and veins, is significantly less than the larger / wider BFR bands.






















































Larger pressure transmission region and effects of BFR bands.





























Smaller, narrower pressure transmission region of KAATSU Air Bands.

When the optimal pressure in reached with the KAATSU Air Bands, the KAATSU users see a pinkness or a beefy redness in their limbs as the blood fills the capillary vascular space. When the limbs are moved in this state, there is alternating distension and emptying of the venous/capillary vascular space.





























The KAATSU Air Bands gradually apply pressure to the veins. This modifies the venous outflow in the limbs. As the pressure increases during the KAATSU Cycle mode, this modification of the venous outflow eventually modifies the arterial inflow. As exercise or movement continues with the KAATSU Air Bands on, the blood flow into the limbs must soon match the (venous) blood flow out of the limbs. Give about 80% of the body's blood is in the venous system, there is some capacitance for holding extra blood in the limb, and when that capacity is reached, the blood flow in must match the blood flow out of the limb.

Physiologically, exercise becomes unsustainable when light and easy exercises or movement (e.g., KAATSU Walking or unweighted KAATSU limb movements) are conducted with this impeded circulation. The pO2 and pH gradually (or quickly, depending on the KAATSU intensity) drop to critical levels with even mild exercise. Additionally, higher levels of lactate are generated during KAATSU (compared to non-KAATSU exercise). ATP levels drop as the ADP and Pi levels rise, and ATP dependant electrolyte pumps (e.g. Ca++) cannot maintain proper electrolyte gradients. In this state, there are a significant amount of metabolite and hormonal changes and increases that are subsequently realized.

The fact that KAATSU Air Bands do not approach occlusion pressure , nor result in Blood Flow Restriction, was identified by Professor Alyssa Weatherholt of the University of Southern Indiana, Professor William VanWye of Western Kentucky University, and Johnny Owens of Owens Recovery Science (the exclusive distributor of the Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction equipment). They presented a study called Pressure Needed to Achieve Complete Arterial Occlusion: A Comparison of Two Devices Used for Blood Flow Restriction Training [see above].

The researchers concluded the wider cuff of the Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction is able to restrict arterial blood flow at significantly lower pressures compared to the narrow cuffs [KAATSU Air Bands] using the KAATSU Master. The key finding of this study is as follows:

“We were unable to achieve complete arterial occlusion in any participant with the KAATSU cuff.”

The KAATSU equipment is designed and is specifically manufactured to avoid arterial occlusion in the limbs. This fact is precisely why KAATSU was originally defined by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato, the KAATSU inventor, and leading Japanese cardiologists at the University of Tokyo Hospital as a Blood Flow Moderation (BFM) device. KAATSU equipment is specifically not a Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) device.

While the vernacular nuance between BFM and BFR may be overlooked by many (venous flow modification versus arterial flow restriction), the modification of venous flow is critical to understanding the safety and goal of KAATSU, as certified KAATSU Specialists understand.

"There is no part of the KAATSU protocols which tries to achieve arterial occlusion. This is why KAATSU is not BFR, occlusion training, tourniquet training, O-training, or any kind of blood flow restriction modality," explains Steven Munatones. "This is why KAATSU equipment does not use blood pressure cuffs or surgical tourniquets that are specifically designed to occlude, or manufactured to restrict arterial flow. Rather, the stretchable KAATSU Air Bands are designed with flexible, elastic air bladders that inflate inwards, towards the limb, at very moderate pressures to minimally modify venous flow.

This pressure is gentle on the body and uniform, because the limb is evenly and safely compressed by a bed of air. This principle and practical engineered solution leads to blood pooling in the limb - not arterial occlusion. This fact was independently determined by researchers and the leading Delfi proponent of BFR.

Furthermore, the patented KAATSU Cycle allows normal arterial and venous flow every 20 seconds which means it is safe, effective and gentle for people of all ages (including up to 104 years - see here).

Summary:

1. The purpose of KAATSU equipment and its protocols is a reduction in venous flow via blood flow moderation, a term first coined in the 1990s by Dr. Sato and Doctors Nakajima and Morita, cardiologists at the University of Tokyo Hospital.

2. The pneumatically controlled KAATSU Air Bands are designed to achieve a reduction in venous flow, and is a very different approach from BFR and widely-promoted use of blood pressure cuffs that are specifically designed to achieve limb occlusion.

3. When the KAATSU equipment is used, its users agree to follow the specific protocols as defined by its inventor, Dr. Sato. Specifically, KAATSU protocols and equipment are designed not to occlude.

4. The stretchable, pneumatically controlled KAATSU Air Bands are not (blood pressure) cuffs. A cuff is a term that refers to devices specifically engineered for limb occlusion.

5. KAATSU Specialists understand the importance of users to know both their Base SKU pressure and their Optimal SKU pressure while using in the KAATSU Cycle and KAATSU Training modes. To refer to KAATSU pressure without reference to both Base SKU and Optimal SKU pressures is misleading.

There is another paper written by Jeremy P. Loenneke, Christopher Fahs, Lindy Rossow, Robert Thiebaud, Kevin T. Mattocks, Takashi Abe, and Michael G. Bemben (Blood flow restriction pressure recommendations: a tale of two cuffs) that addresses this subject from another perspective.

* The first peer-review paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology is the origin of the term BFR.

Dr. Sato and Professor Ishii knew that their findings would be difficult for the journal editors to accept as is because the word "KAATSU" was unknown in the research and sports world outside of Japan. KAATSU is a Japanese word that is written as 加圧 where the first character (加) means additional and the second character (圧) means pressure. In other words, restriction and occlusion were not the intention of KAATSU; the primary intention was incrementally adding pressure to sufficiently and temporarily modify the venous flow and not impact the arterial flow.

After discussions with the journal editors, the preferred word "KAATSU" was deleted and was instead described in the literature as vascular occlusion - to the grudging disagreement of Dr. Sato and Professor Ishii who most definitely wanted to steer away from the word "occlusion" because that was never their intention or purpose of the KAATSU equipment or protocols.

They knew that there is no arterial limb occlusion of the brachial artery and brachial veins even at high pressures with the pneumatic KAATSU Air Bands.

The ultrasound image on above shows the brachial artery and brachial veins at 300 SKU (mmHg) of a 21-year-old collegiate athlete, but vascular occlusion and, ultimately, BFR or Blood Flow Restriction stuck and was further discussed and defined in the scientific literature.

Copyright © 2014 - 2021 by KAATSU Global

Hard Questions To Face Regarding KAATSU

For who? Baby Boomers, retirees, student-athletes
For what? Strength, stamina, functional movement, mobility, flexibility, recovery

In the emerging world of blood flow restriction (BFR), there are many hard questions, false allegations and mistruths disseminated by BFR manufacturers, sellers and users, especially vis-a-vis KAATSU.

Each of these questions, allegations and mistruths are addressed below:

Question: What is the difference between BFR and KAATSU as a modality?

Answer: KAATSU, in fact, is the original BFR. This was a term required by the editors of scientific journals who had reviewed the initial KAATSU studies that were submitted. But strictly speaking, BFR is based on the principle of occluding - or cutting off temporarily - the arterial flow from the torso to the limbs. That is, arterial blood flow is literally restricted or occluded when applying a tourniquet or occlusion bands in blood flow restriction equipment.

Most often, tourniquets are used that are the same or very similar to blood pressure cuffs that are used in the medical world. These tourniquets and blood pressure cuffs - used to take blood pressure readings - are specifically designed and engineered to occlude arterial flow. Due to their width, structure and inelastic material, the tourniquets are very effective at cutting off arterial flow.

That is, if you keep the tourniquets on long enough, the arterial blood flow is at first limited and then cut off. The palms of our hands go white and there is no pulse felt at your wrist. These tourniquets function exactly as they are designed and engineered and promoted.

In contrast, the KAATSU Air Bands are specifically designed and engineered to allow arterial blood flow to continue and to reduce the venous blood flow back from the limb to the torso. These pneumatic bands are flexible, much more narrow and are elastic that enable the arterial flow to continue and the venous flow to be slightly and safely reduced.

The KAATSU Air Bands were tested and used for 10 years at the University of Tokyo Hospital under the supervision and research conducted by cardiologists Dr. Nakajima and Dr. Morita and other exercise physiologists in collaboration with KAATSU inventor Dr. Sato. Many of the patients who used the KAATSU Air Bands were individuals undergoing cardiac rehabilitation.

These physicians in Japan coined the description BFM or blood flow moderation to describe KAATSU long before the current BFR equipment was conceived or marketed in the United States and Europe. But in the literature, KAATSU is understood to be BFR, and vice versa.

Question: What is the difference between BFR and KAATSU equipment?

Answer: BFR focuses on arterial flow because its core equipment is a tourniquet that is specifically designed and engineered to occlude arterial flow. KAATSU focuses on venous flow because its core equipment are pneumatic bands that are specifically designed and engineered to moderate venous flow and not occlude arterial flow.

Not only are the tourniquet materials, size (width), and structure are significantly different than KAATSU pneumatic bands, but also BFR and BFM protocols are dramatically different.

Question: What is the difference between BFR and BFM?

Answer: While the definitions of Blood Flow Restriction versus Blood Flow Moderation may first appear nuanced and vague, the actual protocols and applications are significantly different and important.

In concept and in application, BFR starts at the point of full occlusion and then held at a specific percentage (between 50-80%). Arterial flow is first occluded and then the limb occlusion pressure is reduced so allow a certain amount of natural arterial flow.

In contrast, BFM starts at a gentle pressure that is gradually increased in duration increments of 20 seconds and only very slight pressure increase so capillary, vein and artery distention and pressure are safely managed.

In concept and in application, BFM starts with normal arterial flow. The arterial flow continues as the venous flow is gradually and slowly reduced. This results in safe blood pooling in the limbs as the vascular walls gradually and slowly expand to accommodate the increased amount of blood in the limbs.

For this reason, KAATSU equipment is often used with the Masimo MightySat Finger Pulse Oximeter. The data from the Bluetooth-enabled pulse oximeter ranges from Pulse Rate to Perfusion Index and is stored on the KAATSU Performance cloud database. Users can measure, store and analyze a variety of their own circulatory information while doing KAATSU.

Allegation: Thin bands like KAATSU cause nerve damage and are dangerous.

Truth: While this rumor has long been promoted by BFR advocates about KAATSU, there has been no documented cases of nerve damage occurring after following standard KAATSU protocols after over 20 years in the marketplace. KAATSU users as old as 104 years have safely and repeatedly used KAATSU over the past few decades (see here). This allegation and false rumor may be the result from some users feel a tingling in their fingertips when using KAATSU equipment. This tingling is caused by a few different phenomena:

1. An engorgement of blood in the small capillaries of the fingertips leads to a tingling sensation. If the sensation is uncomfortable, the easiest action is to either remove the KAATSU Air Bands. However, the best recommendation is to reduce the KAATSU Optimal SKU pressure and the tingling goes away.

2. A user is not well-hydrated before or during KAATSU. Standard KAATSU protocols always calls for all KAATSU users to be very well-hydrated before and during KAATSU use.

3. A user applies a too-high Base SKU pressure and places the KAATSU Air Bands too high up on their arms when first starting KAATSU. It is important to apply the KAATSU Air Bands snugly - but not overly tight. The standard recommendation is to apply the bands tight enough so no more than one finger can be placed under the bands between the skin and the band. If a finger cannot be placed under the bands, it is likely the bands are on too tightly. Also, the bands should be placed above the biceps muscle, but below the deltoids.






















There are two major players in the market created by KAATSU inventor Dr. Yoshiaki Sato in Tokyo: the devices designed and manufactured by KAATSU Global, Inc. (e.g., KAATSU Nano, KAATSU Master 2.0, KAATSU Air Bands) and the Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction.

There are misunderstandings in the marketplace about these two products and approaches.

The Delfi product identifies total occlusion pressure and then applies a specific percentage of that pressure during its applications. In contrast, the KAATSU products are not designed to even remotely approach occlusion pressure or do Blood Flow Restriction.

This fact was identified by Professor Alyssa Weatherholt of the University of Southern Indiana, Professor William VanWye of Western Kentucky University, and Johnny Owens of Owens Recovery Science (the exclusive distributor of the Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction equipment) who recently presented a study called Pressure Needed to Achieve Complete Arterial Occlusion: A Comparison of Two Devices Used for Blood Flow Restriction Training [see above].

The researchers concluded a wider cuff of the Delfi Portable Tourniquet System for Blood Flow Restriction is able to restrict arterial blood flow at significantly lower pressures compared to the narrow cuff [KAATSU Air Bands] using the KAATSU Master. The key finding of this study is as follows:

“We were unable to achieve complete arterial occlusion in any participant with the KAATSU cuff.”

The KAATSU equipment was designed and is specifically manufactured to avoid arterial occlusion in the limbs. This fact is precisely why KAATSU was originally defined by Dr. Yoshiaki Sato, the KAATSU inventor, and leading Japanese cardiologists at the University of Tokyo Hospital as a Blood Flow Moderation (BFM) device. KAATSU equipment is specifically not a BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) device.

While the vernacular nuance between BFM and BFR may be overlooked by many (venous flow modification versus arterial flow restriction), the modification of venous flow is critical to understanding the safety and goal of KAATSU as certified KAATSU Specialists understand.

"There is no part of the KAATSU protocols that includes as part of its protocols - or tries to achieve - arterial occlusion. This is why KAATSU is definitely not BFR, occlusion training, tourniquet training, O-training, or any kind of blood flow restriction modality," explains Steven Munatones. "This is why KAATSU equipment does not use cuffs or bands that are specifically designed to occlude or manufactured to restrict arterial flow. KAATSU Air Bands are not tourniquets or blood pressure cuffs. Rather, the stretchable bands are designed with flexible, elastic air bladders that inflate inwards towards the limb at very moderate pressures to minimally modify venous flow.

This pressure is gentle on the body and uniform because the limb is evenly and safely compressed by a bed of air. This principle and practical engineered solution leads to blood pooling in the limb - not arterial occlusion. This fact was independently determined by researchers and the leading Delfi proponent of BFR.

Furthermore, the patented KAATSU Cycle allows normal arterial and venous flow every 20 seconds which means it is safe, effective and gentle for people of all ages (including up to 104 years - see here).

In summary:

1. The purpose of KAATSU equipment and its protocols is a reduction in venous flow via blood flow moderation, a term first coined in the 1990s by Dr. Sato and Doctors Nakajima and Morita, cardiologists at the University of Tokyo Hospital. But the initial definition of KAATSU as BFR stuck and continues to this day.

2. The pneumatically controlled KAATSU Air Bands is designed to achieve a reduction in venous flow is a very different approach from BFR and its widely-promoted use of blood pressure cuffs that are specifically designed to achieve limb occlusion.

3. When the KAATSU equipment is used, its users agree to follow the specific protocols as defined by its inventor, Dr. Sato. Specifically, KAATSU protocols and equipment are designed not to occlude.

4. The stretchable, pneumatically controlled KAATSU Air Bands are not (blood pressure) cuffs. A cuff is a term that refers to devices specifically engineered for limb occlusion.

5. KAATSU Specialists understand the importance of users to know both their Base SKU pressure and their Optimal SKU pressure while using in the KAATSU Cycle and KAATSU Training modes. To refer to KAATSU pressure without reference to both Base SKU and Optimal SKU pressures is misleading.

There is another paper written by Jeremy P. Loenneke, Christopher Fahs, Lindy Rossow, Robert Thiebaud, Kevin T. Mattocks, Takashi Abe, and Michael G. Bemben (Blood flow restriction pressure recommendations: a tale of two cuffs) that addresses this subject from another perspective.

Copyright © 2014-2019 by KAATSU Global

I Want To Complete A Marathon

"It is such a joy, honor, and inspiration to work with wounded warriors like Joe," said KAATSU Master Specialist David Tawil.

Joe Lowrey retired as a U.S. Army Green Beret Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Lowrey. The Long Beach, California native is an avid KAATSU user after improbably surviving a horrific gunshot wound to his head during a combat tour in Afghanistan.

While serving with the 7th Special Forces Group on July 7th 2014, Lowrey and his fellow soldiers were tasked to enter an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

The injury occurred during Lowrey’s third deployment while manning the gun turret on top of a truck during an intense firefight against Taliban insurgents.

Immediately after Lowrey was hit when PKM machine gun fire (the round pierced his Kevlar helmet and caused a massive traumatic brain injury to his right hemisphere), the medic onboard heroically saved his life by conducting an emergency tracheotomy on the battlefield. Even so, after surgery, his colleagues were told that Lowrey would not survive.

Inexplicably, Lowrey survived the next day as well as the next week and next month. Just after he and his wife Jennifer welcomed their fourth child, Lowrey was airlifted from Afghanistan to Germany's Landstuhl Hospital where he remained in a coma. Despite being given a small chance of survival by doctors, Lowrey was airlifted to the United States where he continued his battle through stays at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Palo Alto, California at a polytrauma rehabilitation hospital, and then at Casa Colina and Centre for Neuro Skills in Southern California.

After years of believing in himself and his caregivers through an excruciatingly painful recovery and rehabilitation, Lowrey emerged well enough to move back in with his family albeit without use of his left side and with some short-term memory losses due to his traumatic brain injury.

"My brothers rescued me from the fight," he recalled from his home in Ontario, California. "It has been a very long road to recovery, but I want to run again. That is one of my goals."

The Purple Heart recipient then met KAATSU Master Specialist David Tawil. Together they delved into every KAATSU protocol covering muscle development, rehabilitation enhancement and basic recovery.

But they also concurrently took a deep dive into nutrition, specifically ketogenic diets, and all kinds of healthy biohacks.

Because Joe, a former highly competitive ice hockey goalie and self-defined fitness fanatic, was completely paralyzed on his left side from 2014. "Due to being sedentary for the first time in my life, I gained a lot of weight and was just eating everything including too many hamburgers," recalled Lowrey.

"But then I lost the added weight when I began eating a low-carb diet and sleeping right."

But he also experienced significant muscle mass loss while undergoing physical therapy in several Veterans Administration hospitals and medical clinics for four years.

Lowrey started KAATSU in June 2018 and, together with Tawil, have established a smooth-running protocol where Lowrey does KAATSU twice daily in the convenience of his home. He does a morning exercise protocol where he focuses on muscle toning, balance and gait fluidity as well as an evening sleep protocol where he focuses on relaxation and vascular elasticity that enables him to get a solid 8 hours of deep sleep.

"I loved how my legs felt the very first time that I tried KAATSU," recalled Lowrey who first did KAATSU in the comfort of his living room.

"I didn't know how to use the KAATSU equipment at first; it was all new to me, but David was patient and taught me and my caregiver how to apply it during my morning and evening sessions. Now it is just part of my daily routine."

Tawil reiterated, "It is important to teach KAATSU users like Joe to understand how to do KAATSU by himself. Because of Joe's limited strength, uncertain balance and lack of complete mobility, we spend all the time necessary for Joe to feel comfortable and gain the maximum benefits from KAATSU.

Joe first started with very low-pressure KAATSU Cycles on both his arms and legs. He learned what the appropriate Base and Optimal pressures are for him - both in the morning where Joe does more vigorous workouts and in the evening where it is all about relaxation and getting ready to reap all the benefits of a good night's sleep."

Over the next 8 weeks, Lowrey started to stand, balance and walk with KAATSU the Original BFR.

"We walk around the house and in his backyard," explains Tawil. "But we also go outside in his complex and tackle walking on grass. All of the different textures and slightly different elevations on the grass and a nearby hill are great challenges and objectives for Joe to achieve during his walking sessions. This sort of KAATSU Walking on a grassy hill - so simple for able-bodies people - are extremely helpful for Joe's improvement.

Joe does KAATSU 2 times per day: the first time at 10 am and then again at 7 pm before going to bed. At night, Joe just does simple KAATSU Cycles at a relatively low pressure. This double daily session has been essential for his rapid improvement. He is up to 2,000 steps a day, but his long-term goal is running a marathon."

Lowrey is taking his progress step-by-step.

But it is never easy. Friend John Doolittle said, "Joe recently had a fall and is having resulting issues with his arm and shoulder on his left side. But Joe continues to consistently take 1,500 - 2,000 steps daily and has started to attack stairs and inclines, or mountains as he refers to them. He is making steady progress."







Copyright © 2014 - 2018 by KAATSU Global

Olympic Swim Coach On His Use Of KAATSU Aqua

Chris Morgan, a 2008 Olympic swimming coach, teaches and advises a number of athletes about KAATSU the original BFR on dryland and KAATSU Aqua in the water from Olympic swimming medalists and Olympic Trials finalists to masters swimmers (24- 75 years), competitive age group swimmers and collegiate swimmers.

"KAATSU Aqua is beneficial for those athletes aiming for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and non-athletes recovering from injuries," says Morgan who explained how Roy-Allan Burch [see below] used KAATSU to recover from a double patella tendon rupture and qualified for the Olympics.







































Morgan [see video below] explains, "We work on speed, strength and stamina every workout at the Gator's Swim Club in Waltham, Massachusetts [the 2015 New England Senior Swimming Championship Team].

Like other competitive age-group swim teams, we augment those hard training sessions with a focus on proper technique, good balanced nutrition, and all kinds of 'outside the box' dry-land training.

This year, our athletes began an innovative addition to our entire training regime that has resulted in some unprecedented drops in time."

Over a 3-month period, some of the representative swims include the following:

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

Their secret…?

KAATSU.

KAATSU is the advantage that Olympic and professional athletes from Japan, and increasingly in teams from the United States and Switzerland to Tunisia and Hungary, have been using to gain specific strength in order to improve speed and increase stamina.

Morgan continues, "Years ago, Olympic champion Misty Hyman from Stanford University did something vaguely similar. The 200-meter butterfly Olympic champion in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games placed several thick postage rubber bands around her arms and legs. She would at times swim as much as 8,000 meters with the bands at AFOX in Arizona under the guidance of its coach Bob Gillette as a high school student. Her unusual training method started in Arizona as a top age-grouper and continued at Stanford University under Richard Quick - where I served as an assistant coach.

But we learned from Dr. Yoshiaki Sato and our KAATSU Global colleagues that very specific pressures with carefully engineered pneumatic bands used in short durations is the key to significant improvements in speed, strength and stamina. We use the KAATSU Master and KAATSU Nano devices to identify two types of specific pressures (called Base SKU and Optimal SKU where SKU stands for Standard KAATSU Unit). 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 or "blood flow moderation training."

Invented in 1966 and perfected by 1973 by Dr. Sato of Tokyo, the KAATSU inventor was honored by the Japanese Olympic Committee in 1992. Word eventually leaked out from Japan about KAATSU beginning in the 1980s and throughout the 1990s, but it was mostly adopted without knowledge of the Base SKU and Optimal SKU, the smart pneumatic bands, or the use of the KAATSU Cycle protocols by the bodybuilding community.

These bodybuilders, looking to achieve muscle hypertrophy, never understood the existence of pneumatic bands that maintain its structural integrity as they inflate, or the importance of identifying one's Base SKU or Optimal SKU, or integrating the KAATSU Cycle protocols as a means of post-workout recovery. Eventually, the bodybuilding community resorted to using knee wraps and other sorts of restrictive, occasionally non-elastic, bands as occlusion training or tourniquet training tools. But acceptance of the thick postage rubber bands or knee wraps never took off in amateur or professional sports in the West, especially in the aquatic community.

But for years and even a cursory search on Amazon, a growing number of American and European bodybuilders and trainers simply tie knee wraps and other bands around their arms in order to build bulk based on information they learned from the Internet and two-dimensional photos they saw of KAATSU bands.

In contrast to the specific KAATSU protocols to identify optimal pressures, bodybuilders tie their limbs with occlusion bands using a pain scale from 1 to 10, with 7-8 being the recommended level of pain by various American researchers and strength coaches. This kind of simplified and frankly dangerous* means to occlude blood flow in the limbs was neither possible nor practical for age-group swimmers or older masters swimmers. "Or frankly, anyone," reminds Morgan. "In contrast to those focused on muscle hypertrophy, we wanted a proven, safe and effective means to help our young athletes improve their speed, strength and stamina - not a means simply to get bulkier.

Since the Center for KAATSU Research at the Harvard Medical School was established in 2013, I first used KAATSU on myself** and learned the proper protocols and how to safely use the KAATSU equipment. With that knowledge and experience, the athletes of the Gator's Swim Club have been experimenting with KAATSU and our age-group swimmers, several who are national-caliber swimmers.

I quickly learned how we could replicate 'race pain' without the need for a time-consuming test set by using the KAATSU equipment. By engorging the muscles in blood - instead of keeping blood out like the bodybuilders and their knee wraps, I studied how this revolutionary training technique could be utilized by competitive swimmers whether they are focused on their local high school championships and getting into college or others like Roy Burch and Mohamed Hussein who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games."

Coach Morgan now uses KAATSU in three fundamental ways:

1. In rehabilitation
2. For recovery
3. During training

Rehabilitation
Swimmers use KAATSU to quickly resolve sore shoulders and the tweaks of overuse injuries from both our age-groupers and masters swimmers. "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 Olympics USA team and professional soccer players."***

Recovery
"We use the KAATSU Cycle modality between races and between the preliminary and final events in a multi-day event (e.g., the 2015 Winter Junior National Championships in Atlanta, Georgia) and KAATSU Cycle has been used at the World University Games and United States Olympic Trials in both swimming and track & field."

Training
"We do a variety of sets with KAATSU in order to improve technique, speed, strength and stamina. None of these sets last over 20 minutes, as per the standard KAATSU protocols. Some of the sets involve using arm bands and some of the sets involve using leg bands, including sets that exclusively focus on starts or turns.

These sets can range from 10 x 15m breakouts to 10 x 50 at a specific pressure.

Not only have our athletes and their parents accepted KAATSU and appreciate its benefits, but we also have some of our graduating seniors requesting the KAATSU machines accompany them to their new collegiate teams."

* Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2010 May; 20(3): 218-9: Low-load ischemic exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis

** In 2013, Morgan competed in a Tough Mudder obstacle race near Boston. He used the KAATSU Master to improve his fitness level, but on the day of the event, at mile #10, he slipped on a log, smashed his side, and broke 2 ribs. For 7 days immediately after the injury, he used the KAATSU Master and KAATSU Air Bands as prescribed for broken bones. By day 7, the pain and sensitivity of the broken ribs had vanished. Ten days after the first x-rays revealed the broken ribs, he took a second set of x-rays at Harvard University that showed a complete recovery. "Ever since that time, I wanted the athletes who I work with to benefit from a clear and methodical use of KAATSU."

*** Get Stronger, Go Longer. KAATSU is Blowing Researchers' Minds (Military Times) and KAATSU Japanese Blood Flow Routine (Outside Magazine)

*

Copyright © 2014 - 2016 by KAATSU Global

John Welbourn Interviews Dr. Sato On Power Athlete HQ

John Welbourn, a 9-year veteran of the NFL, is the CEO of Power Athlete and creator of CrossFit Football. He interviewed Dr. Yoshiaki Sato, chairman of KAATSU Global, at last week's 2016 Biohacking Convention in Pasadena, California about KAATSU from its invention to its applications.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley in 1998, Welbourn was drafted with the 97th pick in 1999 NFL Draft and went on to be a starter for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2003, appearing in 3 NFC Championship games, and for the Kansas City Chiefs from 2004-2007. In 2008, he played for the New England Patriots until a pre-season injury ended his season. Over the course of his career, Welbourn started over 100 games in addition to 10 playoff appearances.

Since retiring from the NFL in 2009, Welbourn has trained athletes in MLB, NHL, NFL, CrossFit and the Olympics. He has also worked in the same capacity for Naval Special Warfare, teaching performance and training for Navy SEALs, and travels the world lecturing on performance and nutrition and as an expert on food for performance.

Welbourn started experimenting with BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) training, but was introduced to KAATSU by his colleagues in the NFL. He has since become a KAATSU Specialist and wanted to learn more directly from Dr. Sato during his visit to the Bulletproof Biohacking Convention.

Dr. Sato's interpreter Manako Ihaya assists with the communications between Welbourn and Dr. Sato that will be edited and broadcast in full soon on Welbourn's POWER ATHLETE™ Blog. This is only the beginning of the full program.




























Copyright © 2014 - 2016 by KAATSU Global

Andre Metzger on Making Weight with KAATSU

World championship bronze medalist and two-time NCAA wrestling champion Andre Metzger describes how KAATSU helps his collegiate wrestlers make weight before their bouts.

Metzger uses a KAATSU Nano and KAATSU Air Bands on his wrestlers' arms and legs (separately) with the appropriate Base SKU (compression) and Optimal SKU (compression).

For individuals who use the KAATSU Master 2.0 or KAATSU Cycle 2.0 and want to maintain or loss weight should limit their food intake at least 90 minutes after doing KAATSU. Because the vascular tissue is made more elastic with efficient and effective KAATSU Cycles, there is a period of time where more energy is required for the vascular tissue to expand in this state. As your body is burning more energy, it is great to stay hydrated, but less optional to consume food if weight control or weight reduction is the goal.

Copyright © 2014 - 2016 by KAATSU Global

Broken Bones + Rehabilitation = Great Opportunity for KAATSU

It is always a pleasure to work with athletically-minded individuals who cannot stand atrophying as they rehabilitate from injuries.

Jack [shown above] is one of those hard-charging athletes. A highly competitive motorcycle racer, Jack has broken dozens of bones throughout his career and has undergone his fair share of surgeries.

Then he discovered KAATSU with Dr Arthur Ting of Fremont, California.

Below is a typical daily rehabilitation/training program for Jack: He comes into the KAATSU Studio well-hydrated and first works on his arms with the KAATSU Nano device and a medium set of KAATSU Air Bands. Then, he works on his legs.

He takes the time to accurately set his correct Base SKU and then identify his Optimal SKU using the standard KAATSU protocols. He understands well the subtle importance of safely and effectively compressing the venous flow in order to stimulate a systemic response from KAATSU.

Upper Body Workout
1. KAATSU Cycle once at 25 Base SKU and 150 Optimal SKU
2. KAATSU Cycle once at 25 Base SKU and 250 Optimal SKU, constantly checking CRT (Capillary Refill Time) to confirm Optimal SKU
3. KAATSU 3-point arm exercises to muscular failure: 3 sets of hand clenches + 3 sets of biceps curls (with 1 lb dumbbells) + 3 sets of triceps extensions

Lower Body Workout
1. KAATSU Cycle once at 25 Base SKU and 150 Optimal SKU
2. KAATSU Cycle once at 25 Base SKU and 300 Optimal SKU, constantly checking CRT (Capillary Refill Time) to confirm Optimal SKU
3. KAATSU 3-point leg exercises to muscular failure: 3 sets of heel raises + 3 sets of quarter, non-lock squats + 3 sets of standing hamstring curls

He also throws in an occasional walk with the KAATSU leg bands and does bouts of stretching while doing the KAATSU Cycle.

Copyright © 2014 - 2016 by KAATSU Global

KAATSU + Resistance Bands = Great Upper Body Workout

Uno Gomes, Founder and CEO of Let's Band in Malta, shows how to use resistance bands with KAATSU for a great upper body workout.

Standard KAATSU protocols calls for the athlete to do 3-4 sets of each exercise. There should be between 15-20 seconds of rest between each set. If the appropriate Base SKU and Optimal SKU is set, the athlete will reach failure at a decreasing number of repetitions on each subsequent set (e.g., 25 reps on the first set, 15 reps on the second set, 5-10 reps on the third set).

Failure to move the limbs - either muscular or technical - is important in order to send a failure signal through the central nervous system to the brain. This will elicit a cascade of positive physiological reactions in the body.




























































































































































































Copyright © 2016 by KAATSU Global

KAATSU + Resistance Bands = Great Lower Body Workout

Uno Gomes, Founder and CEO of Let's Band in Malta, shows how to use resistance bands with KAATSU for a great lower body workout.

Standard KAATSU protocols calls for the athlete to do 3-4 sets of each exercise. There should be between 15-20 seconds of rest between each set. If the appropriate Base SKU and Optimal SKU is set, the athlete will reach failure at a decreasing number of repetitions on each subsequent set (e.g., 25 reps on the first set, 15 reps on the second set, 5-10 reps on the third set).

Failure to move the limbs - either muscular or technical - is important in order to send a failure signal through the central nervous system to the brain. This will elicit a cascade of positive physiological reactions in the body.

















































































































































































































































































































































Copyright © 2016 by KAATSU Global

Wie funktioniert KAATSU? What Is KAATSU? Explained in German

KAATSU Specialist Robert Heiduk explains the mechanism and equipment of KAATSU using the KAATSU Master and KAATSU Air Bands in the German language.

Copyright © 2014 - 2016 by KAATSU Global

KAATSU Interview on Super Human Radio

Carl Lanore of Super Human Radio interviewed Dr. James Stray-Gundersen about KAATSU on October 12th 2015.

...it's Super Human Radio with your host, Carl Lanore.

Carl Lanore: Hey, hey welcome back to another episode of Super Human Radio. We have a great show planned for you today. We're going to be covering quite a few really important subjects. We're going to be joined by Dr. Jim Stray-Gundersen to talk about KAATSU training. There's a lot of discussion about KAATSU, a lot of misinformation out there.

There isn't a single person on the planet that knows more about it, even above and beyond the Japanese scientist that discovered it than Dr. Jim Stray-Gundersen, so we'll have some good questions and answers for him.

We started talking about KAATSU training in early 2006 I did my first discussion with a Japanese scientist and ever since then it has really intrigued me and everybody else out there. We're going to get to the bottom of KAATSU training today with Dr. James Stray-Gundersen. How you doing Dr. Gundersen?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Very good, thanks Carl.

Carl Lanore: Let me just give a brief highlight of your CV here because it's very impressive.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: [chuckles] Sure.

Carl Lanore: Well you're a general surgeon, which qualifies by the way to run for president now.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: [laughs]

Carl Lanore: University of Southwestern Medical School, Associate Professor in Exercise Science and Human Performance for the past 18 years; four Olympic games as physician or physiologist; twenty world championships at various sports physician, physiologist; altitude expert. We were just talking about the role of hypoxia and remodeling of fat cells in leptin sensitivity. World renowned anti-doping expert and involved in many sports to advance performance legally and ethically, NFL, ABA, FIFA, I mean your list goes on-and-on.

Why did you look at – what made you interested in KAATSU training first of all?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Well it kind of goes back aways. As you pointed out my initial education was as a general surgeon, but after I finished my general surgery residency I ended up doing some post-doctorate fellowships in cardiovascular physiology and another one in human nutrition. I kind of or I did fall in love with the idea of using the medicines of exercise and nutrition to promote health and fitness. And that wasn't really aligned with taking out gallbladders. So I ended up having a career as you pointed out in academic medicine and doing various research projects. But the key thing to all of these things is looking forward to how to optimize human health and fitness.

About four years ago I got introduced to KAATSU. It just struck me as one of those things that is a real paradigm shifter in terms of how we can safely and effectively improve health and fitness in humans.

Carl Lanore: So KAATSU was first written about in a paper from some Japanese scientists who were looking at KAATSU. Correct me if I'm wrong because it's been awhile, but they were looking at KAATSU not necessarily for performance, but as a therapeutic aid to recovering from an injury and avoiding the muscle loss generally seen from an injured limb, right?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Right. Right here is the essence of KAATSU. So basically what we do is with very light weights that can be done by anybody whether they have an injury or not, we end up being able to do maximal strength training exercise. So that exercise then mitigates any atrophy that might be happening, but it also sets up a kind of hormonal situation where you end up adapting to the exercises that you've done, but you've tricked the brain. Normally to get this kind of hormonal release you have to be lifting really heavy loads and exhausting yourself and with KAATSU you can do it with very light loads and in a short period of time. So it ends up being a very efficient way of doing this. Then there's applications for whether it's seniors who can't lift very heavy weights in the first place or someone who's injured, say someone who's torn their ACL and they're coming back from an ACL tear, but this is a way to exercise their quads to get that muscle mass back.

Carl Lanore: So and you know I've often thought what I'm about to say but I've never said it on the show, there's always this discussion about what builds bigger muscles?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah.

Carl Lanore: And there's the group out there that says you know heavier loads and the group that says higher reps and the reality is that it can be either if you stimulate a phenomenon which I can only use the word "muscular congestion." Depending on when you were able – where in that dynamic of exercise that your performing whether it's heavy weight or higher reps, you know lower reps with heavy weights or higher reps with lighter weight, if the muscles getting congested that is where it appears that the intramuscular growth factors and switches that seem to be exploited by KAATSU really say, "Look this is what builds muscle. It doesn’t matter if you're using heavy weight with low reps, it doesn't matter if you're using light weight with high reps, what matters is that this condition is occurring in the muscle." Am I off base on that?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: No. I would just kind of phrase it a little differently. I would say that what KAATSU does is it impedes the blood flow out of the muscle such that the muscle when it's exercising it can't get its normal recovery that blood flow allows. And because it can't recover a profound disturbance of homeostasis is induced in this muscle. This disturbance of homeostasis and I know that's a little bit of a mouthful, but this disturbance of homeostasis is when for example the oxygen levels in the muscles go down or the pH does down, which means that the environment is becoming more acidic or various electrolyte gradients are coming out of spec if you will and there is a variety of these things that happen when a muscle is exercising and it can't get recovered.

This contraction becomes unsustainable and then that unsustainable contraction sends a signal up into the brain saying, "Holy mackerel guys you got to help me out here." We're aware of that feeling cortically by a hard effort or a feelings of fatigue or feelings of congestion and a variety of these things such that we end up sending the brain this signal. It's usually only in both cases like you know 20-miles out on a long run or by lifting 300-pounds squats and doing that kind of thing where you'd get to these situations where the disturbance of the homeostasis in the muscle has been so profound that these kind of messages to the brain are screaming out for help.

Then the brain responds by an outpouring of a hormonal milieu that maybe milieu that may be best illustrated by increases in growth hormone or profound increases in growth hormone from this exercise. Then that healing anabolic hormonal response out of the brain is then responsible for all this rebuilding process and healing process and then we go from there. Under normal circumstances whether it's with the marathon or whether it's Olympic weightlifting that muscle has been damaged by this stuff. But in the case of KAATSU we haven't damaged the muscle, we've just fooled the brain into thinking all hell was breaking lose.

Carl Lanore: Aaaaah interesting.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Okay? And so then you adapt – instead of having to dig yourself out of this hole you just can start increasing strength and fitness right off the bat.

Carl Lanore: Oh man okay so two things that jump out of me big time here that I did not understand and this is really great stuff. You're right because we talk about the net synthetic response of exercise in building muscle and we know that if damage is negative 10 and growth is positive 12, you have a net influence of 2 on the growth of muscle. What you're saying is damage is zero, so whatever the growth impetus is that is a positive X whatever that is.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Right.

Carl Lanore: So you're really building on a foundation of already ready to grow muscle as opposed to previously damaged muscle.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Exactly. So we've altered the balance. We've really decreased those negative stimuli to a minimum and we've maximized because this is a maximal signal, we've maximized adaption healing response. And so you know you just tilted the teeter-totter and all of a sudden you know off you go getting stronger and fitter right off the bat and you've done it with really low weights.

Carl Lanore: Okay.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: So anybody can do it.

Carl Lanore: Okay now wait a minute because we're going to get into the weight loads in a second. Now the other misunderstanding I've been under is that the increase in growth factors, mechano growth factor which I think is IGFE or 1E or something like that, all these things happen in the muscle exclusively than systemically. Am I incorrect? Is it just being what's the word I'm looking for, trapped and concentrated in the muscle, but it's actually produced systemically?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Well there's a couple of things, there's both local effects and systemic effects.

Carl Lanore: Okay.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: So imagine we have a muscle exercising and its blood flow is not a happy camper, it can't recover the muscle as well as it would like too. So then there are various sort of near-term hormones that are in the tissue itself or in the surrounding tissue that end up sending signals that do a variety of things. Like they essentially try to repair this damage that's being done. There's various cytokines that are locally released that do things like turn on protein metabolism, they prepare cell-surface receptors such that they will be responsive to any systemic hormones that are coming along. Those sorts of things are all done at a local level.

Then because this signal of this disturbance of homeostasis has been sent up into the brain it has caused among other things the pituitary to release a lot of growth hormone. This growth hormone then goes among other places to the liver where it stimulates the production of IGF-1. Then IGF-1 then goes out throughout the whole the whole circulation. It then where there are cell receptors that have been up-regulated or turned-on such that they will be receptive to these anabolic stimuli, then those tissues that have been exercised end up further amplifying their production of proteins and trying to repair what damage was done. The nice little thing about this is that the damage wasn't done, we just fooled the brain into thinking it was.

Carl Lanore: This is brilliant. Then obviously the brain gets – the body gets to work in super compensating and preparing for the possibility of another one of these muscular onslaughts and it increases the muscle size and we're going to talk about obviously it influences hypertrophy, but we're going to talk about strength in a second.

Carl Lanore: You know everybody talked about work smarter not harder. Lee Haney used to say, "Stimulate, don't annihilate."

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: There you go.

Carl Lanore: It sounds to me like KAATSU is the gold standard for those who want to work smarter not harder. But let's talk about two things when we come out of the break. Let's talk about the load, because what I see people doing with KAATSU is instead of using a light weight they use heavier and heavier weights and try to bridge the strength and muscle hypertrophy gap.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah, don't need too. [chuckles]

Carl Lanore: But also I want to talk about what KAATSU is not good for, if there is anything and then we will talk more about training styles.

In the meantime if you're anxious to get information you can go to the website KAATSU-global.com. I'm going to spell it for you, it's: K-A-A-T-S-U hyphen or dash depending on what part of the country you're from, global.com. They're giving away a free four megabyte report on lots of the things that we're talking about here. You need to go there and get that.

We talk about advanced training techniques like statics and negatives. There may not be anything more advanced than KAATSU, but you have to understand how to use it, because like all things that really work it can backfire on you too and we'll talk about that in the show too.

We're talking about KAATSU training right now with Dr. James Stray-Gundersen. I have to thank a listener from Budapest, Hungary for putting this show together today and that's Peter Lakatos.

A lot of the things that we're talking about here today if you want to get a little deeper into it you can go to the website, KAATSU-global: K-A-A-T-S-U hyphen G-L-O-B-A-L.com and download their report and obviously communicate with them there if you want to try to adapt this to your own training.

So first things first the weights that people use must it be light weight or is there an advantage to doing some sort of progressive loading when you're doing KAATSU?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah Carl this is really an important point. We're paradigm shifting here. We're thinking about using impeded blood flow or modified blood flow plus low weights, light weights, easy weights to send this signal to the brain. So we're using the muscles that are you know normally when we think about training we think about we're training the muscles that we're exercising. This is we're using the muscles that are being exercised in contute to send this signal that causes the whole body to adapt.

So one of the things about in terms of the loads we absolutely don't want to use heavy loads because that ends-up becoming a combination of modifying the blood flow and using heavy weights can produce damage to the muscle fibers. So we always want to stay on the side where we're doing really light weights like you know two-pounds arm curls or we can do things with partial body weight like push-ups or –

Carl Lanore: Yeah I was just going to say that. It sounds to me like if you want to do KAATSU look a lot of us going to the gym with our training buddy, his name is Ego and the last thing we want to do is grab a pair of two-pound dumbbells and have 19-inch arms and people go, "What's that about?"

You know when I was a kid there were guys in the neighborhood that would buy a Camaro, put a Phase 3 hood on it, put Mickey Thompson 50-Series tires on the back, put you know traction bars on it and they had a four cylinder or a six cylinder and we used to call that a "pig."

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: [laughs]

Carl Lanore: So you know a lot of us guys we have an ego, we're going to go in and lift heavy. It sounds to me that KAATSU would best suited for bodyweight training.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yes it is. So you can do all the KAATSU exercises and you can get a really good KAATSU effect without any additional weights or devices or anything. Now that's not to say that we're going to have to throw out all the weight racks we have at home. The idea is that particularly for strength-oriented sports, let's say alpine skiing or Olympic lifting or football or these sorts of things where strength is critical and let's say standard weight training has always been part and parcel of getting fit for those sports.

What we do or what we recommend at the U.S. Ski Team where I'm working is that we have the athletes do 90% of their normal weight workout. So to induce a little fatigue but they save the riskier lifts to trying for KAATSU. So we don’t want anybody doing maximal squats or these bench presses where they might drop the weight, where they might hurt their back or that kind of thing, but we do all the other stuff.

Then after that workout then they come in and they do a KAATSU session. That really polishes it off, because now the muscles are already fatigued, it's already giving them a little bit of a signal and then we hammer it with this KAATSU program that really takes it over the edge, but does so safely. There's no heavy weights involved. We're able to get people where they just can't do one more pushup. So then what we're doing is we're getting the traditional training plus we're getting what I think of as frosting on the cake by doing that KAATSU session.

Carl Lanore: Okay so the traditional training is going to influence neuromuscular adaptation which gives us strength and instead of doing some you know other type of 20-rep scheme thing just do a KAATSU movement at the end to kind of influence hypertrophy.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah. One of the things to think about is you know in various forms of training whether it's strength training or endurance training or all of these things you know there's not that many times in a week where you can really take it to max.

Carl Lanore: Right.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: And what KAATSU does is again frosting on the cake of all of the other training that's been going on and you just back-off that training just a little bit and you let the KAATSU session end up being those maximal workouts. And because you're not getting the damage that's normally associated with it then for one thing you recover a lot quicker and you're ready to go the next day. You can actually add on more maximal sessions a week than you otherwise could.

All this stuff going back to that initial thing you were talking about where we're shifting the balance between the negative effects of training and the positive effects of training. And so what we're doing is we're cutting down on the negative effects, adding onto the positive effects, getting a more robust adaptation and fitter and stronger and faster and everything.

Carl Lanore: I want to talk a little bit about the way that you occlude and how critical this is. I know the original studies they were using blood pressure cuffs so they could actually measure in milligrams of mercury just how much pressure was being applied.

Today guys go into gym and literally tie ropes around their upper arms that have no give whatsoever and are choking the muscle up. There's a big difference between doing this right and doing this wrong. Can we talk about that when we come back from the break?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Absolutely. Carl Lanore: We're talking with Dr. James Stray-Gundersen. We're talking about KAATSU training. This is the definitive interview on KAATSU training because there's lot of misinformation out there.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Absolutely.

Carl Lanore: Yeah there is and it's not one of those things that if you get bad information you just won't grow, you can actually hurt yourself. One of the things that people need to be careful about is the level of occlusion or restriction and there's differences in that terminology in the science. Then what they consider vascular occlusion and vascular restriction are vastly different. One seems to still have some compensatory blood flow in-and-out of the muscle. The other seems to stop it completely. How do people determine how far to go or is that something that you offer at the website? Do you offer the actual cuffs and how to use them?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah Carl these are great questions. Let me take a moment and kind of describe some of the history here. Dr. Sato really invented KAATSU training in 1966 or that was when he had a little epiphany about how to do this. He then took about 30 years of tying bicycle tires around his arms, judo belts, what have you and kind of learned the hard way and from experience how to do this stuff right.

At the same time kind of little bits of these secrets were leaking out of Japan and into primarily the bodybuilding world and a number of other things. While Dr. Sato really didn't explain himself well a lot of these other people saw what he was doing or at least at the time. Then they had big ideas about what they thought he was doing and went and tried a bunch of stuff for themselves.

So if you think of this area of blood flow restriction as one big thing around the world and there's our whole variety of things that kind of come into that circle, KAATSU is a subset of that. It's really only safe and only really effective when it's done the way Dr. Sato says. So there's a variety of protocols that are very important in terms of how you get these things done right and done safely.

So for example that is the primary reason why we have basically these instruments that allow us to very carefully judge what the right amount of impediment of blood flow is or the right amount of modification.

There's another aspect to this. So the way that we use these bands or the stuff that goes around the arms and the legs is that there's an air bladder in there and this air bladder we can very finely change what the pressure is in there. And what we do then is we kind of go through a set of pressures where we then check to see whether we're seeing the right kind of physical signs that we have not occluded, but that we have impeded blood flow such that the exercises that will be done will produce problems or not problems but failure, fatigue, send a signal up into the brain.

Carl Lanore: Okay.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: So it's very critical the two big things and this is one of the things that the KAATSU protocols are very good for is that we absolutely don't want to occlude. If we do occlude that's the thing that can lead to severe muscle damage or sometimes blood clots or a variety of other complications. Usually pretty much everywhere where we've seen these kind of complications it's because people are either not even doing KAATSU at all or they're doing it incorrectly. So what is critical is getting the right equipment, getting the right education, and then doing this and applying it in the right way.

Carl Lanore: Now there are people out there who are going to try it obviously and they're not going to want to buy things to try it.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Right. Carl Lanore: Is there kind of a rule of thumb that look if the muscle is occluded and you're going to feel this severe pump, you're going to feel this accumulation of lactate build up rather quickly, is it kind of like something that we say, "Look if you're starting to fail and feel these things in the first couple reps you're too tight. You're shooting for a 10 to 15 rep where you start to experience this." Is there anything that we can give some safe advice on that or is it something that they must follow exactly what you offer at the website?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah it's very difficult –

Carl Lanore: I know you're probably reluctant, I know you're reluctant to give that kind of broad scope statement being within the medical but you know.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: No, no I think I can address it to some extent. What I would say is that it's not easy to get to the right level of blood flow modification without using the devices.

Carl Lanore: Yeah.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: So what happens and believe me Dr. Sato has tried over the years to do this in a way where it's just a matter of throwing on some belts and he's come to the conclusion that you need to have this education and you need to have the equipment to make it work right.

Carl Lanore: Right.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Now so and most of the time or I should say all of the time when we're figuring out where it is that somebody needs to have these pressures we're taking it a step at a time, we're undershooting in the first place and then we're checking things and then sometimes you have to do sets of exercises to see if you get this fatigue or failure in the proper number of reps. So standard KAATSU exercises end-up being usually three sets of the same exercise and usually we go about 25-to-30 reps in the first set, 20-to-30 second pause, then usually it ends-up producing failure in 20-to-25 reps on the second set, again a 30-second pause and then usually failure comes pretty quick in the 15-to-20 rep range. That's when you know you have it just right. It means that you put the bands on in such a way and the pressures are set in such a way that you get failure in the period of those sets with very light weights or something like pushups or just getting up and out of a chair.

Carl Lanore: Okay, okay. Now are there any muscles that are not good candidates because of where they are, because of kinesiology, because of where the blood flow comes from, that are not good candidates for KAATSU? Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Well this is one of the unique things about KAATSU. So one of the things it is a critical step so you know if there is one thing to say never occlude. The next thing to say is always put the bands in the correct places, which is kind of just below the deltoid and just above the bicep on the arms and pretty much high up on the legs as far as you can go. That then produces this impediment of blood flow for all of the muscles that are distal to these bands.

So when that happens then were using as many muscles as possible to get that signal up into the brain to produce that systemic effect. However, all muscles that are getting exercise those muscles their cell-service receptors get turned on and everything else and so they're receptive to this systemic hormonal anabolic response that's coming down the line. So what happens is we make a point of we want to exercise the muscles so that we get that fatigue signal that had their blood flow impeded, but we also want to exercise other muscles that are involved in any of these exercises.

So for example like if we want to get glutes firing their blood flow is just perfectly fine, but the hamstrings and the quads they're blood flow is impeded. So we want to setup a situation where we're getting exercise in all these muscles and even though the glutes don't have their blood flow impeded they're still getting the benefit. Same with also –

Carl Lanore: But wait a minute, but wait a minute, but technically they do and just stay with me because I'm obviously not up on this, but when I used to use some form of KAATSU for my upper arms what I also found was that while the blood flow is being restricted in my biceps and triceps predominately and obviously the forearms because they're downstream.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Right.

Carl Lanore: But the muscles upstream are also experiencing some form of occlusion in the way that the blood that normally passes through them is kind of being trapped backed-up It's kind of like look when you clog a drain nothing on either side of the clog works very well, so my pecs used to get a really good pump and my shoulders used to get a really good pump when I was focusing on my biceps and triceps.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah. You're absolutely right, your pecs and your deltoids and your shoulder muscles are all getting a really good influence, but their blood flow is just fine thank you very much.

Carl Lanore: Okay.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: And so here's one of the things. So let's say that we're going to do a bench press or let's say we're going to try to do a pushup. Let's say it's a pushup, you're using your forearm muscles, you're using your biceps, mainly you're using your triceps, but you're also using your pecs. So the pecs their blood flows happy camper, but the triceps they're the weak spot because they're blood flow impeded and they're starting to fail and they're sending a signal to the brain saying, "Hey guys I'm failing. I need to have a better percentage of my maximal ability to go forward." And the brain then says, "Okay well we got to really whip that horse and get those pushups going so we'll send out a signal to all of the muscles involved in the activity to work harder." And so those pecs are getting the same kind of whip if you will that the triceps are and even though they don't really need it. So then you end up getting this exercise benefit for the pecs as well as the triceps and everything else.

Carl Lanore: So the reality is in order to achieve the proper what's the word I'm looking for, not occlusion but, ah, um, isn't this funny I just forgot my own – I got lost. But the bottom line is that in order to get the proper affects from this you really to just be able to get high up on the thighs where they attach into the groin area and between the tri and the upper arms below the shoulder muscles, that's it, that's everything. So you don't have to worry about occluding pectoral muscles or anything else.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Right. So point number one, get the bands in the right place. Point number two, modify the pressure and do little tests so that you have the proper amount of blood flow impediment and never occlude. Then point number three is use simple, easy weights, simple movements to get those muscles to fatigue and send that signal up into the brain that then releases the hormonal response.

Carl Lanore: Okay.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: And it's really that safe and that simple if you do it that way and you know so you know there's tons of people that think that one's good, ten is better, well all that stuff is not the way to do KAATSU.

Carl Lanore: Okay. So now we're going to take a commercial break and I have some questions I've always wanted to ask about certain supplements and their influence on the results of KAATSU and hopefully you'll have some opinions and perspectives on this.

We're talking right now with Dr. James Stray-Gundersen and the website is KAATSU-global: K-A-A-T-S-U hyphen global.com. If you go there and you place an order, well first of all you get a free report there, number one, so go and get that, but if you do want to buy some of the bands and items they offer if you mention this radio show, Super Human Radio, you'll get a 10% discount. This is good through for 30 days, so it's October 12th today if you're listening to this show late, if it's 30 days after that that coupon code is no longer available.

We're talking with Dr. James Stray-Gundersen. We're talking about KAATSU training. If you are a personal trainer and you want to add the certification and the equipment to your repertoire of offerings you need to go to KAATSU-global.com: K-A-A-T-S-U hyphen global.com. This is a very, very serious science here. This is not where you put some ropes or bands around your client's arm.

The equipment gives read-back, it gives feedback and it explains what you're doing right, what you're doing wrong. It allows you to guide – you know and this is something really not just for the average person, but for those professionals out there who are bodybuilders who want to try to take their body to a different level that they just can't get with the type of training they're doing now. I have a feeling that KAATSU will open amazing opportunities for growth in those individuals.

So real quick two topics I want to cover and then we can wrap it up with whatever else you want to talk about. Certain supplements seem to influence this phenomenon either in a positive or negative aspect I'm thinking. I don't know if this is true that's why I'm asking you.

Beta-analine has been shown to quench hydrogen ions, allowing endurance athletes to train longer without the burn so to speak, the lactate buildup. Would that be a non-starter, a not a good supplement to use if you're looking to use KAATSU?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: No, I think beta-analine would be great. You know let's take nutrition as a kind of general topic. I know there's lot more here. But I think the way that nutrition, whatever nutrition the person is applying that KAATSU just amplifies the effect of this. So if the nutrition is intended to build big muscle then that's what's going to happen with the combination of the nutrition that's going in and the other training that's going on, as well as that KAATSU frosting if you will.

If it's an endurance thing then that connotates a certain kind of diet and then also a certain kind of other training and then KAATSU can amplify those sorts of things. So for example it's been shown that muscle that gets built with kind of endurance-type training ends up having the characteristics of that kind of muscle all the time. You know the athletes don't necessarily gain any weight. In sports where you don't want to gain weight you can use KAATSU in a way that combined with your nutrition and your exercise such that you don't, you don't gain weight. Where on the other hand bodybuilders or other strength kind of athletes they want to gain weight, so then their nutrition dictates kind of the way that this goes.

Now one of the things back to beta-analine specifically just the idea that you have good intracellular buffers is still a good thing, it's just mean that the degree of impeding of blood flow needs to be a little bit greater than it otherwise would be. This is where we see these kind of things. So after you get done with your KAATSU session and you've done let's say three to five different exercises and you've gotten that failure signal at least in the third set of each one of those exercises, then in retrospect you know you did a good job. Whether you have beta-analine onboard, whether you don't, whether you are using creatinine or all those sorts of things they just set the stage for the muscle to adapt in a better way to a stronger stimulus.

Carl Lanore: Okay good because then you answered the question about a nitric oxide donor as well like you know L-arginine or something like that.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Yeah right.

Carl Lanore: Okay. What about strength? Is there any evidence that KAATSU training actually effects neuromuscular adaptation in the same way that handling heavy weight does?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Well I'd kind of answer it this way, you know one of the things is you get increases in strength with KAATSU within two weeks. I would say that most people think that that's just because we've gotten better motor activation, better coordination and we really haven't done anything to the muscle itself. But that's not the case. We do get those enhancements of the motor coordination and all that kind of stuff, but we're still getting protein building going on in the muscle and as I was kind of alluding to earlier that because we haven't done the damage we don't have to dig ourselves out of this hole that takes you know four-to-six weeks.

Carl Lanore: Right.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: We can just start going right from get-go. So I would say that the degree of skill acquisition and all those sort of things is the same with KAATSU as it is with other sorts of sports or other sorts of weightlifting.

Now let me illustrate one thing is one of the things that I love doing with all of my athletes is I ask them to put the KAATSU bands on and then they have to try to do some skill activity that they may have been doing. For example juggling a soccer ball or throwing a baseball or hitting a baseball, all these things that are highly technically oriented and with the KAATSU bands on at the right pressures they're just horrible at it.

That does a couple of things. One is these are already well accomplished people and they don't like not being good at what they're sport is and so it forces them to focus on the very specific motor tasks that are involved. Then because they renewed their focus on these activities, plus their muscles are getting more fatigued than they otherwise would they get a really robust response. And very shortly they're on one hand juggling soccer balls really well again with the KAATSU bands on and then on the pitch they're even better than they were before.

Carl Lanore: And so then when they take the bands off since they've had to focus more and get more neuromuscular inroads and control with the bands on when they take them off they're actually even better than they were before.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Exactly. So here's the thing, one of the things that is a critical component of all sports is when fatigue sets in you still have to do things and in exactly the right way whether that's catch that football or hit that jump shot or score that goal, all these things are very critical, technical things that are not done well when the individual is fatigued. KAATSU teaches you to operate under those conditions of fatigue so that you then do those things better when you don't have the KAATSU bands on.

Carl Lanore: We only have a few minutes. Are there any contraindications that someone should not get into KAATSU? Like let's say they've been diagnosed with peripheral artery disease and they don't want to put bands on their lower legs am I right about that or no?

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: The short answer is there's pretty much no contraindications to KAATSU. There's a couple of situations where we take extra care. One example for example is a woman who's had breast cancer and has had the lymph nodes in her armpit removed or the lymph nodes have been radiated, which produces a situation where generally they're advised not to put blood pressure cuffs on their arms or get blood drawn on that side. We similarly with an abundance of caution try not to put the bands on that arm. But the other three extremities they're still good to go for KAATSU.

Carl Lanore: Right.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: That ends up being just fine.

Carl Lanore: Oh yeah because there's actually a cross-education. We know that if you train one leg, the other leg gets something out of it anyway, so there's probably some real benefits to that.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Exactly.

Carl Lanore: Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Exactly. So you know there are things and this is part of the educational process, there are things where we have to modify exactly what we do and we don't do, but suffice it to say that there's a way to KAATSU everybody in a safe manner.

So for example you were talking about the peripheral artery disease in let's say a senior for example. There we're not going to use very high pressures, but we don't need too because we can end-up getting that KAATSU effect with a combination of low pressures and easy exercises that work for them and doing so such that we don't damage any arteries that are already diseased.

Carl Lanore: I have to believe that the hemodynamic changes would actually be beneficial to arteries because we know that heavy load-bearing exercise over long periods of time actually makes arteries and veins more resilient, more elastic, and improves intima, thickness, and function. So I got to believe that allowing them to achieve that level of let's say almost what occurs in a Valsalva-type of a maneuver, achieve that kind of blood vascular pressure changes, but without doing a lot of strenuous work has to be beneficial to them.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Absolutely. Again this gets back to that key to KAATSU which is when it's done properly there's low loads involved. You don't have to go to the extremes that you normally have to go to to get the effects to happen.

Carl Lanore: Yeah. Listen we've run out of time. This is a fantastic interview. We're happy to have Dr. Gundersen back on the air. If you have questions that we didn't cover please e-mail them to onair@superhumanradio.com and I promise we'll have him back on and cover it at a later time.

This is brilliant and the website is fantastic, KAATSU-GLOBAL.com

Whether you are an end user or you are a personal trainer you must go to that website. Download the free report, but more importantly checkout the equipment, get certified and offer KAATSU training to your clients, it's a great idea.

Listen, thanks for being on the show today Dr. Gundersen.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen: Oh, you're more than welcome.

Carl Lanore: Take care.

Dr. Stray-Gundersen on Local And Systemic Mechanisms Of KAATSU:



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