The best technique to develop strength, muscle mass and much more

Blood flow restriction (BFR) or vascular occlusion is a technique that partially reduces the entry of blood into the arteries by decreasing the exit of blood from the veins of the exercised muscle in the extremities where it is applied.

You may have seen some weightlifters using bands on certain areas of the extremities to restrict blood flow and train with lower loads in order to increase their strength and achieve muscle hypertrophy.

The KAATSU technique, which means “additional pressure” in Japanese, uses pneumatic bands that are inflated and deflated at regular intervals, using a monitor.  The great thing about this technique is that you can increase strength and muscle mass using only a fraction of the weight that would be needed in conventional strength training and in half the time!

It sounds a little incredible that a technique that uses almost a third of the weight you would normally use in a weight training session can have such a powerful effect, in a relatively short time, and reduce the risk of injury to practically zero.

 

How does the RFS technique work?

By incorporating the bands, whether in the upper or lower extremities, the venous blood flow through the muscle group involved will decrease, creating an environment of relative hypoxia or low oxygen pressure in the muscle being exercised.

By doing a very light exercise for a period of 15-20 minutes, you achieve an exhaustive workout that sends a signal to the brain that a very hard workout is needed that requires recovery and adaptation.  The brain then sends out a wide variety of hormonal responses that stimulate muscles and blood vessels to develop and strengthen.

Believe me, it took me a while to understand that the KAATSU technique using light weights could develop and strengthen muscles throughout the body, not just the limbs that are wearing the bands. It has also been shown that this technique allows for a 40% increase in muscle strength in just 12 weeks of training (using the bands about 3 times a week), depending on your health and the load used, of course. ( study )

 

What effect does blood flow restriction have on the human body?

The fact that blood flow is reduced when the bands are inflated creates an environment of relative hypoxia or low oxygen pressure in the muscle being exercised.

The exercises are performed in cycles with very light weights, first with the bands on the arms and then another cycle with the bands adjusted around the groin.  During this practice, the brain, due to the restriction of blood flow, perceives that an extremely exhaustive workout is being performed.  The brain then sends out a variety of hormonal responses that stimulate muscles and blood vessels to grow and strengthen.

At the endocrine level, there are changes in the concentration of norepinephrine, the hormone vasopressin (antidiuretic) in the blood, as well as in renin activity.

When the bands are applied to the legs, blood pools in the extremities, the venous return volume decreases, and both arterial and pulmonary blood pressure decrease. This reduces the expansive force on the blood vessels and, consequently, reduces the load on the receptors in the blood vessels. As a result, the sympathetic system, which has been inhibited by the central nervous system, begins to show activation signals, which eventually leads to a slowdown in heart rate as well as blood pressure.

 

How KAATSU Blood Flow Restriction Bands Help You Tone Your Muscles

Muscle structures are divided into two types: fast-twitch fibers and slow-twitch fibers. When the goal of training is hypertrophy and an increase in muscle strength, in order for it to be effective it is necessary to ensure that fast-twitch muscle fibers that show a high response to training are sufficiently recruited.   

Slow twitch fibers are activated when you perform gentler activities like walking.  However, under the effect of KAATSU training and although the exercises are not intense, both types of fibers are involved in the same way as occurs with high intensity weight training.

As a result, it improves muscular endurance, increases training frequency, and suppresses muscular atrophy, as demonstrated by experiments on injured people who have been casted and who have had the KAATSU technique applied to them. (Takarada)

Sarcopenia, on the other hand, refers to the progressive decline in muscle mass that occurs with age, mainly due to a decrease in the supply of blood flow to muscle stem cells or satellite cells.

When satellite cells cannot be properly nourished, muscle development is hampered.  Once you pass the age of 50, this works against you, even if you are used to training hard.  The KAATSU band technique allows you to increase the blood supply to satellite stem cells, which provide the metabolic support necessary to increase muscle protein synthesis and develop or tone your muscles.

The KAATSU monitor-controlled inflation and deflation system of the bands ensures that the muscles are activated and the vascular tissue becomes more elastic.  You won't feel any pain after training with heavy weights, but your vascular tissue and muscle fibers have been trained just as effectively, and you can do it for longer periods of time.

 

Not only your muscles benefit from the KAATSU technique

The KAATSU technique is truly revolutionary because, although normal blood flow restriction bands can have benefits, the fact that the bands inflate and deflate automatically and consistently negates any possibility of a tourniquet effect and allows for so many anti-inflammatory myokines or myosins to be activated in the human body.

According to exercise biologist Sebastian del Rosso from the National University of Cordoba, “It is known that muscle contraction releases myokines into the circulatory system and thus stimulates metabolic processes such as fat oxidation, glucose uptake by cells, among others. It has been shown that skeletal muscle has the ability to express several myokines including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-8, IL-15, IL-17, IL-10, IL-1RA, LIF, irisin, and many other unreported molecules.” ( article )

To give you an idea of ​​what happens when these myokines are activated,

BDNF ( Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ) = Plays a fundamental role in regulating the survival, growth and maintenance of neurons (Mattson et al., 2004).

Interleukin 6 or IL-6 = It was the first myokine identified. IL-6 is expressed and released from muscle fibers in response to muscle contraction and has an important role in lipid metabolism (Pedersen, 2009).

Or LIF ( Leukaemia inhibitory factor ) = It is produced by the contracting muscle and generates proliferation of myoblasts. Recent studies suggest that LIF can also promote the proliferation of satellite cells (Sheele et al., 2011).

 

At the endocrine level, noradrenaline, vasopressin and renin are activated.

Norepinephrine increases your attention and alertness and helps you keep your blood pressure under control during times of stress.  It affects your circadian rhythms, your memory, and your mood.

Vasopressin regulates the tonicity of body fluids. It is released from the posterior pituitary gland in response to hypertonicity and causes the kidneys to reabsorb solute-free water and return it to the circulation from the tubules of the nephron, thereby returning body fluid tonicity to normal.

Renin is an enzyme that helps control blood pressure and maintain healthy levels of sodium and potassium in the body. Made by special cells in the kidneys, renin is released into the bloodstream when blood pressure drops too low.

 

Who can benefit from using blood flow restriction bands?

Almost everyone.  A year ago I obtained my certification as a KAATSU specialist and during my preparation I learned that they have been applied as part of the physiotherapy protocol in Japan since 1973 and their use ranges from rehabilitation, through training, recovery, to the conventional exercise routine and simple well-being.

Dr. Yoshiaki Sato is the creator and developer of the KAATSU technique. Sato and his cardiology colleagues in Tokyo focused specifically on vascular tissue. They knew that if they could make our vascular tissue more elastic, in other words anti-aging, by training our vascular tissue to be flexible like when we were in our teens and twenties, that would be the catalyst for hormone production:  from nitric oxide, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and many other bodily responses in this regard.

Likewise, for people who have lost muscle mass as a result of injury, long periods of immobility or aging, the use of KAATSU blood flow restriction bands allows these people to regain their physical function in a fraction of the time it would normally take to fully recover.

 

Advantages of RFS training over conventional training

You can use the bands without adding any weight and get results in strength as well as more defined arms, legs and abs.  This can be very motivating for relatively sedentary people as it can encourage them to get fit and exercise more.

KAATSU eliminates the need for recovery days.  Using the bands as many days as you want and even training with up to 30% of your maximum weight is enough to stay in great shape.

KAATSU bands can be used at every stage of exercise, whether as a warm-up, as part of training, training as such and/or in the recovery phase.  The monitor consists of a cyclic mode that serves as a warm-up and a constant mode where you simply do 3 exercises and three rounds in which you do the exercises until failure with the proper pressure on the bands.

 

How Elite Athletes Use KAATSU and How I Apply It

Experienced trainers have found that growth hormone, as well as other hormones, are released about 12-15 minutes after removing the bands, meaning maximum hormone production does not occur while the bands are on.

Based on this premise, if the athlete needs to maximize his training, he can use the KAATSU bands in CYCLE mode during the warm-up, that is, one hour before training so that he can arrive with all the adrenaline, endorphins and other hormones activated.

When there are multiple competitions in a row, bands have been used successfully between competitions. Even in long events where there are several attempts, athletes use them during breaks as a form of recovery.

For myself and the people who exercise with me (often people who work in offices and other slightly sedentary jobs), we alternate some days of gym and others of KAATSU in CYCLE mode and if the person's time allows, a workout in CONSTANT mode either emphasizing the upper body, abdomen or the lower body.  The KAATSU bands should not be used all at the same time. First, do the cycle with your arms and then the cycle with your legs, otherwise the blood flow is reduced too much, which can lead to fainting.

 

Total mind-muscle connection

If you have had the opportunity to exercise with the help of a trainer, he or she will surely have suggested that you focus on the muscle you are exercising.  It seems that Dr. Sato had this in mind when designing the bands, because due to the pressure that increases during the training cycles, you can reach the end of each exercise (30 seconds) by doing the movements in a slow and controlled manner, breathing and concentrating the technique on the exact movement of the muscle being exercised.  The bands then deflate automatically (5 seconds), to inflate again and continue with the next exercise (in total there are 8 per set).  Once you're done with your workout, you won't have any post-workout pain.

The wonderful thing about this technique is that it can also be applied to patients in rehabilitation after a stroke or an injury that affects one side of the body.  KAATSU can be applied on the side of the body that has been injured and movements can be performed with the corresponding limbs.  The movements can range from brushing your hair to bringing cutlery to your mouth and miming eating food, concentrating on the movement and technique of the muscle(s) involved.

I invite you to experience for yourself the benefits that the KAATSU blood flow restriction technique can provide. There are sales points and personnel specialized in the application of the bands throughout the world.  Here is the link to the KAATSU International website in case you are interested: https://kaatsu.com