I recently returned from this year’s KAATSU International Symposium, held in Essen, Germany. Attendees included those with years of KAATSU experience and non-users who knew of KAATSU but who had questions. Professions represented included doctors, physical trainers, therapists, and university educators & coaches.
I attended due to my interest in KAATSU training as well as in my role as a distributor. I learned a lot in both capacities. There were two main presentations on KAATSU. The first summarizing results of a study comparing exercise interventions: resistance training using KAATSU Cycle mode, conventional resistance training, and no exercise in populations with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. The second main presentation focused on ways to integrate real time velocity and power measuring devices with KAATSU training. Both were very interesting and demonstrated the clear benefits of KAATSU.
There were also less formal discussion periods where participants could ask questions. Robert Heiduk and Peter Preuss were the leads for those sessions. My translator app caught perhaps 80% of the discussion. One of the topics of interest were contraindications to KAATSU. I was particularly interested in this because the terminology used in Europe differs from North America. European discussions of contraindication use the terms “absolute” and “relative” to describe the level of contraindication. In North America, “contraindication” and “precaution” are more common. This was very important to me, as the list of contraindications from KAATSU Global is presented as a monolith, when the reality is that some conditions are absolute and others are relative.
Another session focused on the proper application of KAATSU, both in Cycle and Constant modes. This was very interesting to me, of course, as most of my experience with KAATSU is using Cycle mode for warm-up and recovery. I seldom do cardio or resistance training using KAATSU, but after the symposium, I am inspired to add these to my training repertoire.
Another discussion was on the importance of KAATSU education for professionals. Robert has launched a new course to provide more education to those who aspire to greater KAATSU knowledge. Those who take the course will also be able to collaborate with others online. I think this is a very positive development as it addresses a need that was highlighted by the questions raised at the symposium.
From a distributor perspective, I gained a lot of insight from discussions with Robert outside the symposium, as well as from some of the symposium attendees. A few people asked how much KAATSU is sold for in Canada or the U.S. Of course, Robert sells KAATSU as part of a comprehensive program so we couldn’t compare against him, but the other German distributor sells KAATSU for more than it is sold in North America. Having looked at KAATSU pricing in other countries, this was not a surprise. I don’t expect to have any visitors from Germany coming to Canada to buy KAATSU for the savings.
From a collaborative perspective, I was also happy to have the opportunity to talk with a variety of professionals. As well, I will be connecting some people with the professor and students incorporating KAATSU into research projects at Concordia University in Montreal. These types of connections are always valuable and I’m glad to have been able to attend for this reason alone.
All in all, I came away from the event with a much greater appreciation of how KAATSU can be used, its benefits, how it is being used in the sports & rehabilitation market in Europe, and views on the pros and cons of current KAATSU equipment from the higher-level training & rehab perspective. I returned excited and invigorated as continue to develop my approach to the Canadian market and look forward to attending next year’s event.
I also have to mention the venue: Unperfekthaus is a blast! Quirky yet comfortable. A full buffet ran all day from morning until night for a single price (included in the symposium fee). More importantly, there were coffee machines on every floor. The adjoining Unperfekthotel also shocked me, with a room much larger than anticipated and equipped with Japanese-style toilet seats. Moreover, Robert took me out for an incredible authentic German dining experience which was greatly appreciated. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Essen.
Disclaimer: KAATSU protocols have not been evaluated by Health Canada. KAATSU is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and its use should be evaluated by your own physician before use.