There’s something I think you should know about KAATSU. I’m afraid it might blow your mind, especially if you think you knew everything there was to know about BFR. Still, I’m going to tell you, because you deserve to know. It might just change what you know about BFR forever.
KAATSU is Beyond BFR
You’ve probably heard that KAATSU is the original form of what’s come to be known in North America and Europe as “Blood Flow Restriction Training”. This is true. KAATSU originated in Japan in 1966 and was used there for decades before the BFR market began in the rest of the world.
What you probably haven’t heard is that KAATSU is fundamentally different from BFR. So different in fact that it’s effects go far beyond what one thinks of as typical BFR uses. While BFR starts at occlusion (i.e. cutting off blood flow) and then backs off to a set pressure, KAATSU starts with a light base pressure and then builds from there. The starting points of KAATSU and BFR are completely different.
Moreover, KAATSU equipment is designed specifically to NOT occlude blood flow. The KAATSU Air Bands are flexible and narrow providing more comfort to the wearer. This makes KAATSU much more comfortable than typical stiff and wide BFR cuffs and makes KAATSU more easily tolerated by everyone from professional athletes to seniors.
The KAATSU Cycle: A Game-Changing Difference
What really shocked me about KAATSU though is that while it can work like a typical BFR device (i.e. holding a constant pressure in the Air Bands while you work out), KAATSU creator Dr. Yoshiaki Sato invented and patented a unique Cycle Mode which puts KAATSU in a completely different league of equipment than BFR.
KAATSU’s Cycle Mode is an automated compression and decompression pattern that is unavailable in any other BFR device. The KAATSU Cycle gives KAATSU users the ability to use KAATSU for recovery, which is otherwise not done with BFR. The KAATSU Cycle’s compression and decompression pattern helps flush out lactic acid and other metabolic waste from the limbs allowing users to recover faster from athletic activities.
Cycle Mode also provides other benefits to KAATSU users. There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence that KAATSU Cycle can benefit people with quadriplegia, paraplegia, people in comas, people with burns, individuals with cerebral palsy, MS, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Raynaud’s syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, compartment syndrome, broken bones of all types, severe muscle atrophy, autism, extreme spastic conditions, neuropathic pain (for spinal cord patients and people with amputations) and the list goes on.
This is the shocking truth about KAATSU. Many people think KAATSU and BFR are synonymous but this is simply incorrect. KAATSU’s uses go so far beyond what BFR systems can do. This is why we at KAATSU Canada say that KAATSU is “Beyond BFR”.
We welcome you to try KAATSU and see the differences for yourself! We hope you’ll be as pleasantly shocked as we were when we discovered the benefits of KAATSU.