A lot of folks wonder what they can do with KAATSU. Dr. Joe Mercola’s latest article on KAATSU talked about using it to grow muscle to help prevent sarcopenia. This is absolutely a good thing, but it’s not all that KAATSU’s good for. In fact, you can gain benefits from KAATSU using very light efforts.
Low Effort, Significant Improvements
A study by William Ursprung at Texas A&M University – San Antonio in 2017 (The Effects of Blood Flow Restriction Training on VO2Max and 1.5 Mile Run Performance) took ten soldiers from the U.S. Air Force 350th Special Operations and Tactics Training Squadron. These soldiers undertook three weeks of lower extremity KAATSU walk training. Before and after measurements of VO2Max, 1.5 mile run times, and thigh muscle cross sectional area were taken. The results showed significant inmprovements in VO2Max, significant decreases in the 1.5 mile run times, and significant increases in thigh muscle cross sectional area.
Ursprung concluded: ” . . . the hypothesis is retained, as results suggest low-intensity BFR walk training does significantly improve aerobic capacity, running endurance performance, and skeletal muscle hypertrophy.”
Light Intensity Functional Movements
KAATSU’s patented Cycle mode provides a safe physiological stress. The inflation of KAATSU’s pneumatic airbands causes the veins and capillaries in your arms (or legs) to become engorged and stretched open. The pressure is held for 30 seconds. When the bands deflate, all the vascular tissue can contract and relax. Combine this with some light intensity functional movements and your body will respond by secreting beneficial hormones and metabolites as that would be the natural response to the metabolic stress associated with intense exercise.
So you can . . .
- Take a walk
- Ride a bike
- Do some yoga
- Perform light resistance exercises
- Cut the grass . . .
This is completely counterintuitive to many people, but these are the types of activities you can do with KAATSU. Of course, you can do more intense workouts, but for folks who haven’t had a history of working out and are thinking about welcoming KAATSU into their lives, just know that lighter activities that you may already be doing are going to be more beneficial when combined with KAATSU.