http://www.projectswole.com/weight-trai ... -training/
What Kaatsu Training DoesKaatsu training looks like it can increase muscle hypertrophy significantly more than regular resistance training over an extremely short period of time. In fact the results of the studies show that 2 weeks of Kaatsu training increases muscle mass to a higher degree than 5 weeks of regular resistance training.
The Definition of Occlusion
In medical terms, occlusion is the act of occluding or the state of being occluded; a shutting off or obstruction of something; a blocking of the central passage of one reflex by the passage of another.
Kaatsu training applies occlusion by restricting blood flow to target muscle groups, also called Blood Flow Restriction, or BFR.
So, What is Kaatsu Training?
Kaatsu training involves applying a tourniquet or a tight wrap to the proximal portion of the target limb in order to fully or partially restrict blood flow for the duration of a low intensity exercise session.
The guidelines of Kaatsu training are as follows:
Intensity is 20% of 1 rep max.
Training frequency is twice a day, 6 days per week.
The minimum duration of Kaatsu training is 2 weeks, for a total of 24 sessions in 14 days.
At least 4 hours between sessions.
Occlusion is maintained throughout the entire exercise session.
Why Kaatsu Training Works
The theory is that the metabolic buildup within the restricted muscles elicits a number of physiological changes including a significant rise in growth hormone, which is actually higher than that observed with higher intensity exercise. Isn’t that interesting?
“Another factor to consider is hormone action. Kraemer et al. (1990) have demonstrated that a sufficient amount of high-intensity exercise (approximately 6 sets at an intensity of about 80% 1RM for large muscle groups) carried out with an interset interval as short as 1 min transiently provokes more than a 100-fold increase in the plasma concentration of growth hormone (GH). Since such a dramatic increase in plasma GH concentration was not seen after exercise having a longer interset interval (3 min), it has been speculated that local accumulation of metabolites stimulates the hypophyseal secretion of GH. Our recent study with young male subjects also showed that low-intensity (20% 1RM) exercise with vascular occlusion of the lower extremities caused a 290-fold increase in the plasma concentration of GH, whereas no such effect was seen after the exercise without this occlusion (Takarada et al. 2000a). This stimulated secretion of GH may also play a part in the present effects of LIO.â€Source:
Effects of resistance exercise combined with vascular occlusion on muscle function in athletes
European Journal of Applied Physiology
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijktr/1/1/6/_pdf
The major finding of the present study was thattwo weeks of twice daily LIT-Kaatsu produced
increases in skeletal muscle size (7-8%) that were
similar in magnitude to those reported in traditional
HIT of 3-4 months [Abe et al., 2000; Jones and
Ratherford, 1987]. Previous published studies [Jones
and Ratherford, 1987; Staron et al., 1991; Staron et
al., 1994] have reported that a substantial increase in
skeletal muscle and fiber CSA in the thigh is not
observed earlier than six weeks of HIT. To the best of
our knowledge, there are no published data that have
reported a significant increase in thigh muscle size
following only two weeks of HIT [Akima et al., 1999].
In most of the previous studies, subjects exercised 2-3
times per week during the study, thus only 4-6
sessions are completed during the first 2 weeks of the
training. Our subjects, however, performed 24
sessions of resistive exercises during the 2 weeks of
training. Optimal training frequency is based on the
theories of “supercompensation†and “over-trainingâ€
which attempt to generate the greatest growth
stimulus while still allowing for sufficient rest
between exercise sessions [Kraemer, 2000]. Since a
training intensity of 20% of 1-RM produces minimal
muscle damage [Takarada et al., 2000a], less recovery
time is necessary [Abe, 2004], and therefore training
frequency may be increased.
An interesting and surprising finding of the present
study was that LIT-Kaatsu training-induced muscle
hypertrophy occurred not only in the thigh muscle
but also in the gluteus maximus muscle. During the
squat exercise, mainly the knee and hip extensor
muscles are activated. Since a training intensity of
20% of 1-RM was used in the present study, it would
seem reasonable that the load on the gluteus
maximus muscle during the squat would be
insufficient to produce the muscle hypertrophy.
However, this was not the case as significant
hypertrophy was observed in the gluteus maximus.
There is an article on the safety of it here
http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ijktr/2/1/5/_pdf
comparing with heavy physical exercises, wheremortality rates of 0 to 2.5% per 10,000 have been
reported, especially in older persons (ACSM, 2000;
Kallinen M, 2005), any fatal complications have not
been occurred in KAATSU training. Thus KATSU
training is a safe and promising method for training
persons including older persons.
In conclusion, KAATSU training is a safe and
promising method for training in the field of sports
and healthy persons, and can also be applied to
persons with various kinds of physical condition
including cerebrovascular diseases, orthopedic
diseases, obesity, cardiac diseases, neuromuscular
diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and respiratory
diseases.
I am not a gymnast but have rings & enjoy using them. I have been doing this training protocol for the last ~2 weeks and have seen a slight increase in upper arm size already, which has been stable for a very long time. I have started deadlifts & squats which might have triggered upper body growth too, but it is light wieghts, bodyweight squats, 12kg goblet squats, 41kg deadlifts. I have also been doing body rows, ring pushups, tricep ring extensions. I have just started to cycle with legs restricted too as I commute to work. I have not tested any 1RM, and it will be more likely a 8-10RM that I test as I have noted these and rarely do 1RM work.
Obviously excessive hypertrophy will not be benficial to gymnasts, but on other sites they mention the mention the potential for recover from injury. There were reports of people with broken limbs who just had mild occlusion which stopped atrophy. At 20% RM you might be able to safely exercise and injured shoulder etc.
Plenty more studies on google scholar
That's gotta be big.