Use and safety of KAATSU training:Results of a national survey

Abstract

KAATSU training is a novel training, which is performed under conditions of restricted blood flow. It can induce a variety of beneficial effects such as increased muscle strength, and it has been adopted by a number of facilities in recent times. The purpose of the present study is to know the present state of KAATSU training in Japan and examine the incidence of adverse events in the field. The data were obtained from KAATSU leaders or instructors in a total of 105 out of 195 facilities where KAATSU training has been adopted. Based on survey results, 12,642 persons have received KAATSU training (male 45.4%, female 54.6%). KAATSU training has been applied to all generations of people including the young (<20 years old) and the elderly (>80 years old). The most popular purpose of KAATSU training is to strengthen muscle in athletes and to promote the health of subjects, including the elderly. It has been also applied to various kinds of physical conditions, cerebrovascular diseases, orthopedic diseases, obesity, cardiac diseases, neuromuscular diseases, diabetes, hypertension and respiratory diseases. In KAATSU training, various types of exercise modalities (physical exercise, walking, cycling, and weight training) are used. Most facilities have used 5-30 min KAATSU training each time, and performed it 1-3 times a week. Approximately 80% of the facilities are satisfied with the results of KAATSU training with only small numbers of complications reported. The incidence of side effects was as follows; venous thrombus (0.055%), pulmonary embolism (0.008%) and rhabdomyolysis (0.008%). These results indicate that the KAATSU training is a safe and promising method for training athletes and healthy persons, and can also be applied to persons with various physical conditions.

Resistance exercise combined with KAATSU during simulated weightlessness

“…KAATSU training is widely used in Japan (Nakajima et al, 2006) and was originally developed as a novel method for muscle training to increase muscle mass and strength. Under the condition of restricted muscle blood flow with KAATSU, even a short-term and low-intensity exercise bout (treadmill walking, RE, etc) can induce increased muscle mass and muscular strength (Takarada et al 2000a; b; Takarada et al, 2002a,b;Abe et al 2006).…”

“…treadmill (Hargens et al, 1991;Murthy et al, 1994), but not resistance-type exercise. This may be important as resistance training specifically promotes muscle enlargement and muscular strength, which are negatively impacted by weightlessness (Akima et al, 2003).KAATSU training is widely used in Japan (Nakajima et al, 2006) and was originally developed as a novel method for muscle training to increase muscle mass and strength. Under the condition of restricted muscle blood flow with KAATSU, even a short-term and low-intensity exercise bout (treadmill walking, RE, etc) can induce increased muscle mass and muscular strength (Takarada et al 2000a; b; Takarada et al, 2002a,b;Abe et al 2006).…”

Functional and morphological effects of resistance exercise on disuse-induced skeletal muscle atrophy

“…However, these same authors did not find evidence of muscle damage or high levels of oxidative stress (49). In addition, Nakajima et al (50) published the data obtained at 105 training centers in Japan where this model of RE is very popular for rehabilitation and even for the general population. In a total of 12,600 subjects who performed RE with VO in combination with different exercises (anaerobic and aerobic), the authors found low rates of side effects.…”

COPD and muscle loss: is blood flow restriction a potential treatment?

“…52 Despite this, in healthy adults very few side effects have been reported. 53 Also, studies have shown that it may not affect markers of coagulation [54][55][56] but may acutely increase fibrinolytic potential 54,56 . More recently, patients with stable ischaemic heart disease who performed low-intensity exercise with BFR did not have significantly different changes in D-dimer and fibrinoghen/fibrin degradation products and high-sensitive C-reactive protein compared to exercise at low-intensity exercise without BFR.…”