# Occlusion Biceps Training?



## BigAndyJ (Mar 26, 2009)

Anyone tried this before?


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

KAATSU (occlusion training) is a current interest of mine. So far I have only done occlusion work after my weights, on a vibration plate (increases hypoxia induced GH & increased AMPK). I have got some practical problems in getting the occlusion pressure right, which is very important because of the serious impact of potential hazards. It is too early for me to draw conclusions, but it certainly gives a crazy pump and feels as if the muscle is fatigued hard.

J


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## BigAndyJ (Mar 26, 2009)

How long have you been doing it for Joshua?


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2009)

So basically you are reducing the circulation to the muscle after the pump has begun thus the blood can not leave the muscle as quickly?


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

BigAndyJ said:


> How long have you been doing it for Joshua?


About 1month although I am still trying to get the technique right. There are some serious practical challenges to overcome. I will post some more about it when I get some more concrete results.



Con said:


> So basically you are reducing the circulation to the muscle after the pump has begun thus the blood can not leave the muscle as quickly?


The idea (from the theory) is to temporarily starve the muscle of oxygen (hypoxia) which causes a very big spike in GH locally within the muscle, as well as some other metabolic effects. I imagine that there maybe other effects from blood pooling too, with a resulting stretch on the fascia (with similar effects to that of FST7 style training).

The work so far I have looked at is the use of vibration plates with weights (time under tension and isometrics) and occlusion. The idea with this is to cause an increase in GH and an enzyme called AMPk (the same desirable metabolic effects from interval training). It certainly has an odd feeling (different from normal weights pump) with a big pump too.

My gut feeling is that used in isolation the results maybe quite limited, but tagged on at the end of a full weights workout, one may get an extra growth stimulus on the muscle, without taxing the CNS (reducing risk of CNS overtraining).

J


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2009)

6) Topic: Kaatsu Resistance Training and Muscle Size

Authors: Takashi Abe and colleagues from the Tokyo Metropolitan University

Abstract #: 2389

In perhaps one of the weirdest studies of the conference, a Japanese method of training called Kaatsu was studied. Proponents of Kaatsu training suggest that the dynamic exercise of a muscle group that's been occluded (with a pressure of 160mmHg) can improve the hypertrophic response to exercise. (In other words, they partially blocked the flow of blood with little band thingies.)

In this particular study, eleven men performed low intensity squat and leg curl training twice daily for twelve days. The subjects used 20% of their 1RM for three sets of twelve reps for each of the exercises. Six of the eleven men had the active muscle group occluded during exercise and five of the eleven men exercised without occlusion. After 12 weeks, squat and leg curl strength increased by 19 and 24% in the occlusion group and 14 and 1% in the non-occlusion group. Also, the thigh and gluteus maximus muscle volume (as measured by MRI) increased by 6.9 and 9.6% in the occlusion group and only 0.1 and 0.2% in the non-occlusion group.


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2009)

Kaatsu training involves cutting off the blood supply to a limb by restricting blood flow with a pneumatic tourniquet (a cuff that looks like the one used to take blood pressure, but not as wide). Studies have shown that people using this type of training put on similar amounts of muscle mass to those utilizing traditional bodybuilding programs (~80% 1RM intensity, high volume, shorter rest periods), even though this type of training demands using lower intensity (~20-50% 1RM). Additionally, some studies suggest that Kaatsu training also improves strength and endurance to a greater degree than low-intensity training alone (other studies have failed to find this effect). One of the reasons this training seems to work is that it causes a large spike in post workout growth hormone- according to one study, there was a 290-fold increase over baseline levels.

Previously, I thought this training might be useful for athletes on the grounds that the lower intensities would cause less muscle damage and thus require less recovery time between workouts. However, after doing some more reading, I found a study stating that this type of training is associated with "high acute pain ratings and delayed-onset muscle soreness."* Hypothesis rejected.

*EFFECTS OF VASCULAR OCCLUSION ON MUSCULAR ENDURANCE IN DYNAMIC KNEE EXTENSION EXERCISE AT DIFFERENT SUBMAXIMAL LOADS.

Wernbom, Mathias; Augustsson, Jesper; Thomeé, Roland,

Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research

May 2006, Vol. 20, Issue 2, p. 372


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2009)

http://kaatsu.jp/pdf/0102/14Beekley.pdf


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Wow, I saw this 30 years ago in the gym by a japaneese dude.......too funny.

Hey Josh, is it those vibration things that you either hold a static isometric or light resistance training where the base vibrates very fast?

This is new stuff and hey are using it now in foot ball clubs (american) where it helps to work the muscle and increase the down time from therapy.

I think they are like 12 grand though.

I used one once in a demonstration doing pushups and bench type dips, and I gotta say the pump was just down right freaky.


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

> Hey Josh, is it those vibration things that you either hold a static isometric or light resistance training where the base vibrates very fast?
> 
> This is new stuff and hey are using it now in foot ball clubs (american) where it helps to work the muscle and increase the down time from therapy.


That's the one Hacks.

I have done a bit of experimenting with them both with and without occlusion, mainly performing strong isometric holds or super slow movements. The pumps are intense. Another use I have found is helping stimulate the stabilisers muscles when I have over trained my prime movers on a particular groove eg( moving from smith machine bench to free weight dumbbell press ).

I think they get a very bad rap from lazy beginners wanting to use them to get fit without putting the work in, but if used as a part of one's training they can have their uses. A chiro I know recommends their use for therapy but has cautioned me against excessive and improper use.

As an aside, occlusion training does tend to get people tutting and looking at you as if you have just escaped the loony bin.

J


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Very interesting mate.

I do feel it has merrit, but and sorry for the but, but I would suggest this device is most suited for either injury where the person could focus on inballance or the seasoned guy to get the fine tuning of their equipment/weakness....

I personally cant say after one workout that it is awesome, but I can say from the information at hand, it looks very nice.

Think of a guy with weak knees doing squats. To me, I can see alot of promise for joints perhaps helping toxins be removed.

Massage removes toxins and helps to increase circulation.

Sorry if I seem out of control, it is friday and I am gonna make a I love this board post...........lol

Josh, you have such a nice mind, I admire that.....Serious!


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## Cheese (Jul 7, 2009)

Bump - has anyone else tried occlusion training.

I recently read an article about it and was going to start a thread but i have found this one and bumped it instead.

Josh how did you get on with occlusion in the end? are you still doing any?

Some thing i read to add to what is said above... By starving the muscle from oxygen the slow twitch muscle fibres which fire first and use up the oxygen are exhausted faster leaving the fast twitch fibres (which have more potential to grow) to do the work as they need very little oxygen to function.


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## Joshua (Aug 21, 2008)

Cheese said:


> ...Josh how did you get on with occlusion in the end? are you still doing any?...


Occlusion work is good IMO, however I am not sure as to the ideal parameters. There are significant risks with training by this method, so you have to be careful that you do things right. If you excessively occlude a limb or occlude for too long you can seriously injure yourself (permanent limb damage & cell death, embolisms, etc). Caveat experimenter!

I have tried occlusion with resistance training, and occlusion with isometric holds on a vibration plate. Occlusion with resistance training does seem to be effective, however I found it quite awkward to do with regard to getting the tourniquets to the right girth, timing the occlusion, training and then getting the tourniquets off in time. The work on the vibration plates was a lot easier for organising logistics, and did result in a similar lactic acid burn and pump to the occlusion and resistance training combined, however I would only do this after completing my normal resistance training workout, using the method as a finishing technique. The original KAATSU protocol is based on a twice daily workout, and I only did once a day occlusion training, so the protocols were not the same.

I have recently started using a combo of EMS with occlusion, on a twice a day basis, along with a separate (non-occluded) resistance workout and the results are looking quite promising.



Cheese said:


> ...Some thing i read to add to what is said above... By starving the muscle from oxygen the slow twitch muscle fibres which fire first and use up the oxygen are exhausted faster leaving the fast twitch fibres (which have more potential to grow) to do the work as they need very little oxygen to function.


I'm not sure if this is the actual mechanism of action. There seems to be several things going on with occlusion training.

When a muscle is starved of oxygen (localised hypoxia) the muscle does starts to do some very odd things, such as increasing growth hormone signalling in that area, and wheels are set in motion to alter the blood vessel infrastructure (angiogenesis & vascular remodelling), which could lead to better nutrient supply long term, thus increased protein synthesis.

Another change that maybe afoot here is when there is localised hypoxia, the muscle may adapt to this by altering the balance of metabolic enzymes so Type I fibres act more like Type II fibres and store greater amounts of glycogen. There is also some evidence that the inflammation resulting from occlusion training is quite different from normal resistance training, however I am still quite ignorant as to quite what is going on here - I have a lot more reading still to do.

It is far too early in my experiments for me to draw conclusions as to how sustainable the hypertrophy is from this ie( how much is down to protein synthesis and how much is due to glycogen storage capacity ).

Although I am doing this mainly at the moment to determine how my body responds to this type of challenge, I do believe that I will use this method in the long term during deloads, if I overshoot on my CNS fatigue (overtraining) to help me recover without loosing too much (assuming gains are sustainable), or if my tendonitis rears its ugly head again (as the lower loads should be lighter on the joints & connective tissues).

J


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