Posted on 07/21/2021 6:15:35 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
They are among the elite athletes who have become disciples of a practice known as blood flow restriction, which is exactly what it sounds like: cutting off blood flow to certain muscles for limited periods to both enhance the effects of training and stimulate recovery.
Sato, 73, has been honing the technique and spreading its gospel for most of his adult life, building a small fortune in the process as a Japanese version of Jack LaLanne. He has created a practice and a series of products called Kaatsu that are geared toward blood flow restriction. Sato still practices blood flow restriction every day, and now marvels at the attention it is getting
“You can get the benefits of swimming 10,000 yards by swimming maybe a thousand,” he said recently.
He often straps the bands onto his arms for 25-yard sprints and tries to achieve the same times as when he is not wearing them.
Not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. Dave Marsh, who has coached numerous swimmers to the Olympics and is directing Israel’s team in Tokyo, said one of his athletes had used blood flow restriction for recovery and rehabilitation from injury, but he had yet to recommend it in training.
“The first job of a coach is to not do any harm,” Marsh said. “It seemed to me that with blood flow restriction, it could lead an athlete to take a step backward.
(Excerpt) Read more at dnyuz.com ...
I don’t disagree that regular exercise is very healthy and needed by the body.
The exercise requirements and exercise limits for the young and old are different.
I can’t say that I understand the heart issues well—except that I was told about the downside to iron man by a heart surgeon for atrial fibrillation who said he saw aging iron men in their 50’s in his office regularly for ablations that are designed with some success to stop atrial fibrillation.
Yes, atrial fibrillation (AF) is much discussed in the linked article.
—”Does the scientific community have a solid definition for what an endurance athlete is? How many hours it takes per week or month to go from part-time participant to all-out endurance junkie? “Hell no,” said Dr. John Mandrola, a heart-rhythm doctor from Louisville, Kentucky, who takes a keen interest in the hearts of endurance athletes, and who is himself a cyclist with atrial fibrillation (AF). “What’s too much? That’s the $64,000 question. Though I will say it’s a little like what the judge said about indecency: ‘I know it when I see it.’”
Blood flow restrictions? You mean no sex?
Not to mention the likelihood of giving yourself a blood
clot, leading to a stroke, heart attack, etc.
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