Ergo-Log.com Excerpt: Kaatsu bench press: more pecs with less weight

1. The subjects trained 6 days a week and did 2 bench press sessions every day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
2. Each session the men did 3 sets at 30 percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep. 
3. They did 30 reps in the first set, followed by 2 sets of 15 reps.

Kaatsu bench press: more pecs with less weight

If you reduce the blood supply to your arms with bands and then do bench presses with minimal weights, you can build up considerable strength and muscle mass. Researchers at the University of Tokyo did experiments with 10 young men.

They got 5 men aged between 23 and 38 to do bench presses for 2 weeks with bands around their arm muscles. A similar group did normal training. The subjects trained 6 days a week and did 2 bench press sessions every day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Each session the men did 3 sets at 30 percent of the weight at which they could just manage 1 rep. They did 30 reps in the first set, followed by 2 sets of 15 reps.

The figures below show the results from scans. They record how the muscle mass in the triceps brachii and the pectoralis major increased by 8 and 16 percent respectively in the Kaatsu group [black circles]. The increase in muscle mass in the control group was nil.

Source: 
Clin Physiol Funct Imaging. 2010 Sep 1;30(5):338-43.

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