The Effect of a Training Program Using the "Kaatsu" Method on the Morphological Shape of Bodybuilders in Relation to the IGF1 Gene

Abstract

The study aimed to design a training program using the Kaatsu method, which involves restricting blood flow, and to examine its effect on the morphological shape of bodybuilders in relation to the gene expression of fibroblast growth factors (IGF1). The authors employed the experimental method with a single group using pre- and post-measurements. The research population was deliberately selected from bodybuilders participating in the University of Sadat City's championship across all weight categories, aged between 20 and 23 years, and registered with the Egyptian Federation of Bodybuilding. The average grades of the participants of bodybuilders who trained using the training program increased. In the "Kaatsu" method in the post-measurements of the morphological form (length variable), about the average ranks of their grades in the pre-measurement, it was clear that there was a statistically significant difference at the level (0.05) between the average ranks of the grades of the research group in the pre- and post-measurement of the morphological form (the level of muscle hypertrophy of the leg muscles) in favor of the post-measurement The results indicate a clear statistically significant increase in fibroblast growth factors "IGF1" for the research group of bodybuilders who studied using the training program in style Kaatsu.