Subjects. Eighteen healthy young men volunteered to participate in
the study (Table 1). All subjects led active lives, with 8 of 18
participating in regular aerobic exercise. However, none of the subjects
had participated in a regular resistance exercise program for at
least 1 yr before the start of the study. The subjects were randomly
divided into two training groups: walk training with restricted venous
leg muscle blood flow (Kaatsu-walk, n 9), and walk training
without restricted leg muscle blood flow (control-walk, n 9). One
month before the start of the chronic training study, 11 of the 18
subjects participated in an acute study to examine the hormonal
responses to a single bout of Kaatsu-walking (described below). All
subjects were informed of the procedures, risks, and benefits, and
signed an informed consent document before participation. The Tokyo
Metropolitan University Ethics Committee for Human Experiments
approved the study.