EP 79: Tyler Nelson — A Deep Dive Into Blood Flow Restriction (BFR), Finger Training, and Doughnut Eating

Dr. Tyler Nelson is the owner of Camp4 Human Performance and specializes in tendon loading, strengthening, and rehabilitation. We talked about blood flow restriction training (BFR), and how it can be used for injury rehab, active recovery, or getting stronger. We also talked about finger training, and why most hangboard protocols are more similar than different.Support the PodcastBecome a PatronJoin Facebook GroupShow Notes:  thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/tyler-nelsonNuggets:2:18 – Doughnuts and wiffle ball6:08 – Overview of the conversation, and Tyler’s dad11:53 – Chiropractic medicine and watching his dad help people as a kid14:48 – Tyler’s education16:38 – Starting to climb in college18:43 – Wanting to work with athletes, and studying tendinopathy21:06 – Tyler’s path to C4HP (Camp 4 Human Performance) and the work he does now25:48 – Root cause28:29 – Tyler’s most common recommendation: more variation32:33 – How BFR (blood flow restriction) was created37:31 – What BFR looks like, what’s happening, and why it works45:41 – How you would use BFR for a shoulder injury, and literal vs. physiological intensity51:36 – How you would use  BRF to rehab a pulley injury54:18 – Why Tyler underpressurized the cuffs the first time he does BFR with an athlete56:33 – Should you try BRF at home?58:43 – A BRF protocol Tyler tried for finger strength training1:02:40 – How you might use BRF for training (big picture)1:05:20 – How often should you use BFR?1:07:03 – Repeaters vs. max hangs, and how to think about long-term finger training1:12:15 – Why is BRF useful as a short-term recovery tool?1:15:02 – Using BRF prior to your sessions, and for warming up for hard climbing 1:18:31 – Finger training doesn’t need to be complicated1:20:09 – Density hangs1:22:58 – Emil Abrahamsson, Keith Bar, and the “No Hangs” hangboard protocol1:31:20 – The optimal loading range for tendon pathologies, and why most strength protocols are more similar than they are different1:34:45 – Tendon stiffness, and how unloading can stiffen the system1:38:58 – Speculating about physiological explanations for why Emil’s program worked so well1:40:58 – Don’t get sweaty and tired on the hangboard, and separating hangboard training from our climbing workouts 1:44:58 – Finger anatomy, condiles, bone lengths, customized finger training1:52:33 – Doughnut eating1:53:46 – New tattoo1:55:03 – Guitar riffs1:57:20 – Tyler’s wife