TBP 162 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Endurance Training for Fingers

The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

About Tyler Nelson

Learn More from Tyler: If you want to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson on an individual basis for injuries or strength training, he offers remote consultations to people all over the world. He also teaches online classes on strength training and injuries. Learn more.

In this interview, Tyler explains how we should be training our fingers for endurance climbing. Normally, we’re training strength or strength endurance on the hangboard by hanging with bodyweight, a pulley system, or weight attached to our bodies. However, Tyler talks about how we can just pull on the hangboard, without our feet leaving the ground, and increase our reps in order to train for long, endurance climbs.

Tyler recently wrote an article on this topic for TrainingBeta, called To Pull or Hang, and this interview is a supplement to that article. If you haven’t read it yet, and you’re interested in this topic, I highly recommend that you give it a read before or after listening to this interview.

Tyler Nelson has a lot of qualifications, so I’m going to let his website sum those up for you:

Tyler is a second generation chiropractor whose father was a leader in chiropractic sports medicine for many years. In graduate school he did a dual doctorate and masters degree program in exercise science with an emphasis on tendon loading. He completed his masters degree at BYU and was a physician for the athletics department for 4 years out of school. He currently is the owner of Camp4 Human Performance where he treats clients through his license as a chiropractic physician. He also teaches anatomy and physiology at a local college in Utah and is an instructor for the Performance Climbing Coach seminar series and a certified instructor for gobstrong. When he’s not working he’s climbing or hiking outside with his family.

You can find Tyler in Salt Lake City at his clinic, Camp 4 Human Performance, where he tests athletes, creates training programs, and treats all kinds of athletes for injuries.

I met Tyler at Steve Bechtel’s first Performance Climbing Coach Seminar in Lander in May of 2017, where we were both instructors. Since then I’ve done 4 more seminars and 7 other podcast episodes with him. You could say he’s a bit of a staple around here. He is well-spoken and a wealth of knowledge about how the human body responds to climbing and training.

Other Episodes with Tyler

• TBP 155: Dr. Tyler Nelson on High Volume Power Training
• TBP 149: The Different Roles of Stretching for Climbing
• TBP 133: The Simplest Finger Training Protocol with Dr. Tyler Nelson
• TBP 084: Injury Rehab and Blood Flow Restriction Training
• TBP 098: Isometric Movements to Prime and Test Your Body
• TBP 108: Bood Flow Restriction for Injury Healing and Performance
• TBP 118: Latest Technology for Finger Training and Performance Testing
• TBP 128: Surprising Methods for Healing Tendon Injuries

Tyler Nelson Interview Details

• How to change finger training to focus on endurance
• Concentric pulling rather than hanging
• Results he’s seeing with clients
• Whether this method creates more injury
• When to do this during training/performance cycles
• Nerdy parts of the research on this
• Why people shake when they’re trying hard
• Finger curls vs finger rolls
• Protocol for intermediate climber

Tyler Nelson Links

• Article by Tyler about training fingers for endurance
• Personal website: camp4humanperformance.com
• Take an online class with Tyler: camp4humanperformance.com/store
• Do a consultation with Tyler
• Instagram: @c4hp
• Facebook: @camp4chiropractic

Learn More from Tyler: If you want to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson on an individual basis for injuries or strength training, he offers remote consultations to people all over the world. He also teaches online classes on strength training and injuries. Learn more.