Today’s episode features Dr. Keith Baar, professor at UC Davis and renowned tendon training researcher and expert.  Professor Keith Baar received his PhD from the University of Illinois where he discovered the molecular signal that causes load-induced muscle hypertrophy.  Keith is currently the head of the Functional Molecular Biology Laboratory (FMBLab) at the University of California Davis.

Over the last 15 years, Keith has worked with elite athletes, as the scientific advisor to Chelsea Football Club, USA Track and Field, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, British Cycling, The English Institute of Sport, Leicester Tigers Rugby, and the Denver Broncos.  He also spent time as an assistant strength coach with the University of Michigan football team where he was an undergraduate.  Keith’s current work is focused on how loading and nutrition alter tendon/ligament/ECM health and performance.

Tendon training is a vital aspect of athletics, and we’ve had several previous podcasts covering this topic, such as with Dr. Ebonie Rio that were tremendously successful.  Tendon training is one of the most important emerging topics in the athletic performance field.  To that end, Dr. Keith Baar is a leading researcher on tendon training, and his methods are getting athletes serious results.  Whether you are looking at rehabbing injured tendons, determining the best course of training for avoiding muscle strains, or getting better elastic performance in healthy athletes, this is an incredible and information dense podcast.  Topics span all ends of the spectrum on tendon action in isometric training, tendon rebuilding, nutrition and modes of loading.

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Dr. Keith Baar's Key Points

What got Dr. Baar interested in tendon health and performance research

New ideas in tendon health and regeneration

The dynamics of muscles and tendons in isometric training exercises

Tendon stiffness and compliance, and how training impacts those factors

Fast versus slow exercise and effects on tendon tissue

How to balance fast and slow training for a total effect on the tendon

How maximal overcoming isometric exercises work from a muscle-tendon perspective

Fundamental differences between static stretching and long isometric holds

Why and how loading is critical for tendon health and rehab

The role of nutrition in tendon health and performance

The drawbacks of a vegetarian or vegan diet on tendon health and performance

Dr. Keith Baar Quotes

“If you load (muscle-tendon tissue) faster or slower, you are going to get different mechanics”

“Tendon remodeling is actually extremely fast…. there are dramatic changes that can happen in these tissues in a very short period of time”

“(The tendon) is like a tree, the first few years you are building the inner rings.  The other rings you are adding on, you make the tree bigger and stronger as it ages, that tissue is more dynamic.  The center, core part of it isn’t as dynamic unless you have an injury”

“As you have more crosslinks, you have more stiff collagen”

“The cross-link component is something that we change dramatically with our activity, what we eat, and how much enzyme activity we have”

“The more lysyl oxidase you have, the more cross-links you have, the stiffer the tissue… what we do when we exercise, any type of exercise we do, we are going to increase the amount of lysyl oxidase we have, that is going to add in cross-links”

“When we are doing activities, we have the capacity to break down our crosslinks.  When we pull on a tendon fast, it’s stiffer, and when we pull on it less fast, it’s less stiff.  If I load my tendon quickly, all the collagen in my tendon works as a sheet, and it pulls with the muscle… it’s working as one unified grouping.”