Jul 11, 2026 · 36 min · 16 segments
Most guys think you need heavy weight to build muscle after 40. Today's guest has spent over 10 years proving that's not true. Sten Stray-Gundersen is the leading expert on blood flow restriction…
Sten Stray-GundersenGuest
Brian GrynHost
Why don't you just give the audience just a high level of what it is and how it works.
Essentially, you're putting on bands and or cuffs on the upper arms or upper legs in order to partially restrict arterial or the oxygenated blood going into the muscle and then intermittently occlude or impede the venous outflow.
And what this does is when you combine it with light intensity or low-load exercise, It sort of, in a way, tricks the brain into thinking that you're doing high-intensity or high-load exercise, and it yields adaptation similar as if you were doing 70% plus of your one rep max or more high-intensity kind of HIIT-type interval training from the aerobic side.
So this is just a way to essentially tap into the existing exercise physiology in order to yield benefits in a rapid and very robust way.
interesting and relevant, especially now because 40 plus, I feel like I've been lifting for 20 plus years.
You know, like what lifting heavy, I think people have a conception that you have to lift heavy to build muscle.
But I think this is sort of a breath of fresh air when it comes to weight training, because especially as you get older, like it's all about like preventing injury.
But I was lucky you guys sent me a pair and it definitely, you can tell that, you know, you can tell when you have them on, that's for sure.
And I think it's just, it's such a great audience, the 40, especially the 40 plus where they don't have to worry about, you know, lifting heavy loads.
And I think in some ways it's good to expose yourself to those heavy loads on occasion or on a weekly basis or every other week kind of basis.
But I think BFR is a great way to kind of keep the body feeling healthy, feeling fresh, minimize that joint loading.
You know, the nice thing about BFR2 is once you've kind of become accustomed to it, similar to other kind of training protocols, you really don't get a lot of soreness.
Why don't you just give the audience just a high level of what it is and how it works.
Essentially, you're putting on bands and or cuffs on the upper arms or upper legs in order to partially restrict arterial or the oxygenated blood going into the muscle and then intermittently occlude or impede the venous outflow.
And what this does is when you combine it with light intensity or low-load exercise, It sort of, in a way, tricks the brain into thinking that you're doing high-intensity or high-load exercise, and it yields adaptation similar as if you were doing 70% plus of your one rep max or more high-intensity kind of HIIT-type interval training from the aerobic side.
So this is just a way to essentially tap into the existing exercise physiology in order to yield benefits in a rapid and very robust way.
interesting and relevant, especially now because 40 plus, I feel like I've been lifting for 20 plus years.
You know, like what lifting heavy, I think people have a conception that you have to lift heavy to build muscle.
But I think this is sort of a breath of fresh air when it comes to weight training, because especially as you get older, like it's all about like preventing injury.
But I was lucky you guys sent me a pair and it definitely, you can tell that, you know, you can tell when you have them on, that's for sure.
And I think it's just, it's such a great audience, the 40, especially the 40 plus where they don't have to worry about, you know, lifting heavy loads.
And I think in some ways it's good to expose yourself to those heavy loads on occasion or on a weekly basis or every other week kind of basis.
But I think BFR is a great way to kind of keep the body feeling healthy, feeling fresh, minimize that joint loading.
You know, the nice thing about BFR2 is once you've kind of become accustomed to it, similar to other kind of training protocols, you really don't get a lot of soreness.
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