Tendon strength

[Guest Brusi]

Tendon strength

Hello Guys

I have one short question:

How do tendons get stronger?

Thank you for your time.

[Guest Ido Portal]

Tendons are not a contractile unit, so they do not produce force, other than elastic force, but they can become thicker, given the right stimulus.

[Bonneau]

and what is the right stimulus ??

[John Sapinoso]

it makes logical sense that they would get stronger (or rather...more resilient) as your muscles that are attached to it get stronger and given the right nutrition i don't see why this wouldn't work.

I'm also guessing that increasing flexibility in the general area of the tendon in question will help.

[George Launchbury]

Both strength work (stronger tendons) and plyometrics (improved elasticity and recoil) should cause the body to adapt. In terms of the physiological processes involved, I would guess that (like muscles) micro-tears prompt the body to over-repair tissue following training stimulus (increasing the cross-section/thickness of the tendon), and CNS changes might occur from stimulus to the stretch receptors in the tendons? I would suggest that similar changes also occur with increased loads on ligaments as well.

Tendon performance can be in categorised in terms of stiffness/strength and elasticity/recoil. Think of them like elastic bands - short fat bands are good for lifting heavy stuff, and longer bands with lots of recoil are good for sprinting/jumping etc. Doing sport specific training and movements will give you the balance you need for your sport.

I have not come across any tendon strengthening programs, that weren't for re-hab anyway, so would suggest that just simply concentrating on getting stronger would take care of things. Just make sure you listen to any aches and pains in general, and rest up accordingly. One of the many dangers of steroid abuse is that your muscles get stronger faster than your tendons can handle, and injuries abound. Connective tissue recovers/repairs much more slowly than muscle tissue.

I don't know about stretching the area of the tendon having an effect on tendon strength, and would say that stretching tendons and ligaments themselves is unsafe anyway. Surely it's the belly of the muscle that should be the target of safe stretching?

Cheers,

George.

[Charles]

Surely it's the belly of the muscle that should be the target of safe stretching?

I'll second this. Stretching tendons and ligaments is not in your best interest.

I recently started reading Pavel Tsatsouline who seems to be a widely accepted specialist to the normal population. I'm still curious as to the gymnastics community's take on his stretching method.*

*For those that do not know his method, he claims that in most cases muscle fibers/fascia are already long enough to allow full rotational movement and it is simply the triggering of the stretch reflex that inhibits people from doing so. He strongly disagrees with forced stretching that I see more or less only at low end gymnastics gyms.