Started by Yaad Mohammad, February 19, 2012 · 20 Replies · 33,351 Views
Hey guys,
I've always had unusually long biceps tendons. I was also as a child better at strength moves then anybody else. I achieved a 9 sec tuck planche with no training at all. I was able to continue training the planche for more than 10 hours a week. Was it because of my long tendons?
And what is better, long tendons or short tendons? I have no idea at the moment.
Since it is something that you cannot really affect, I don't think it matters much.
Longer tendons can store more energy in plyometrics.
Right, usually people with longer achilles tendon tend to have higher vertical leaps.
seiyafan said:Right, usually people with longer achilles tendon tend to have higher vertical leaps.
I've noticed this, too. I have very thin legs and my friend has very big muscular legs from footballing a lot, but I jumped way higher. I've never trained my legs, but I guess it's in my genes.
length of tendons is genetic, however stretching can help too. Small and high calf can help too.
From what i have learnd in my biomechanics class att school, one cm longer biceps tendon further out on the forearm can make up to 50 % better leverage in a one-arm pullup. This is a very sad fact for us who dont have those beneficial tendon attatchments. I dont actually know if this is true but it is what the teacher said to me on the subject of one-arm pullup strenght.
Jonas Säll said:From what i have learnd in my biomechanics class att school, one cm longer biceps tendon further out on the forearm can make up to 50 % better leverage in a one-arm pullup. This is a very sad fact for us who dont have those beneficial tendon attatchments. I dont actually know if this is true but it is what the teacher said to me on the subject of one-arm pullup strenght.
Well, I've noticed that the one-arm pullup isn't incredibly hard to reach. I think, that if I'd focus on pull-ups, I'd get it in two months. I can already do a 75% ROM one-arm pullup, after doing 10 muscle-ups every week.
Good for you man! I have also found that the levers and muscleups transfer well to the one-arm pullup, i can now do the bottom 50% of thr ROM (up to 90 degres). What do you weigh if i may ask? I weigh 82 kilos at the moment. The reason i am very intrested in the one-arm is that i am a climber and the one-arm has alwars been THE powermove. I could do it when i was 25 and weighted 75 kilos and hope i can relearn it at 42 and 82. I have also found over the years that some people can do the one-arm with absolutely no training at all and that some peaple have to train like ARMageddon is coming tomorrow, witch i personally find a little bit saddening, hence the explanation about the tendons. I also know about the whole " enjoy the journey" thing, and believe me, i enjoy the process. But im also quite honest with my feelings to both my self and others.
Keep on training! Jonas.
How do you tell if your tendons are long or short?
Jonas Säll said:Good for you man! I have also found that the levers and muscleups transfer well to the one-arm pullup, i can now do the bottom 50% of thr ROM (up to 90 degres). What do you weigh if i may ask? I weigh 82 kilos at the moment. The reason i am very intrested in the one-arm is that i am a climber and the one-arm has alwars been THE powermove. I could do it when i was 25 and weighted 75 kilos and hope i can relearn it at 42 and 82. I have also found over the years that some people can do the one-arm with absolutely no training at all and that some peaple have to train like ARMageddon is coming tomorrow, witch i personally find a little bit saddening, hence the explanation about the tendons. I also know about the whole " enjoy the journey" thing, and believe me, i enjoy the process. But im also quite honest with my feelings to both my self and others.Keep on training! Jonas.
I weight around 52 kilos and I know it sucks that for some it's harder and for some it's easier. I've having the same problem with other things in gymnastics. I suck at tumbling, yet I love it.
Andy K said:How do you tell if your tendons are long or short?
Compare them to my tendons:
Haha, my biceps really look weird in those pictures 
Mien Gott!!!
Those are long tendons!
Mine must be very short then.
lol what 
Those don't look like long biceps tendons at all, imo. I don't get it.. :?
MH87 said:lol whatThose don't look like long biceps tendons at all, imo. I don't get it.. :?
Look at my arm, look how short my biceps are. That's because my tendons are long.
Rago said:MH87 said:lol whatThose don't look like long biceps tendons at all, imo. I don't get it.. :?
Look at my arm, look how short my biceps are. That's because my tendons are long.
I have similiar tendons, a bit shorter than yours. I hate it because when you wear a t-shirt it looks like your biceps is as small as your forearm
lol okay, that makes sense.
Those are pretty short biceps! The real factor will be forearm length and where exactly on the forearm the biceps attaches in terms of relative to the overall length of the forearm as well as distance from the elbow joint. The length of the tendon is not relevant in terms of strength, only where it attaches on your forearm bones.
Now, that length thing should be a huge, huge advantage in throwing sports, especially if your triceps are similarly built and have a more distal insertion.
seiyafan said:length of tendons is genetic, however stretching can help too. Small and high calf can help too.
Stretching only works before puberty. After puberty the muscle will be the only part that lengthens. In children, stretching can and does permanently lengthen tendons as well as ligaments. In adults, ligament lengthening happens extremely slowly and possibly never to the extent that it happens in children (partially because their joints also change shape, which can't happen in adults).
Alright, decided to bump this old thread to discuss this matter even further. I was wondering what the advantages of short tendons are? More endurance?
Yaad Mohammad said:Compare them to my tendons:http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg11/scaled.php?server=11&filename=img0152of.jpg&res=medium
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg685/scaled.php?server=685&filename=img0151ni.jpg&res=medium
Haha, my biceps really look weird in those pictures
Hey, we're bicep tendons buddies. Mine look similar too.
HAHAHA!
Probably nothing spectacular in terms of endurance, but everything scales. If you have an advantage in force production, but identical aerobic capacity, it means you are doing less relative work to achieve the same result as someone else, of the same size and weight, that happens to have less of an advantage. This means that, at any given absolute external torque, you require less internal torque. That means you are working at a lower % of your maximum, which means you will have better endurance in that zone since you have the same oxygen capacity but require less oxygen to do the same amount of work.
That's the most specific answer I can give you.
There are a lot of factors there, and this is just one. Your oxygen-carrying capacity is really key, as is your ability to move the oxygen to your muscles from the blood, and those have nothing to do with your tendons.
Joshua Naterman said:HAHAHA!
Probably nothing spectacular in terms of endurance, but everything scales. If you have an advantage in force production, but identical aerobic capacity, it means you are doing less relative work to achieve the same result as someone else, of the same size and weight, that happens to have less of an advantage. This means that, at any given absolute external torque, you require less internal torque. That means you are working at a lower % of your maximum, which means you will have better endurance in that zone since you have the same oxygen capacity but require less oxygen to do the same amount of work.
That's the most specific answer I can give you.
There are a lot of factors there, and this is just one. Your oxygen-carrying capacity is really key, as is your ability to move the oxygen to your muscles from the blood, and those have nothing to do with your tendons.
So basically, the length of your tendons do not contribute in anyway?