Today's blog will focus on an important part of your body that can make or break your health; tendons. We are sure this word has popped up in your world but for those unfamiliar tendons are the tissue that connects the muscle to the bone and other body parts. The second line of defense after your muscles is the best way to describe tendons. Tendons are one of the keys to joint health and are important for anyone who plans to stay healthy well into old age. We’ll dive deeper into the importance of tendons and how you can keep them strong and healthy.
The job of your tendons is to transfer the mechanical force of the muscle to the bone almost playing the role of a buffer. What makes tendons a make or break for the body is that if they are healthy they allow for more strength, flexibility, and range in motion in your body. If your tendons are not healthy such as tendonitis or a tear this can limit your ability in your daily life and have the potential to become a nagging problem. This double-edged dilemma is due to the makeup of tendons. Your tendons are more resilient than your muscles, but unlike the muscles, they take significant time to heal when injuries occur.
So how do we keep our tendons strong and healthy avoiding problems? One way is the old faithful stretching. Tendons are designed to stretch to handle force so daily stretching can keep them ready and possibly make them longer allowing fewer limitations. Tendons can adapt but take a much longer time than muscles. This disparity is a part of why people have tendon issues in the first place. Many tendon injuries occur due to overuse and the pushing and pulling of objects that may exceed the force the tendon was prepared for.
To directly strengthen your tendons you could implement eccentric focus exercises or isometrics. Eccentric is the lowering phase of exercises and isometrics is the holding of weight or pushing against an immovable force. A focus on these areas can counteract the usual suspects that cause problems with tendons. With both training styles you want to slowly progress, giving your tendons time to adjust. Last but not least rest is important; we know you want to stay active and reach new gains but the body needs time to recover and adapt so you can be at your absolute best.
