Muscle and Tendon Injuries

Muscle and Tendon injuries.

Athletes usually suffer a lot of different injuries during their active careers. Most muscle and tendon injureies result from concentric muscle contractions and bad warm up.

Description: Muscle and Tendon Injuries

  • First of all you have to know that there are 3 different types of muscle contractions. Since one particular type of muscle contraction is responsible for most muscle and tendon injuries in sports this is very important.
    • CONCENTRIC MUSCLE CONTRACTIONS:
      When the muscle shortens while it contracts. For examle when you do a leg curl or a biceps curl.
    • ISOMETRIC MUSCLE CONTRACTION:
      When you dont move, but the muscle is forced instantly. For example when you do a chin up and stay up without moving.
    • EXCENTRIC MUSCLE CONTRACTION:
      When You Extend a limb while forcing a muscle. For example when you lower a barbell from a biceps curl and only use your biceps to slow down the weight. (Negative Repetition) In many cases excentric contractions take place, becasue a weight is too heavy and you just try to put it down as carful as possible.
  • Muscle injuries most likely happen with excentric contractions, because excentric muscle contractions often happen just because something is too heavy. (Negative repetitions with too much weight etc.) But this doesnt mean you should never do negative repetitions. And dont even think of letting a weight fall or move down slower than you move up, becasue this will leat to even worse joint injuries. By the way... Negative repetitions are one of the the best ways to gain muscle strength and volume.
  • Muscle soreness is an injury too, but this kind of injury is not too bad and is NOT only a result of a build up of lactic acid. When a muscle is sore, it has lots of tiny injuries which usually recover within 72 hours. Those injurys are spread over the whole muscle and should not hurt until 24 hours after your wourkout. Those "tiny soreness injuries" recover very fast and after a good recovery you are even stronger than before.
  • If you feel pain during or right after the workout, or if you feel a sharp pain in one particular spot of a muscle, that's most ikely not just muscle soreness
  • Recovering from a muscle - tendon injury.
    • Don't go back to training until you can move without having pain at all.
    • Use joint supports and/or bandages to keep the muscle warm.
    • Apply ice bags after workouts to avoid infections and swelling.
    • Don't exaggerate.
    • Ask your doctor how to start training again.

Trainer advice: Muscle and Tendon Injuries

  • To avoid muscle and tendon injuries, warm up and stretch before every workout.
  • If you injure yourself, consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Videos: Muscle and Tendon Injuries

  • None