Muscles can lift what the tendons can't, learn from me

Food for thought re: connective tissue health...

Tendons and ligaments experience far less blood flow than muscle tissue during training, and exponentially less during recovery. More frequent loading of connective tissues at least keeps them in a state of higher blood flow more often than a less frequent, higher volume program. So maybe hit the affected joint (or all joints?) more often, with less volume, to help speed your rehab?

That's some tenuous broscience right there man lol :drinker: But yeah whether it's for this reason or not, he doesn't want me to outright stop squatting. He just advised that I go back to about 50% of bodyweight, once a week, and see if there's any pain.

Buh? One reason why it takes connective tissue so much longer to heal than muscle is because of the substantially lower blood flow.

Ya, but he was advocating using the joint to promote blood flow. Lol he was just working out and idea, out loud. That said in this case it's my elbows and knees. My knees get a lot of use on a daily basis whether I like it or not.

I'm just going on stuff culled from guys like Perryman, Bill Starr, Pendlay, etc. I'll see if I can drag up an article that seems well-supported. It's not anything that's been researched clinically very much, but it's been results-driven by some very well-regarded serious lifters.

It's SO true that building up slowly is the way to go, especially as you get older. I'm 47, and I have found that the older I get, the slower my overall ability to handle resistance builds up. It just takes time. My muscles will respond, but if I go too fast, I injure something else. So while it sucks to be patient, it sucks worse to have a setback that takes away the ability to continue getting into better shape.

Good luck, OP.

All I know is, now that I'm older mobility/roller work is mandatory. In fact, I'm busting it out tomorrow due to this thread (and the fact I'm starting to feel a bit like hammered crap)

I'm just going on stuff culled from guys like Perryman, Bill Starr, Pendlay, etc. I'll see if I can drag up an article that seems well-supported. It's not anything that's been researched clinically very much, but it's been results-driven by some very well-regarded serious lifters.

Nah man I was mostly playing with you. That makes intuitive sense sure, but I don't know if the " frequent light use to increase blood flow" is better than just giving it rest. Think playing with a scab, versus just leaving it alone.

Off the cuff, and certainly anecdotal, but IMO worth consideration:

“When I first took the plunge, I was paranoid about getting hurt again, but at that point I had nothing else to lose. I could either train how I wanted ― heavy and with the big lifts ― or I’d just have to quit and take up stamp collecting.
As the days and weeks went on, I noticed something. Not only was I not getting hurt, but all the squatting felt like it was greasing the rails. The old injuries, which normally ached and made me very aware that I was bothering them, started griping less and less. They never became painless, but I’d not expect that. It was more like they retreated into a background noise of dull ache, sometimes irritating, but never once did I feel like a catastrophic blow-out was imminent.
At that point my interest was piqued, and I kept coming back to a post John Broz made on the Bodybuilding.com forums:
NOT training everyday leads to more injuries! IF you train everyday then your entire body is fatigued. Muscles, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, etc. When you train every other day, then the muscles and avascular tissues don’t recover at the same pace. What happens is the muscles become fresh and recover but all the connective tissue is NOT. When the additional stress put on these weakened tissues (that never really got a chance to recover) by fresh muscles = injury. Lifting everyday keeps everything in a state that is equal and consistent within the system. A balance or harmony within. The fatigued muscles can’t contract enough to harm the other tissues. The weak link moves from body part to body part, and in a sense is not letting the other parts max so that’s when they are resting”

Excerpt From: Matt Perryman. “Squat Every Day.”

If the idea seems like it has any value to you at all, I'd really recommend checking his ebook out. It's only $7. Well worth it if only for an entertainment read. His perspective on training the body as a complex system is quite intriguing.

Turning 50 this year, tendinitis has been a pain in my *kitten* (not literally) for the past 10 years. I have both golfers and tennis elbow in both elbows and also in my left ankle and left patellar tendon. So I usually have to do a pretty good warm up, and for my elbows I wear neoprene sleeves to keep them "warm". Makes it the more bearable when I have to lift heavier, although with age my strength has diminished year by year.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Here's one of the foam rolling articles I was talking about.

http://bretcontreras.com/how-does-foam-rolling-work-and-why-smr-should-be-called-smt/

So I usually have to do a pretty good warm up, and for my elbows I wear neoprene sleeves to keep them "warm". Makes it the more bearable when I have to lift heavier, although with age my strength has diminished year by year.

Probably the best advice you will get on this thread. I suffer from tendonitis and extreme pain & swelling 24/7 in every joint of my body from fingers to hips, knees, elbows etc due to a joint disease that attacks my connective tissues as well.

Keep the problem areas warm with a neoprene sleeve and you will be able to get through it with way less pain. The other thing you probably should do is double check your form. When you are using lower weight, might as well utilize the time to a premium.

1.) breaking up scar tissue- most tendentious (inflammation) is long past inflammation- it's scar tissue.- hence tendenosis.

the rolling/gratson- stuff breaks down the scar tissue.

2.) increases blood flow.
moar blood flow- moar O2- moar healing.

3.) Releases tension/tight spots

This also isn't just sports stuff- my dance instructors keep foam rollers at the studio- we use them a LOT on IT bands. It works the same way as a massage- no one questions that those are effective? why is foam rolling any different? it's just a self perpetuated/regulated massage.

Or do we really not have any science to back that up either (not being argumentative- really earnestly asking)

Or are we challenging why massages work as well?

The increased blood flow idea actually makes more sense to me than anything else I've heard. Most of what I've read says that actual research doesn't support the idea that scar tissue is actually being broken up, but the science is still REALLY fuzzy. The bottom of that Contreras article links to a ton of other stuff, also.

I'd have to say that the "why" of massage efficacy is also being questioned, but now I need to go look into it lol. I know that I love my massage therapist dearly and am positive that it is effective, too, lol.

The increased blood flow idea actually makes more sense to me than anything else I've heard. Most of what I've read says that actual research doesn't support the idea that scar tissue is actually being broken up, but the science is still REALLY fuzzy. The bottom of that Contreras article links to a ton of other stuff, also.

I'd have to say that the "why" of massage efficacy is also being questioned, but now I need to go look into it lol. I know that I love my massage therapist dearly and am positive that it is effective, too, lol.

I work with a massage therapist who is awesome at stimulating blood flow.