The Not So Common Care for Tendonitis

With the start of a new season just about ready to kick off, many of us have been putting in some great training over the off-season in our TARGETRAINING indoor program. The results are clearly evident as many of us are hitting the spring season in excellent form, but when you push your body to gain fitness, sometimes it pushes you back. This push back can often be seen in strains and tears of the muscular system which means TENDONITIS.

Tendonitis is essentially a muscular strain/inflammation at the point of connection with bone. One of our TARGETRAINING clients, who is an orthopedic surgeon, forwarded us this article from the NY Times that discussed this often chronic injury for endurance athletes.

Full article >>

What struck us most about this article was the lack of evidence shown to support the standard care healing practices of tendonitis (rest + corticosteroid shot to affected tendon). When thinking about how we manage our TT client base, it occurred to us that the everyday evidence of healing was apparent as we help to stabilize and ultimately reduce tendonitis symptoms through the use of strength training and controlled exercise of affected tendons with specific volume and intensity goals.

We all know of someone who, for example, has suffered from a classic running tendonitis injury of an inflamed IT band which manifests itself as knee pain and more specifically outside knee pain. Often these individuals takes weeks, months, and at times an entire year off of running only to have the symptoms return once they resume activity. Why and how tendonitis occurs is still not fully understood, but what we are coming to realize is that the human body is very adaptable and that with alternative care (massage, stretching, acupuncture) and a modified exercise program, our systems can often overcome tendonitis injuries without the use of medication and inactivity.

No matter what your symptoms, if confronted with a possible tendonitis injury, it is always best to consult your coach and schedule a visit to your doctor to develop a comprehensive plan of attack.