Why Your Tendons Never Heal (And How To Fix Them)
In a Nutshell
Tendons heal slowly and need specific loading, not rest or standard muscle training; sudden load spikes or momentum during lifts create a strength gap that leads to pain and injury. Isometric holds targeting the painful movement, done for three 30-second sets twice daily, redistribute tendon load and trigger collagen repair, often relieving pain in 1–2 weeks. Continue the protocol 3–4× per week for 4–8 weeks, then maintain weekly to prevent recurrence and keep tendons as strong as the muscles they serve.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Squeaky-creaky joints are not just a normal part of training. If pain keeps returning, the issue is with the tendons rather than muscles or bones. Tendons are the number one thing that causes people pain.
Tendons function as cables that enable body movement, such as lifting the forearm during a curl, pulling the arm across the body during a bench press, or swinging the elbow when hitting a tennis ball.
When landing from a jump, tendons protect muscles by stretching out quickly in a short period of time. This prevents muscles from having to extend as rapidly. Tendons must be extremely strong to handle these loads.
Lifting weights builds muscles effectively, but tendons require a different type of training. Tendons do not respond to the same stimuli that strengthen muscles.
"The biggest thing that we're discovering now and is that tendons don't like what muscle likes to get stronger."
"There's a big difference in the types of loads that we do to optimize tendon versus when we're trying to target our exercise for muscles or our heart."
When training builds muscles faster than tendons, a strength gap forms. This explains why tendons are the number one cause of pain. Seventy percent of injuries in professional sports teams are related to tendons or the associated muscle not being properly aligned.
Steroid users are more likely to experience tendon injuries because their muscles outgrow tendon strength. In 1990s baseball, players using anabolic steroids developed large muscles followed by tendon tears. Performance increased then suddenly declined. Statisticians could identify steroid users based on performance patterns.
Clicking or popping sounds indicate a tendon may be experiencing sensitivity and becoming thicker. A thicker tendon has difficulty sliding through narrow joint spaces, causing it to pop and roll. Clicking alone does not always indicate weakness, but when accompanied by pain, it signals a problem.
Complete rest is one of the worst responses to tendon pain. Tendons require load to function and heal. Rest may temporarily reduce pain by removing stress, but the underlying issue remains unfixed. Healthy tendon tissue weakens during rest while damaged areas fail to rebuild properly. Pain returns immediately upon resuming activity.
This problem worsens with age. Active individuals who train hard may accumulate unresolved injuries that manifest as musculoskeletal pain in their 40s.
Poor Load Management
The first and most common mistake is poor load management. Sudden increases in activity—such as more bench pressing, running, or starting a new sport—often lead to injury after several weeks. Tendons adapt more slowly than muscles. The body can handle increased loads, but adaptation requires significant time.
A 60-day experiment training one side of the body with heavy weights and low reps, and the other side with light weights and high reps, resulted in tendinitis in both the elbow and knee on the heavy side. Heavy weights are not inherently harmful, but unaccustomed training causes problems.
Increasing training volume or intensity by more than 30% raises injury risk. Adding more than one to two sets per week, or jumping from 100 lb to 150 lb without gradual progression, creates problems. The same principle applies to any sport or activity outside the gym.
Use of Momentum
The second mistake is using momentum during lifts. Bouncing weights off the chest during pressing, bouncing at the bottom of squats, or using momentum in sports like tennis and golf introduces loads that are hardest on tendons. Olympic weightlifters have adapted to momentum over time, but most people have not.
For general training without specific power or strength goals, controlling the bottom of each rep reduces stress on tendons and promotes faster muscle growth.
Isometrics are proven to heal and strengthen tendons. During isometric holds, the tendon experiences creep, distributing load equally throughout the entire tendon including scarred areas. Pain relief often occurs within two weeks, allowing most people to resume normal activities.
An isometric involves contracting a muscle without movement, such as holding a bicep curl at 90 degrees. Holding for approximately 30 seconds allows the healthy parts of the tendon to lengthen first, progressively loading stronger sections until the weakest areas receive stimulus. This triggers collagen synthesis in an organized pattern, strengthening the tissue.
The most effective isometric targets the specific motion that causes pain. For bench press issues, perform an isometric hold in a bench press position. The painful movement indicates where the tendon receives the greatest load.
Shoulder
- If chest pressing causes pain: Use a bench press, Smith machine, or chest press machine with weight heavy enough to push against without movement. Alternatives include holding a lighter weight halfway through the range or performing a push-up hold or wall push.
- Hold each position for at least 30 seconds for three sets total.
- If overhead pressing causes pain, use overhead press isometric variations.
- If lateral raise movements cause pain, use lateral raise isometric variations.
Pain during the exercise is acceptable if it does not exceed 3-4 out of 10 and does not worsen the following day. If pain exceeds these limits, reduce weight or effort.
Elbow
- Biceps pain: Hold the middle position of the most painful curl variation using lighter weight.
- Pain during pull-downs or chin-ups: Use corresponding isometric holds.
- Triceps pain during push-downs: Use triceps push-down isometric variations.
- Triceps pain during overhead extensions: Use overhead extension isometric variations.
Knees
- Use a knee extension machine for the simplest approach.
- Without a machine: Position toes on the floor with back and hips against a wall, then slide down while allowing knees to move forward, creating a knee extension load.
- Select one exercise matching the affected joint.
- Perform three sets twice daily—once in the morning and once in the evening.
- Pain may resolve within one to two weeks.
- Continue exercises three to four times per week for four to eight weeks to achieve permanent resolution.
- Stopping early often leads to pain returning.
For ongoing tendon health and injury prevention, spend 5-10 minutes after workouts performing these exercises or dedicate one day per week to them.
Permanently resolving tendon pain requires consistent practice beyond initial relief. The individuals who maintain pain-free status treat tendon exercises as an ongoing habit rather than a temporary fix.
A fitness app includes these tendon rehabilitation exercises along with joint-friendly exercise alternatives tailored to specific problem areas. This allows continued training and muscle building while simultaneously rebuilding tendons. The app also provides dietary guidance.
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