How to exercise your overlooked tendons

When it comes to fitness, most workouts place the focus on building strength and definition in your muscles. But our muscles aren’t the only structures in our body that help us lift, run and do most of our daily tasks.

Our tendons are a key but overlooked component of our musculoskeletal system – serving an equally important role as our muscles in our ability to move.

Tendons are made up of collagenous fibres which give them their exceptional tensile strength – the amount of stress they can withstand while being stretched or pulled. They’re built to tolerate high levels of tension under load – working in tandem with their connecting muscles to transfer force and allow movement.

Tendons have a unique ability to store and release energy – similar to a spring. While this ability is especially useful when running or jumping, our tendons also work hard during everyday activities, such as walking uphill or climbing the stairs. Strong tendons may also lower our risk of falls as we get older.

But age and chronic overuse (typically seen in athletes) can increase the risk of tendon rupture. Fortunately, the right kind of exercise can help us build tendon strength and keep them fit.

Tendon health

In order to build strong tendons, the aim is to make them stiffer.

This might seem contradictory,...

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