Get Bouncy
I’ve been barbell lifting for thirty years. I’ve built relatively good strength. And the work I’ve put in created a physical foundation for me to stay active and athletic into my forties. As well as giving me a decent physique and base for building muscle. However, even at my strongest I didn’t always feel good. Or maintain resilience against injury when sprinting, jumping, or otherwise attempting to be athletic. Powerlifting movements have many benefits. But on their own they aren’t sufficient for developing the ability to run full speed or dunk a basketball. I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone to develop their top end strength. However athletes also need to train the tendons for athleticism.
I’ll always squat, but training like a powerlifter all of the time makes the most sense for competitive powerlifters. If the tendons and connective tissue aren’t elastic, or able to accommodate long ranges of motion and changes of direction, injury and joint problems are more likely to occur.
But Doesn’t Heavy Barbell Lifting Train The Tendons?
Yes, squats and deadlifts absolutely train the tendons for athleticism in certain ways. But any activity will build specific adaptations to the imposed demands of that activity. Heavy deadlifts are a relatively short range, bilateral movement. And we adapt specifically when we do this movement over and over.
The body builds thick lower back connective tissue that’s great for bearing a heavy load in an isometric fashion. And flexibility is relatively unimportant. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s not always so great for sprinting which requires a much greater range of motion and mobility through the back, hips, and legs. An all out sprint requires extreme hip flexion in one leg along with extreme hip extension in the other leg simultaneously. It’s important to train tissues of the lower back to be much more flexible and elastic to accommodate the necessary positions.
We also want the tissues to adapt to the high impact of striking the ground at full force. Which is different and more dynamic than lifting a heavy weight slowly. The speed of the movement can generate very high forces on the body even with no added weight. The tissues also have to be able to change positions and reverse motion very quickly without straining or tearing. In my experience, years of deadlifting (and sitting) promoted a state of lower back stiffness in my body. This then led to a handful of other issues in my hips and legs. And increased tendency to get injured.
Adapting To Varied And Unpredictable Movements
A movement like the deadlift is also relatively predictable. It happens in one plan of movement. It’s symmetrical. The ground is flat and nobody is going to run in from the side and knock a lifter off balance. It generally looks the same every time. But jumping for the rim in a basketball game and landing in unexpected positions results in very different demands on the body. Landing on one foot, two feet, off balance, etc., means the body has to be ready to absorb force from many angles without breaking.
One of the best ways to prepare for highly athletic and unpredictable movement is to train the body’s strength through a long range of motion. Building the connective tissues and muscles when they’re fully lengthened at their end rages of motion. And in their most vulnerable positions where they’re under tension and most likely to tear.
This builds tendon resilience and elasticity in the structures of the body. Which comes in quite useful when reacting to an opponent at full speed. Or riding a surfboard on a moving wave. Changing directions quickly and forcefully. Engaging in explosive movements that test the tissues from different angles. Or moving across a court, field, or undulating natural surface in multiple directions.
We Can Do Both
There’s no rule that says someone can’t get big and strong, and then work on the specific skills and adaptations to be able to run fast and jump high. Whether we develop these abilities simultaneously, or in a phased manner.
For football players who need to add size and muscular strength for greater force production against opponents as well as rapid acceleration off the ball, muscular strength and size are important physical attributes. When the connective tissues have proper development and are able to transmit great forces, stronger muscles drive greater forces through those tendons and other fascia. So increasing one’s max squat and deadlift, along with strong tendons, have beneficial applications in this scenario.
However, a basketball player with a thinner build may benefit most from a greater focus on training the connective tissues over the muscles. They mostly need to train the tendons for athleticism. A lighter player can be extremely quick, explosive, and bouncy simply due to well developed connective tissue. Depending on style of play, it may be counter-productive to get big and bulky and try to build a massive squat. Again, being able to grind out a heavy squat won’t necessarily make someone slow. But don’t expect it to automatically translate to a higher vertical jump. Especially if the squatting adds significant body weight.
On the other hand, developing healthy and resilient connective tissue is still important when building muscular size and strength. If big muscles are like the engine of a car, and the connective tissue is the frame and drive train of that car, then strong muscles with underdeveloped connective tissues is like putting a Ferrari engine inside of a Prius. An engine that powerful is bound to break the frame to pieces. The brakes won’t be able to decelerate the high forces and speeds without wearing out. And the wheels may fall off trying to turn at high speed.
How To Train The Tendons and Connective Tissue
Training the connective tissue properly requires exposing those tissues to high tension. The highest tension is achieved at the end ranges of motion a given joint is capable of. These are positions where tendons and joints are most vulnerable to injury. This means bearing a load through a great enough range of motion that the connective tissues must support the external resistance to a great degree. The muscles will participate with the movement of course. But at extreme ranges of motion the connective tissues will engage to a greater extent.
What is meant by extreme ranges of motion? As an example, a sissy squat moves the knees through a longer range of motion than a low bar back squat. The knee angle will be fully closed compared to a low bar squat with a more open knee angle.
Or Nordic curls where the position of the body relative to the pull of gravity puts the highest tension on the muscles and tendons when they’re at their greatest length.
Doing sissy squats, even with bodyweight, works the patellar tendon far harder than heavy low bar squats even though the external load used is lighter. I haven’t measured this objectively, but I’ve done the movement enough times to know this is the case. A movement pattern switches from muscle dominant to more tendon dominant by increasing the range of motion.
Training Intensity
It’s also important to focus on greater intensity to ensure the tension is as high as the tissues can safely handle. Both through adding load and increasing range of motion. This causes greater remodeling and adaptation of the tissues. As well as increased hypertrophy in general due to more breakdown of the soft tissues. That said, higher volume work with light loads or assistance in extreme ranges of motion can be beneficial when starting out with this style of training to build adaptations without pain. Higher volume is also good active recovery due to increased blood flow. Since tendons generally have lower blood flow than muscles, anything that increases blood flow is great for healing.
The high tension that comes with this style of training will cause greater inflammation. And longer recovery times, so it’s important to listen to the body and not overdo it. Short range training in decreased ranges of motion can be a good compliment as well. The strain on the tendons is reduced and therefore less damaging, but the blood flow is still significant and beneficial for flushing the tissues and delivering nutrients.
Muscle Stiffness And Elasticity
Training the ability of the connective tissue to retain stiffness is also helpful. The brief pause between an eccentric motion and concentric motion is called the amortization phase. For example, between the foot striking the ground during a sprinting motion, and the foot subsequently pushing back off of the ground. A short amortization phase is what makes us faster, quicker, and bouncier. And a short amortization phase requires stiffness of the tendons. Just like a stiffer spring in a pogo stick will bounce higher and more quickly than a soft mushy spring that collapses under tension.
We can train stiffness by engaging the amortization phase through activities like sprinting, jumping rope, agility drills, etc. I like to call this type of work getting bouncy. Some days I increase the intensity. But I’ve found that light, repeated work of several hundred reps (jump rope, etc.) every day builds the tendons of the lower legs and feet very well without injury. High volume work of this sort was called the extensive method by Russian coach Yuri Verkhoshansky. And is useful for building a base of stiffness in the feet and to train the tendons for athleticism. Then occasional high intensity training sessions can benefit from the base that exists.
Kangaroos use elastic energy from their enormous lower leg tendons to reduce muscular output. This makes them very efficient at higher speeds. Reducing the oxygen requirements of the muscles when bounding long distances repeatedly. Humans can develop a bit of the the same elastic ability into our own tendons and put it to use.
In Conclusion
Athleticism and soft tissue resiliency require particular adaptations that can’t be built only through heavy barbell lifting. It’s necessary to train the tendons specifically.
And while tendon focused training is great for athletic ability, it’s also great for aging well. And avoiding injuries and pain as we get older. Elasticity is an important physical quality so we don’t get stiff, rigid, and fragile. I’m a proponent of getting bouncy. Whether that’s for being more athletic or for being able to handle falls without getting hurt when older.
If you have any interest in programming to train the tendons for athleticism, please reach out to me any time at sharpentheblade@protonmail.com. I’ve improved my own athletic ability significantly into my forties and would love to share what I’ve learned.