1.1 Principles of Muscle and Tendon Treatment

• Stretch Reflex


  Natural reflex to prevent over-lengthening of muscle tissue.
• Length-tension Relationship

  Tension of the muscle is the highest at optimal resting length.
• Muscle Inhibition

  Both acute and chronic joint pathology, effusion, pain, and immobilization have been found to lead to inhibition of the overlying muscle, a response sometimes referred to as arthrogenous muscle inhibition.
• Signs and Symptoms of Muscle Dysfunction

  • Reduced muscle strength
  • Reduced muscle power
  • Reduced muscle endurance
  • Altered muscle control
  • Reduced muscle length
  • Production of symptoms
• Principles of Increasing Muscle Strength, Power and Endurance

  • Overload
  • Specificity
  • Individuality
  • Motivation
  • Learning
  • Reversibility
  • Diminishing returns
• Overload

  Create load greater than what usually experiences. If the maximum number of reps is reached, then progress the exercise with more resistance/load.
• Strength - fatigue/fail between 2-6 reps and 3-6 sets

  Endurance - fatigue/fail between 10-15 reps and 3-4 sets
• Specificity

  The activity needs to target the appropriate musculature, and the loading and/or velocity of movement need to be specific to the aim.
• Individuality


  Exercise will have different benefits on a person relating to their metabolism, neuro-endocrine regulation and age on muscle.
• Muscle Action and Adaptations

  • Tendon and friction - bursa, fibrous sheath, synovial sheath, paratenon sheath
  • Tendon and load - plastic, correlated with strength of muscle