Bruce Lee's How to Strengthen Your Tendons and Ligaments

8/10/2019 Bruce Lee's How to Strengthen Your Tendons and Ligaments

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How to Strengthen tendons and ligaments for ultimateFunction of muscles and ultimate strength, speed, andFlexibility

The Training

As was stated above, when subjected to sudden heavyLoading the tendons deform (stretch) quickly, causingThe proprioceptive receptors to signal a state ofSudden stretch. It is this condition that is also theStimulus for the reformation of the collagen matrixInside the tendons, resulting in increased fibroblastNumber, and making them more resistant to deformation.So tendon strengthening can be achieved - the key isQuickly applying a heavy load to the tendon.Incidentally, this is the exact same form of trainingThat can extend the gorge tendon organ threshold.There are three accepted ways of approaching the task:

NOTE: To make this article easier to both read andWrite, the following arguments are aimed specificallyAt tendon strengthening and gorge tendon organThreshold/nervous system reprogramming. PleaseUnderstand that, because of their role in supporting

Joint stability, the following methods also serve toStrengthen the ligaments.

Ply metrics

'Ply metrics', in the true American sense (technically'Clinometric' means the lengthening of a muscle - aNegative) refers to any rapid reversal of contractionFrom eccentric (the lowering phase) to concentric (theLifting phase). This is a sub-category of what isOften referred to as explosive training (though it isQuite possible that an explosive contraction can startFrom a complete stop with no previous eccentric

Phase). Westside Barbell-style speed days would,Therefore, fall under this category - as would theTransition from Squat Clean to Front Squat in theClean (if it's done properly), or the dip to drive inThe Jerk. People have misconstrued the term'Ply metric' to mean that the muscle must necessarilyBe in a stretched position before the contraction - itDoesn't. I think it's because people wrongly confuseMuscle stretch with tendon stretch. This simply is notAccurate. The stretch state of the tendon in weightTraining has little to do with the stretch state ofThe muscle. Tendons stretch simply because they areSubjected to loading - the only way that the stretch

State of the muscle affects tendon stretch is if theElongation of the muscle affects its ability to exertForce (which it does, and that will be consideredLater).

As an example of how to perform a ply metric I'll useThe Bench Press: Take the bar off the rack and allowIt to fall somewhat rapidly (but under full control)As soon as it gets to the point where it touches yourChest explode it upwards very quickly. The whole rep



Shouldn't take much more than a second. Obviously, IHave left a lot of the details of a power-style BenchPress out but the ply metric technique should beClear.

Remember above when I mentioned that the only way thatThe elongation state of the muscle affects the amountOf load placed on the tendon is if it affects theMuscles ability to exert force? Well, as you'll knowFrom the series The Neuromuscular System on the'Physiology Related Articles' page, this is definitelyThe case. Borrowing a section:

Particularly relevant to muscle building is the factThat each muscle fiber has an ideal length at which itGenerates maximum force when contracting. The forceGenerated is directly influenced by the amount ofElongation (contraction or extension) that the fiber isUnder at the start of the contraction. Going back toThe sliding filament theory, this optimum length isThe point at which the actin & myosin filaments lineUp in such a way that allows maximum cross-bridgeFormation. When the muscle is extended more than thisThe acting filaments cannot make contact with as many

Myosin cross-bridges - they have slid past each other,So to speak. When the muscle is contracted to aShorter length than optimal, less force can beDeveloped for a few reasons. For one, the normalChemical processes taking place within the fiberBecome altered so that fewer acting cross-bridgeAttachment sites are uncovered and available forCross-bridging (the reason this happens is unknown atPresent). In addition, filaments from the oppositeEnds of the sacromere overlap and cover some actinCross-bridge attachment sites, further reducing theNumber of possible cross-bridges. Still further, theMyosin filaments come up against the ends of each

Individual sacromere (what's referred to as theZ-lines), impeding any further shortening.

So what is a muscle's optimum length for generating?Force? Well, generally, it is the length of the muscleWhile in its relaxed state. How much strength is lostWhen the muscle contracts at some other length thanOptimum? Well, at the extreme points of a muscle'sExtension or contraction (extended ~30% longer andContracted ~30% shorter than optimal) a muscle has theAbility to contract only ~50% as forcefully as it canAt the optimal length. Keep in mind, though, that youMay still demonstrate more strength in these positions

(Usually in the contracted position) than at thePosition of optimal muscular force because ofMechanical factors such as leverage. The muscleItself, however, will be contracting with less force.

So, in the case of the Bench Press, the muscle has theAbility to contract harder at a point roughly halfwayThrough the range of motion than at the top or bottom.Therefore, if you really wanted to apply maximum loadTo the tendons you would stop the bar around halfway



Down and then suddenly drive it back up.

The key to ply metrics lie in the speed, as the forceYou exert on the bar is determined not only by theWeight that you're lifting but also by how fast you'reLifting it. Consider the basic physics:

If you lift 100 kg at an acceleration of 1 m/s^2Then you are producing 100 x 1 = 100 N of force.

If you lift 50 kg at an acceleration of 2 m/s^2Then you are producing 50 x 2 = 100 N of force.

So you can lift a light weight faster than you can aHeavy one, but if the bar speed is high enough withThe lightweight the force applied will be the same.The point is if you accelerate the weight quickly youAre dramatically increasing the force that the muscleIs required to produce. If you think about a yo-yoYou'll get an intuitive idea of how this works - whenThe yo-yo is at the bottom you yank up suddenly,Drawing the rope tight. The yo-yo feels much heavierAt that point than it actually is. That's aPly metric. For the above speed reasons ply metrics

Are usually done with weights around only 60% of yourOne rep maximum.

From a tendon strengthening perspective, if bar speedCan be kept sufficiently high, high reps in these setsWould provide more of an adaptive stimulation thanLow reps. this is probably where the false theory thatThe performance of high reps itself can strengthenTendons comes from the fact is that high reps, with aQuick reversal from eccentric to concentric on eachRep, simply provide more repeated stress to theTendons than low reps. High reps with a slow repCadence, which eliminates the sudden application of

Force anywhere along the range of motion (e.g.'Super slow' training), would do little to strengthenThe tendons. But, if you are able to perform 10 repsPly metrically with 60% of your one rep maximum whileKeeping bar speed high on all reps then this wouldStimulate more tendon strengthening than a 3 rep set.For a power athlete, however, it might make more senseTo just do several 3 rep sets. This would allow theTrainee to avoid neurological fatigue and glycogenDepletion and effectively target the high-thresholdFibers while still providing the strengtheningStimulus to the tendons. And, realistically, youWouldn't be able to maintain the necessary bar speed

For 10 reps anyway.

Another benefit of ply metric reps should also beMentioned: By accelerating the weight as quickly asPossible you are 'teaching' your nervous system toVoluntarily recruit as many of the highest thresholdFibers as possible and to fire these fibers withMaximum frequency. This could be extremely beneficialIn power training.

Bruce Lee's How to Strengthen Your Tendons and Ligaments

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