Repetitive Injury Cycles & Tendon Pain: Key Considerations
Repetitive Injury Cycles & Tendon Pain:
Struggling with nagging tendon pain?
These common mistakes could be holding you back from recovery:
Not Lifting Heavy Enough – Tendons need at least 70% of your 1RM to adapt and get stronger (PMID: 36012960, 35084703). Lighter loads won’t cut it.
Too Much Volume – When dealing with pain, your max recoverable volume (MRV) is lower than normal. With reduced capacity, you need less volume to stimulate adaptation. Start with the minimal effective dose and build up gradually.
Skipping Recovery – Tendons take 48-72 hours to recover. If you’re consistently shorting recovery, you risk falling into a repetitive injury cycle—aka the Bermuda Triangle of recovery.
Pain doesn’t always mean stop—especially with chronic issues like tendinopathy. Tracking function is key: If you can do more work with the same level of pain, that’s progress. Adaptation takes patience.