Runner Exercise: Strengthen Tendons and Ligaments
Runner Exercise: Strengthen Tendons and Ligaments
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Runner Exercise: Strengthen Tendons and Ligaments
Runner Exercise: Strengthen Tendons and Ligaments

Just a few days ago, an acquaintance who is now preparing for the next race, complained of pain in the Achilles tendon. He felt it not while running or performing some special and difficult exercises, but when he simply stepped off the curb.

If you're running and doing strength training, that's good. If you add 5-10 minutes of daily light stretching or yoga exercises (the same sun salutation) to all this, that's even better. And now it would be nice if special exercises were added to strength training to strengthen the ligaments. Indeed, one fine day it may well happen that you have to give up training or even competitions due to the fact that you simply did not quite correctly descend from the step or curb.

Today's post with special exercises to strengthen tendons and ligaments will be of interest to those who do not want to become a running injury expert after visiting a huge number of doctors.;)

Tendons are composed of connective tissue and are organic cables that attach muscles to bones. Due to their structure, the tendons are very strong, but at the same time they do not stretch well (they have little extensibility).

There is no clear boundary between muscles and tendons separating muscle tissue from tendons. Instead, there is a transitional area - the tendon-muscle zone, in which muscle fibers and tendons merge into a single whole. Only at the very end of this zone do the ligaments finally turn into white cords connecting muscles to bone, and it is this transition point that is the weakest link in this entire system.

A minor injury with a rupture of several fibers is very unpleasant, but in the event of a complete rupture, surgery and physiotherapy are required. But there is good news: due to the fact that the border zone is well supplied with blood due to its proximity to the muscles, the injury heals quickly enough. Almost as fast as muscle recovery.

Ligaments are dense strands of connective tissue that connect bones to each other or hold internal organs in a certain position. By function, there are ligaments that strengthen the joints of the bones, inhibiting or directing movements in the joints. Ligaments are also distinguished, ensuring the maintenance of a stable position of the internal organs.

The main problem areas for runners are the Achilles tendon and knees.

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Achilles tendon (Latin tendo calcaneus), or heel tendon- the most powerful and strong tendon of the human body, can withstand tensile thrust up to 350 kilograms, and in some cases even more. Despite this, it is one of the most commonly injured tendons.

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ZKS - posterior cruciate ligament, PKS - anterior cruciate ligament.

Cruciate ligamentsare located in the cavity of the knee joint. Excessive movements in the knee joint lead to ruptures.

Anterior cruciate ligament (Latin lig.cruciatum anterius)starts from the posterior-superior part of the inner surface of the outer condyle (bony protrusion) of the femur, crosses the cavity of the knee joint and attaches to the anterior part of the anterior intercondylar fossa of the tibia, also in the joint cavity. This ligament stabilizes the knee joint and prevents the lower leg from moving forward excessively, and also holds the outer condyle of the tibia.

Posterior cruciate ligament of the knee joint (Latin lig.cruciatum posterius)starts from the anteroposterior part of the lateral surface of the inner condyle of the thigh, crosses the knee joint and attaches to the posterior intercondylar fossa of the tibia. It stabilizes the knee joint and keeps the lower leg from shifting back.

In order to avoid trouble with tendons, they need to be strengthened. There is a whole range of special exercises for this. We will focus on the simplest ones.

Exercises

If you have tendon-related injuries, be sure to check with your doctor and be sure to do the exercises under the supervision of a trainer for at least the first few workouts until he determines the right load for you that will strengthen the tendons rather than harm them. This is especially true for adding extra weight!

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