Hi friends,

I was playing tennis on Friday night when a gentleman on the court next to me was playing pickleball. Everything was going well until I heard him yelp and then was limping around the court.

He was barely able to put weight through his right leg. I went over and asked him what happened to try to help, but he said he was taking off to run and then felt something hit the back of his leg. This is one of the hallmark signs of an Achilles tendon tear and I told him to go to urgent care to get it checked out.

Tendon injuries are quite common and there are things that you can do to help prevent them.

Tendons connect muscle to bone and store/release energy with sports and running.

Unfortunately with Achilles tears, there are rarely any symptoms or pain before a complete rupture. On average, the return to play at a comparable level is 10.6 months making this a devastating injury.

So what can you do to help prevent tendon injuries like an Achilles tear?

Focus on a gradual buildup to your desired activity. Too often people are sedentary for a long period, and then go out and play a sport that their body isn’t yet adapted to and get injured. Try to slowly build up strength and your body’s tolerance to an activity over a long period of time.

Allow your tendons enough time to recover between heavy loading/exercise bouts. Even though muscles typically recover within 48 hours after exercise, tendons need an additional day for a total of 72 hours after an intense running or jumping workout to recover.

Perform a proper warmup before exercise. This includes mimicking the movements you will do during the exercise/sport but at a lower intensity, jogging, or dynamic stretching. I would not recommend static stretching before your sport. Static stretching is when you hold a stretch for a prolonged period and does not lower your risk of injury. Read more on static stretching here.

What sports you played in your youth determines your collagen fiber structure. Collagen is the primary tissue in tendons and is responsible for a big portion of overall tendon strength. So if you didn’t play many sports when you were younger and want to play later in your life, it’s even more important to slowly build up to your desired activity.

While there are no absolute ways to prevent a devasting injury like an Achilles tear, there are things that you can do to mitigate the risk. When in doubt, do the basics well. Get 7-9 hours of sleep, eat 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day, find ways to lower stress, and perform both resistance and cardiovascular training.

Until next week,

Kevin