EFFECTS OF TRAINING, IMMOBILIZATION AND REMOBILIZATION ON TENDONS

Since a tendon is a living tissue, it is not a surprise that tendon sh ows the capacity to adapt its structure and mechanical properties to t he functional demands of the entire muscle-tendon unit. However, compa red with muscle, the experimental knowledge of the effects of strength or endurance-type training on tendon tissue is scarce and clinical hu man experiments are completely lacking (1). Research should, however, be able to improve the true understanding of the biomechanical, functi onal, morphological and biochemical changes that occur in tendons due to training and physical activity, since understanding of the basic ph ysiology of a tissue is the key to understanding its pathological proc esses (1, 2). Compared with muscle tissue, the metabolic turnover of t endon tissue is many times slower due to poorer vascularity and circul ation (1, 3). The adaptive responses of tendons to training are theref ore also slower than those in muscles, but they may finally be conside rable if the time frame is long enough (3, 4).