Q&A: How lunges, squats and holds can build stronger tendons and ligaments

Medical Xpress / UC Davis ^ | Feb. 5, 2025 | Keith Baar

[ConservativeMind]

Keith Baar discusses how intensive exercising after injury or when overweight can cause damage to ligaments and tendons. He also talks about the importance of integrating isometric or static exercises into our fitness routines.

What are isometric exercises?

Isometric or static exercises are moves that involve contracting or tightening the muscles without changing their length. They are positions that hold the body or limbs in a fixed position for a period of time. They include planks, squats, lunges and many more positions.

We hear about walking 10,000 steps a day.

It is totally fine for people to get their steps. When they finish their steps, we would have them do a couple of simple movements, like holding a lunge for 10–30 seconds. To do this, they simply put one foot in front of the other. Then, they bend down so their back knee is just above the ground. That's a great movement because it will strengthen the Achilles tendon on one leg and the patellar and the quadriceps on the other leg.

And then you do two or three different moves like that. You hold them for 10–30 seconds each. That's all you need to do to keep those tissues healthier in the long run.

We worked with a rock climber who helped us get people to participate in training using a hangboard. A hangboard or a fingerboard is a training tool to increase hand and finger strength. The study showed that when they do these 10-second isometric holds, where people put only part of their body weight on their fingers, their tendons get this long low-intensity isometric that actually increases the strength of those tendons as much as if they were to lift or hold as heavy a weight as possible.

[ConservativeMind]

Doing static or isometric exercises for 10-30 seconds can increase your tendon and ligament strength as if you were lifting the heaviest weight you could handle…and it does so, safely.

An older family member recently told me she lost some shoulder muscles, due to the tendon ripping off. She did not notice this. I found that older persons have asymptomatic tendon rips 40% of the time. Normally, this should have been noticed.

Workout your tendons and ligaments with this simple approach and prevent loss of your muscles.

By the way, I found a study that clearly shows a high success rate in tendon reattachment in people over 75 years of age, so don’t let age stop you from getting repaired.

[ConservativeMind]

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[EnderWiggin1970]

Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been exercising through the winter months, but a couple times I’ve suffered a moderate pulled muscle in my calf just jumping rope. The price of aging I guess. I’ve been using jumping jacks as a less intense alternative, but will trying applying the notion of isometrically exercising the calf muscles to strengthen them so I can get back to jumping rope without injury.

[montag813]

Or you could just do 30 min of yoga moves, which incorporate all of these beneficial isometric movements.

[Adder]

https://taichibasics.com/how-to-use-tai-chi-balls-to-improve-health/

should work, also...

[Jane Long]

I do these, already, with my miles long walks.

I add planks and soleus muscle exercises, afterwards.

Good to know this is beneficial for tendons/ligaments.

[BushCountry]

Thanks.

[Rusty0604]

Thanks!