02 Jul
Industrial Athlete – PART 7 : The Muscle-Tendon Complex

In our prior article, we discussed ‘strains’ which refer to breakdown of our muscle & tendon soft tissues being the #1 cause of decreased physical performance or injury in both sport and industrial ‘athletes’. Knowing this, we pointed out the increased value strength coaches and industrial health professionals by to gearing training to optimize the performance of the tendon component’s interaction with its muscle. In this article, we will further define how movement is created and the interaction of the two components together.

Muscles do not contract in isolation; rather, movement occurs when muscles connected to tendons generate and then transmit contractile forces. Crucially, the muscles and tendons interact, with the elastic properties of the tendons contributing both to the type and quality of movement. In almost all movements, when the muscle contracts, the tendon will lengthen before it shortens, independent of any change in muscle length. This property of ‘recoil’ enables elastic energy to be stored and released, thereby increasing the efficiency of the muscular contraction. So movement is a combination of two factors within the muscle- tendon complex; muscle forces transmitted through the tendon to the joint & elastic energy recoil of the tendon.

In the next article from our Industrial Athlete series, we will discuss the biological components tendons and importance of tendon stiffness / compliance for specific performance tasks. Stay tuned.

  • Material Handling Article
    Ergonomics Safe Lifting Program: “Manual Material Handling Bootcamp”

    By: Katie Dwyer

    According to Liberty Mutual’s 2020  Read more

  • GettyImages 1070958794
    How to Build an Ergonomics Program That Is Tailor-Made for Your Employees

    By: Autumn Demberger |https://vimeo.com/538814076

    No two companies are identical. So why would  Read more

  • medical device cleanrooms 740x520 1
    A Medical Device Manufacturer Reduces Injury Costs By 1.3 Million Using Ergo-ology’s Remote Ergonomics Support Program In 2019.

    A medical device manufacturer dramatically reduced its OSHA-recordable injuries while improving product quality, achieving a hefty cost-avoidance, lowering production costs,  Read more


  • top