With soft tissue issue affecting most people that are involved in sport at some time in their career, we are always looking for ways to minimize that trauma to keep the client / athlete healthy and participating in their endeavor. With training, there is a nutritional component we can utilize to increase the robustness of of tendons (You can read more about the structure of the tendons, injury mechanism, and a case study to return to sport from previous blogs).
Review and Mechanical Options for soft tissue health
We know that the extracellular matrix (ECM) is not just a dormant tissue holding everything together, it is a dynamic tissue essential for normal musculoskeletal function. From a performance perspective, it allows us to absorb force efficiently and acts as a force transmitter.
High speed training increases cross-linkings through the ECM and at the musculotendenous junction (MTJ) which makes force production and transmission more efficient. HOWEVER, we must balance out this training with some training strategies to minimize damage at the MTJ. Through the use of isometrics, eccentrics, or lifting heavy weights, we can STILL increase collagen content within the ECM, but with these training techniques, can DECREASE cross linking at the MTJ making it more elastic. This will aid in the quality of movement at this junction. Cartilage, tendon, and bone are composed of similar ECM components. With these structures, we are limited to good quality training to aid in the nature of those tissues for the most part.
Research has shown that the adaptive stimulus for the ECM shuts off very quickly compared to muscle (Shaw et al. 2017). Researchers found that collagen containing tissues were synthesized by short loading protocols (5 to 40 loads) separated by greater than 6 hours of rest rest.
This means that for our ECM we should be doing short periods of loading (5- 10 minutes) that target the tendons/ligaments/bones/cartilage that we use in our sport;
– jumping rope for soccer, basketball, and dancers
– rotator cuff exercises for baseball, quarterbacks, and tennis players
These protective sessions serve to stimulate the ECM in tendons, ligaments, bones, and cartilage thus potentially decreasing repetitive stresses on these structures. On top of these, we can also compliment this training protocol with Gelatin!
A cheap, easy, and scientifically proven way to help increase the quality of the tendons is by supplementing with gelatin. It is a simple, and very effective way to make the architecture of your tendons more durable during training and sport.
Gelatin is a food source with an amino acid pool that enriches collagen. Shaw et al. 2017 found that supplementing with 15 grams of gelatin in a 50 mg vitamin C juice increased the appearance rate of amino acids that aided in the production on collagen over the first 4 hours of the intervention. Adding in the 5 minute protective session (jump roping) an hour after ingestion of the gelatin supplement more than doubled collagen synthesis as opposed to just doing the jump roping alone.
Gelatin or Collagen Supplementation?
Gelatin supplementation comes in all shapes and sizes. You may see it as “Hydrolyzed Collagen” or a “Beef Gelatin”. They both have a similar amino acid profile, but Hydrolyzed Collagen are broken down into smaller units (which may be easier to digest), and it dissolves in hot or cold water. Gelatin GELS when it is prepared, is a little cheaper, and the texture may be a bit much for some people! Collagen is high in glycine, proline and hydroxyproline, and relatively low in BCAA’s, which are the primary ones that stimulate rapamycin (mTOR), muscle anabolism and muscle building. Since we are targeting the connective tissue of the body, this is a very important point and distinguishes why we may need supplementation as opposed to just thinking we are getting enough through our diet.
For coaches, athletes, or therapists, simply adding in a protective session with gelatin supplementation 6 hours prior to a training session could severely reduce bone, ligament, tendon, or cartilage issues for your athletes / clients!