#72 - Tendons: from exercise adaptation to injury and rehabilitation, with Professor Michael Kjær

Dr Glenn McConell chats with Professor Michael Kjær from the Department of Clinical Medicine, Bispebjerg Hospital, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is an expert on tendons and exercise. We chatted about muscle vs musculotendinous junction vs tendon, what structures get injured and why, tendon injuries: mechanisms, prevention, treatment, acute vs chronic/overuse tendon injuries, best to rest or exercise injured tendons?, whether diet, supplements or medicine can assist recovery from tendon injuries etc. We also discussed his earlier work on glucose metabolism during exercise. A very interesting chat.
0:00. Introduction
2:05. How Michael got into exercise research
5:54. His glucose metabolism during exercise work
11:20. Redundancy in physiology, animal vs human work
13:45. His muscle work and movement into injury research etc
16:20. His move into connective tissue/tendon research
21:30. Taking a risk to move fields/finding collaborations
23:30. Muscle vs musculotendinous junction vs tendon
28:00. Why get muscle/tendon injuries
31:45. Tendon stretches as muscle shortens
33:05. Age and body weight effects on injury
34:15. Interface between muscle and tendon
37:10. Tendon overuse injuries
41:40. What determines if injury occurs in muscle vs tendon
44:20. Why tendon can feel better once warms up
46:45. Water accumulation vs structural changes
48:00. No evidence that exercising painful tendon increases rupture
50:00. Development and turnover of tendons/circadian rhythm
52:08. Blood vessels and flow in tendons at rest/during exercise
55:00. Strength training and tendon size
56:20. Best not to rest if injured tendon
57:45. Need controlled loading of tendon to recover
1:00:00. Supplements/surgery for tendon recovery?
1:01:00. Can a tendon biopsy activate tendon repair?
1:02:40. 3 x 10 reps per week may be enough
1:04:50. Don’t need to focus on eccentric phase
1:06:35. Need good shoes etc to reduce injury?
1:09:00. What is a tendonopathy?
1:10:00. RICE, anti inflammatories and cortisol shots etc?
1:13:01. Collagen etc supplements and tendons
1:15:10. Prevention of tendon injuries
1:17:40. Signs of tendon injury
1:20:20. Does warm up/ stretching reduce injury?
1:23:18. Can a tendon torn off the bone recover without surgery?
1:24:10. Age and tendon stiffness: inactivity vs age
1:25:50. Fast twitch fibers and injuries
1:27:35. Type 2 diabetes and tendon problems
1:28:35. Can predict tendon injuries?
1:29:18. Do tendons secrete molecules during exercise?
1:30:00. Circadian rhythm, sleep and tendons
1:32:17. Takeaway messages
1:33:28. Outro
Inside Exercise brings to you the who's who of research in exercise metabolism, exercise physiology and exercise’s effects on health. With scientific rigor, these researchers discuss popular exercise topics while providing practical strategies for all.
The interviewer, Emeritus Professor Glenn McConell, has an international research profile following 30 years of Exercise Metabolism research experience while at The University of Melbourne, Ball State University, Monash University, the University of Copenhagen and Victoria University.
He has published over 120 peer reviewed journal articles and recently edited an Exercise Metabolism eBook written by world experts on 17 different topics (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-94305-9).
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Not medical advice