Tendonitis in my semitendinosus, want to get back to triathlon training

by Ben

I am a personal trainer and triathlete and 2010 was a disastrous year for me, i have tendonitis of my semitendinosus (the tendon to back of the knee (medial), i first got it in December 2010 and had it for 4 months.

I have just spent time reading all your help and advice, i am very impressed, i hope you do not mind me contacting you for some further help and advice.

It was caused i think from swimming with a float (legs only sessions) and was overused, i am and was also very inflexible, tight hamstrings.

I have had steroid injections that helped but not cured it,come april last year it just wouldnt go, i had the pain all day long,the only time it went was first thing in the morning. i decided the only thing i could do as i couldn;t rest it for any longer is to just start biking again very steadily and build it up slowly.

I did this and always ensured i would stretch after the ride and always used cold water on it after in the shower. It went, great, i did a lot of cycling in t
he summer, and come mid september it flared up again! i have had it ever since,I had another injection(nov 2010) that lasted 2 weeks! I have just rested it for 6 weeks (dec-jan). I had a few niggles but it felt better so at least i thought so.

I did a 35 minute cycle ride and a swim session last weekend(first exercise in 6 weeks),guess what it is painful again! I am now so low and down i have had this for a year now and cannot seem to shift it. its definatley the tendon thats inflamed.

I have done very little training throughout 2010 and it seems tat 2011 is to be the same unless i can cure it.

If you can help i would be so grateful.

I am desperate to be injury free again.


Thank you.



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Joshua Answers:

1. Read through my site more. Make sure to read the Rest page, the Pain Causing Dynamic page, the Process of Inflammation page, and the Tendonitis page.

2. Rest doesn't help, fix, nor cure anything, due to the above.

3. Yes, the tendon is inflammed, but that's not the problem, no matter how many times your doc wants to inject it with connective tissue weakening corticosteroid injections.

4. The tendonitis wasn't caused by the float swim/exercise. Your tendonitis dynamic was slowly, progressively forming for years, tissue getting tighter and tighter, your body compensating more and more, until you finally passed a threshold where your body started to really lose and it said 'It's YOUR problem now!'

5. Here's what you do. Get a big pepsi bottle (plastic), one of the big 2 litre bottles. EMPTY it out. Fill it with water. Freeze it.

Then, open up all the tight tissue in the back of your upper leg. Might as well hit the lower leg too, and your quads. You need it.

Our instinct is to focus on the tendon. The tendon isn't the problem. That's where the pain ends up, but not where it starts.

Your muscle and connective tissue is TOO TIGHT. It's constantly putting tension on the tendon. Pull gently on your finger for 6 months and see what happens.....

Your tissue is bound up. It's constrictive. Your muscles are constantly working, even when at rest. Your quads have to work WAY too hard just to bend your leg opposite your hamstrings. Your muscles can't fire properly, so can't absorb force optimally, or perform work properly. Force has to go -somewhere-, and it seems it's your tendon. Better that than your ACL.

Rub, massage, pin and stretch, jab that frozen water bottle in there and move it around, jab it in there and hold it and move your leg around.


That's kind of a general concept, but jump in. Yes there's more specific stuff, like what you'll find on the Magnesium for Tendonitis and Magnesium Dosage pages, but start with this, and we'll go from there.

Go after it like it's a competition. It's you against your TOO TIGHT structures. Don't hurt yourself, don't do too much too soon. Work your way into it.

Just like training to get into shape, you're going to now train for a while to get your tissue soft and supple again.

Take the tension off the tendon, the pain will go away.

Get into it for a while, and then: more questions, more answers.




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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com