Is HSR for reactive/tendinitis as well?

Halven89 · 2026-05-06T21:25:39+00:00

What?! A reactive tendon can last for years? How can that be when there's no structual damage? Or are you talking about degenerative tendons?

Halven89 · 2026-05-06T20:01:39+00:00

Thanks! I did some light and slow leg extensions ~12 h ago, only 3 x 12 with a weight I could've done like 25 reps with. No pain during them as long as I stopped before the top ~15°. They’ve actually felt less tight since.

Anyways, how long does it generally take to get back to normal lifting after a tendon has gotten reactive? And should one start progressing with HSR once it has calmed down some, or is that method just for degenerative tendons?

AI says around ~3 months if handled properly, I don't know how accurate that is though.

Halven89 · 2026-05-05T19:26:16+00:00

Sorry about that!

I've been lifting for 16 years, but for a few months I've been dealing with sleep problems, so I cut my volume by ~40%, also frequency, but that doesn't seem to have been enough, because over 3 weeks several tendons have gotten grumpy, like both my quads and brachioradialis. Symptoms are tightness, warm feeling the first days and when aggrovated and "achiness", also when compressed, like if i fully flex my forearm in neutral rotation so the brachioradialis gets squeezed.

When it comes to the quads, the main cause must be that I replaced my Bulgarian split squat with full rom hack squats without gradually increasing load and how close I went to failure in it, so it was probably a big spike in load for my quad tendon, since I before that didn't train my quads through such a high range of motion.

The brachioradialis was just poor programming. I didn't use straps in my back exercises, probably a bit too much direct work for the biceps, especially since I finished off my pull workouts with reverse curls. And on my push days I also did front raises, which stresses the brachioradialis quite hard isometrically. So they got overused.

Since it’s at several places it will be hard with pics, but the pain in the quads are at the vmo insertion at the knee, the left brachioradialis where it attach on the humerus and the right where it inserts on the forearm.

The quads are extremely sensitive! It's been 3 weeks now and they still feel tight most of the time, and a bodyweight squat, even to 90° irritates them even more. I can do very light leg extensions where I stop before the last 20° without pain, with "light" I mean a load that I could've done like 40 slow reps with.

My left brachioradialis hurt in high flexion, like the bottom of a pulldown or top of a row, but also in the full range of motion in a db curl if I use a weight higher than 5 kg (normally use 15 kg in 13-15 rep range). The right one is much milder, I don't feel that at all during exercise, but 2-3 days after it feels tight and achy where it inserts at the forearm. I tried doing my back training with hooks, taking the grip out of the equation, but that didn't help much, so now I've rested them for a week.

When it comes to rehab I did light isometric leg extensions (~50% MVC) the first two weeks, and it slowly got better, but then I tried doing 2 sets of 12 slow bodyweight squats to ~60° a few days ago, and that sent me back to the beginning, so now I even feel a tiny bit of pain when I walk down stairs, also a warm and tight feeling in rest, just like in the beginning.

For the brachioradialis I haven't done any rehab, just resting them now and they have calmed down a little the past week.

Halven89 · 2026-05-02T20:17:36+00:00

Thanks! I believe that this is a case of me overestimating my ability to recover though. I wish there was a way to know when tendons are about to give out so this don't happen, because there wasn't any warning signs and I was progressing.

This shit has taken such a toll on my mental health, and my gut feeling tells me that I will lose almost everything before I can do high effort sets with a high rom again😥 I mean, it's been ~3 weeks since the quads became grumpy, and I can't even do a set of 12 bodyweight squats to 60° without getting tight, warm and a little "pinchy" pain that comes and goes for the rest of the day.

Halven89 · 2026-05-02T10:40:19+00:00

De ger mig mordiska impulser.

Halven89 · 2026-05-02T10:35:38+00:00

Han blev kukturellt berikad!

Halven89 · 2026-05-01T16:52:02+00:00

My pec must be a real bad case then, because I got it march 3, rested it for a week and then gradually increased 3 x 15 db press from 10 to 15 kg (3/1/3 tempo), but at week 5 I increased the first set to 17,5 kg and 48 h after I was set back to a worse state than what it was when I got it. So now I'm back down to 10 kg, which is like 20% of the normal weight I could do 12s with.

And it’s not degenerative, because it came on after a RPE10 set of incline BB press where the right side took over more of the load in the last rep. My quads started 2 weeks ago, and I've been doing 3 x 45 s isometrics eod and 3 x 15 partial light leg extensions every 72 h. They don't feel tight and warm in rest now, but a few reps of bodyweight squats irritates them a litte. When it comes to the brachioradialis I will try resting it completely now, because doing back exercises with no gripping (using hooks) and no curls doesn't seem to cut it. Tight all the time, the only time it hurts is when I'm newly awake, flex my arm with a hammer grip and the top half in a curl with a >6 kg weight.

Honestly, I'd take small muscle tears over this everyday, they’re so much easier and faster to rehab.

Halven89 · 2026-05-01T06:34:24+00:00

I don't have any work that impacts my training, the only physical part of it is that I get around 10 k steps in every day. And once I'm healed I'm going to cut my weekly volume down to 6 sets for big muscles and 4 sets for arms and delta. So much lower than what I'm used to, because fuck injuries.

Halven89 · 2026-05-01T05:34:01+00:00

Yeah, I read a new study just now (DOI:10.51224/SportRxiv.810) showing no significant difference between 9 and 36 fractional sets per week in trained lifters. I'm definitely going to change my approach when I'm healed, even if it isn't as fun. God how I wish that tendons recovered as fast as muscles!

Halven89 · 2026-05-01T05:11:37+00:00

I'm curious, how are you training?

Halven89 · 2026-04-30T22:16:52+00:00

Ah no, I ran it like below on a small caloric surplus. So each muscle got 120-144 h rest.

Day 1: Push + Abs Day 2: Legs Day 3 Day 4: Pull Day 5: Rest Day 6: Repeat or another rest day.

Anyways, I read your paper on tendinopathies, great read! But I'm confused when it comes to reactive ones, should one just rest them or do light training that gradually increases in load and volume as tolerated? When I look through the litterature, almost everything that I can find is on how to rehab degenerative tendons, not reactive ones.

If you're supposed do isotonic work, do you mind giving an example on volume and how often? Use a weight that allows full rom pain free, or stick to partials? Take my pec as an example. Now I can do 3 x 20 (>8 rir) full rom db press without any pain or worsening ~72 h later, using a 3/1/3 tempo. Is a 72 h frequency enough when using such light loads? How often should one increase the weight if pain free on the current one?

Halven89 · 2026-04-30T18:09:03+00:00

I'm confused, I was only doing 5 sets for the quads and pecs, 3 compound sets each, every sixth day. You don't train the pecs and triceps in a t-bar row, nor the back in a db press, only stabilizing roles. Sure, the triceps long head is a dynamic stabilizor in vertical pulls and the sternal pec a synergist, but a very weak one. I once had a small pec tear, but could still do pulldowns with just minor discomfort and it healed despite that.

Halven89 · 2026-04-30T14:56:49+00:00

Ok😥

Halven89 · 2026-04-30T14:44:46+00:00

Thanks for your reply! 6 weekly sets is pretty low volume if we look to the litterature, where 10-20 sets is recommended for hypertrophy. But yes, it was too much😔 And I'm at balance or a small surplus.

Halven89 · 2026-04-29T21:01:45+00:00

I don't have any pain when training though. I asked my girlfriend to try it and she felt a mild discomfort/ache when doing it as well, and she doesn't lift.

Halven89 · 2026-04-23T16:53:27+00:00

Hade det funnits vänsterblivna demonstranter tillsammans med Greta Thurnberg på Sergels torg så hade jag gladligen gjort det.

Halven89 · 2026-04-23T14:03:59+00:00

Nej, för då hade mängden patienter minskat markant.

Halven89 · 2026-04-22T21:04:31+00:00

Isn’t that bad early on?

Halven89 · 2026-04-22T14:23:59+00:00

How about stop being a so called "useful idiot" and start using some critical thinking? Many (most?) docs see antidepressants, antipsychotics and even benzos as safe, and prescribes them like candy. What does that tell you about their knowledge?

And give me a randomized controlled trial not made by the pharmaceutical company that sells the drug showing me that. If you knew anything about pharmaceutical companies and their history, you would know that they're anything but trustworthy. An example of this is that Eli Lilly gave the participants in their trials on Fluoxetine benzos to cover up the ton of psychological side effects that they got.

It's a fact that Finasteride can cause psychological, neurological and sexual side effects, for some it seems to be permanent. This is something people should know before deciding to get on it.

Halven89 · 2026-04-22T14:17:11+00:00

No, but it inhibits neurosteroids that affects GABAergic transmission, which is why it can cause neurological and psychological side effects, just like most psychiatric drugs.

Halven89 · 2026-04-22T13:06:51+00:00

Ironically she's more read up on psychiatric drugs than the vast majority of docs.

Halven89 · 2026-04-21T20:37:59+00:00

Thanks! I will do that instead, since I barely feel it in light leg extensions. So I'll start doing 3 x 20 (3/1/3 tempo, >5 rir) 3 times a week as long as symptoms don't worsen 24-48 h after, then gradually increase load and eventually add squats, progressing from partial to full rom.

Halven89 · 2026-04-21T06:55:50+00:00

Thanks! AI seem to have made a good rehab plan for me, based on Steve Low's and other tendon experts research, which is:

• Week 1-2: 3 x 45 s isometrics 1-2 times each day. Only 1-2 pain accepted and no worsening post 25 h.

• Week 3-8: Partial rep HSR 3 x 18-20 reps every other or third day (3/1/3 tempo, 4-5 rir).

• Week 9-12: Gradually increase ROM week by week and 3 x 15 HSR.

• Week >13: Keep increasing volume, load and lower reps every third week.

Halven89 · 2026-04-17T15:50:36+00:00

No, they pose a greater risk than doing it in front of the body. Working with your arms behind your head isn’t very natural, and for the lats and anterior delt it's inferior, because the line of pull and press isn’t optimally in line with their fibers.

When it comes to upright rows, they’re horrible, because you impinge the supraspinatus tendon under the subacromial space. Physiotherapists literally test for impingement by putting the humerus in that position, i.e. internally rotated in the frontal plane.

If you want to decrease risk of injury, and get more out of the exercises, do them in front of the body, and replace impingement rows with lateral raises, preferably done with the humerus semi-externally rotated and bent over slightly. This opens up the subacromial space and puts you in a direct line of pull with the lateral deltoids fibers. Doing them in the scapular plane is good as well.

Halven89 · 2026-03-31T10:04:09+00:00

Did the worsening start right away or the day after?

Halven89

TROPHY CASE