Brief summary, from the abstract
In men with patellar tendinopathy, short-duration isometric knee-extension holds eased tendon pain just as well as long-duration holds when the total time under tension was matched, and both reduced pain immediately and over four weeks.
- Pain dropped significantly right after isometric loading on both the single-leg decline squat and hop tests (P < 0.01), and pain and quadriceps function improved across the 4 weeks (P < 0.05).
- Short holds (24 sets of 10 seconds) worked as well as long holds (6 sets of 40 seconds) at 85% maximal voluntary contraction, giving clinicians more flexible options, especially for patients who cannot tolerate longer holds.
- Transverse tendon strain trended upward from about 14% to 22% over the training period, but this change was not statistically significant (P = 0.08).
- Evidence is preliminary: a small single-group study of 16 male participants over just 4 weeks, so the tendon adaptation trend needs further investigation.
Clinically assessing this area? See the knee special tests.