I was curious if during the infancy stages of tendinopathy, when pain isn’t very severe but still noticeable (pain=/= injury but just for sake of question) if it would be better to just take time off from loading that tissue to allow the pain to diminish (likely 1-2 weeks based on previous experience) or should I “test the waters” with similar pain provoking exercises as before but just with less load to facilitate healing(shoulder pain with rows, pull-ups)? I believe it was Jill Cooks literature regarding tendinopathy that mentioned that excessive rest can be catabolic for the tendon, so it got me thinking about how I should approach the issue. How would you recommend a client to proceed when the pain starts to appear when technique, nutrition, and sleep are accounted for? Should volume be scaled back even when pain dissipates in order to prevent it from recurring? Thanks so much.
How old are you?
Where are you experiencing symptoms?
How long has this issue been going on?
When dealing with tendinopathic issues, the research typically recommends to not rest the area but adjust loading (volume and intensity) accordingly. The caveat here is pain will be a part of the process. What matters is your ability to train with tolerable (individualistic) levels of pain. An increase in symptoms shouldn’t last longer than 24 hours, otherwise it is likely you are not tolerating loading appropriately. We’d be happy to help with any programming for this issue: Contact Us | Barbell Medicine.