‘Tissue Tolerance’ as the new ‘Get Stronger’

One of the first things a client might hear a physio say is that we need to ‘get that area stronger’. This can bring up thoughts of gyms, heavy weights and even for some people a fear of ‘bulking up’. 

But what we really should be saying is that we are trying to build up the tissue tolerance of the injured area whether that be tendon, ligament, bone or muscle. 

Injuries happen when the force applied to tissue is greater than that tissue’s capabilities. 

So really, rehabilitation is just trying to return you to your normal levels or ideally greater (this would mean injury prevention) of tissue tolerance to outside forces. 

Unfortunately lots of people see rehab as unsexy, boring and irrelevant. As soon as their symptoms are low enough for them to continue with daily life or their basic tasks they forget about us and move on solo. This can easily lead people in a downwards spiral of constant niggles or re-injury. What they fail to understand (and lots of therapists can forget this as well) is that we are trying to create a permanent change within your body and that takes load, repetitions, rest and progression.

Depending on your injury and what stage of rehab you are in there are different goals – pain management, hypertrophy, strength, bony proliferation etc. The standard 3×10 really just doesn’t cut it as an ongoing exercise prescription. The load should be altered in various ways and you don’t always need to be in a gym to achieve this. Increased duration, decreasing rest, supersetting, intensity of isometrics etc can also be ways we can progress the load, build tissue tolerance and ‘get you stronger’. 

If you have been going through rehabilitation for something and the above makes you question if your physio has the right goals in mind then reach out. Our staff work closely with Personal trainers and Strength and Conditioning coaches to make sure our rehabilitation programs are tailored to making your body as elite as it can be.