Jacked Athlete Podcast Patellar Tendons with Tim Riley
Apr 26, 2025
Tim Riley, a performance coach in Austin, specializes in optimizing athletic performance. He shares his personal battle with Jumper's Knee, dispelling outdated recovery methods like rest and ice. Tim emphasizes the importance of quad strength and discusses how deceleration affects knee health. He provides insights into effective plyometric training and the value of eccentric loading for tendon recovery. Additionally, Tim highlights misunderstood exercises, such as leg extensions, and recommends safer alternatives like sissy squats for rehabilitating the patellar tendon.
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Old Rehab Dogma Fails Tendons
- Rest, ice and avoiding quad loading were common old prescriptions for jumper's knee but they often failed long-term.
- Tim Riley highlights that progressive quad loading is now central to resolving chronic patellar tendon issues.
Prioritize Quad Strengthing
- Prioritize direct quad strength because jumper's knee is often a "decelerator's" problem from stopping and changing direction.
- Train squats more upright, use leg extensions and sissy squats to progressively overload quads.
Progress Plyos Slowly And By Feel
- Progress plyometrics slowly, favoring lower ground-contact, two-foot hops and controlled rhythm over maximal single-leg velocity.
- Use pain and rhythm as guides and avoid high-velocity hurdle hops when tendons are cranky.