Inform Performance Trent Salo - Assessing & Improving Tendon Health
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Feb 16, 2026 Trent Salo, physical therapist and tendon specialist who founded The Tendon Lab and researches tendon health in basketball, breaks down what tendon health really means. He covers UTC imaging, how structure, function and pain can diverge, progressive loading strategies, targeting tendon substructures, and preparing athletes for high-rate stretch–shortening demands.
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From NBA To A Specialized Tendon Lab
- Trent left NBA roles to open a specialized Tendon Lab in Northern Michigan and start a PhD on tendon health with University of Copenhagen.
- His practice blends clinical care, team consulting, and tendon research while planning a focused tendon conference.
Tendon Health Is Multidimensional
- Tendon health is a multidimensional construct spanning structure, function, and symptoms rather than just pain or imaging findings.
- Improving one domain (e.g., strength) does not automatically improve others (e.g., pain or tendon structure), so target interventions to specific domains.
Use UTC For Granular Tendon Structure
- Use UTC to get high-resolution, 3D microstructure detail that standard ultrasound or MRI can miss.
- UTC captures 600 transverse slices to map echo stability and outputs four color-coded echo types to detect fibrillar disorganization quickly.