Move the Needle: The Human Performance Podcast Erik Meira - Training, Testing, & Tendons
Sep 10, 2025
Erik Meira, consultant physical therapist and creator of The Science PT, brings evidence-focused rehab wisdom. He dives into tendon load-driven rehab, using isometrics to safely build capacity, and training for large knee moment arms in decelerations. He breaks down testing strategies, load-profile programming, and practical progressions to bridge rehab to sport.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Match The Load Profile, Not The Movement
- Train the load profile, not the task: recreate moment arms and force vectors the tendon experiences rather than mimicking sport movement exactly.
- Use exercises like wall slides on toes or leg extensions to create long knee moment arms and isolate the quadriceps-tendon complex.
Progress Wall Slides To Simulate Deceleration
- Progress wall-slide drills to single-leg drop-and-catch with sudden stop cues (clap) to add deceleration and increase moment arm depth.
- Cue heel-off-wall to remove ankle assistance and isolate quadriceps load.
Direction Affects Load, Not Tendon Identity
- Tendons respond to load magnitude and moment arm more than contraction type; direction alters demand via moment arms rather than tissue property changes.
- Some ruptures may result from a rare perfect-storm of position, twist, and load rather than chronic detectable degeneration.