From the July, 2024 LevelUp Newsletter - SUBSCRIBE for more great content.

Hold onto your hat.

I'm going to cover TNT. Not the kind that explodes, not Trampoline & Tumbling.

It’s Tendon Neuroplastic Training - an approach to improving tendon function and reducing pain.

I’m writing this in part on reflecting on the devastating injuries gymnasts experienced at the US Olympic Trials, and the many others who have had seasons and dreams end because of Achilles ruptures.

And because it’s a ground-breaking and neuro-centric approach to tendon rehab and pain inhibition that can also be applied to conditioning and skill development. While there’s no proof that it contributes to prevention of an Achilles’ injury or tendinopathy, it has been shown to reduce pain in athletes, and based on what researchers are finding, I believe that it can contribute to injury resistance and even learning.

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​WHAT IS TNT?
​The crux of the approach is: Add an external source of pacing like an auditory or visual metronome, and use that to count reps or duration instead of counting in your head.

THAT’S IT.

Why add a beat? It’s addressing the brain-to-muscle pathway that’s affected in people with tendinopathy. Researchers have discovered that athletes with patellar tendinopathy had altered (not in a good way) signals from the brain to the quadriceps compared to healthy controls.

The imbalance in muscle activation has been described as having your foot on the gas and the brake, all the way down and at the same time. Obviously this leads to an undesirable contraction pattern within the muscles (Go! Stop! Go! Stop!), which then alters how the tendon is loaded.
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​Having to move to a beat increases the focus and coordination demands on the brain, so more areas of the brain are now involved in a calf raise, ultimately ‘smoothing out’ the signaling down to the muscles.

Even if a gymnast doesn’t have tendon pain, external pacing will help generate good signals from the brain to the muscles AND stimulate the part of the brain that helps with attention and focus, and who doesn’t want that?
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​One more reason to add a beat: Learning!
​It activates something called the cortico-olivo-cerebellar pathway, which is involved in motor learning, including helping us figure out the timing of movement. So moving to a beat during warm-up, or snapping to identify rhythm or milestones within a skill can contribute to learning... fewer reps to mastery.

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IDEAS ON HOW TO APPLY THIS IN PRACTICE​
First, download a metronome app (I use one called Pulse because it also has a visual feature). Or snap or clap and be the metronome. Then find opportunities to turn it on, like...

1. Calf raises or isometrics

   • Go up for 3, down for 5

   • Hold the highest releve for 6, come down and rest for 2
     (My dance training makes it hard for me to do things outside of an 8-count)

2. For athletes doing rehab instead of tumbling, have them do their exercises to a beat (music is fine though it hasn’t been studied)

3. Set a beat during running drills or during the running/jumping/squatting parts of warm-up

4. For learning on beam (also for mental blocks): Have them pay attention to the rhythm of their hands and feet (or give them the desired timing), and use that as a guide

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This is just one piece of the Achilles injury puzzle; one thing that could help gymnasts stay in the gym and on the competition floor. If you want to learn more about it, here’s:
​A video summarizing TNT
​A science-y article on the research​
​Bio of Ebonie Rio, the physio and researcher who originated this line of study + links to her research

As always, I’m glad you’re here! I’ve been hearing more from coaches about wins they and their gymnasts (or dancers or athletes) have had after doing the drills, and I love knowing that this is helping them and you.

Thanks for being part of the transformation.
- Yuka

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