Jumper’s Knee: Pain Tomorrow Matters More Than Pain in Training (Fix Patellar Tendon Pain)

If the patellar tendon hurts during training, it doesn’t really matter (unless it is excruciating).

What matters is pain the next day. If there is more pain 24 hours later, this is the sign that yesterday’s loading was too much for the tendon to handle and you need to scale back.

[SportsJunky]

Jake, started ingesting your jumper’s knee content this Monday and have implemented isometric exercises this whole week. My knee has gone from excruciating pain in the patellar tendon when bending at a certain angle to almost Non-existent within a few days. Amazing content!

[RXP]

Thanks for all the vids you did for this - was really helpful. I got quad tendonitis in 2014 by doing too frequent/heavy landmine hip belt squats. Rehab didn't work (physio was useless, only had me doing eccentric stuff). Due to various injuries and chronic conditions (ribcage/pelvis stuff that PRI methods fixed) I finally got back into lifting in 2021. 6 years rest and boom quad tendon issues after I started getting some decent weight on split squats - the non loaded leg really hurt.

Did the protocol you mention - spanish squat isometrics twice a day and already the pain provocation test is way better. The assurance that pain is ok really helped - otherwise I'd have backed off. Thanks man

[nestus]

been struggling it’s patella tendon pain in my left knee been getting better but only been doing strength exercises about 2-3 times a week and always backed out when it hurt cause i thought that was bad gonna try this now and will update!!

[Itstime]

Surprised they let you through the door of planet fitness. Thanks for sharing Jake!

[qhszhvi]

What if I can't do squats and romanian deadlifts because of spine? Is there any chance to swap them for something else?

[mjeanty]

Hey there Jake, thanks for all the great content. I see that you pretty much post exclusively on jumper’s knee/knee pain. How much do you know about Achilles tendinopathy? I would love to hear your opinion on specifics as to what it takes to help with that, I’m currently trying to work through it

[powderedtoastman]

I got your Jumpers Knee Protocol. Good stuff. I read:

“Keep the same weekly sequence of 3 days protocol; if that’s not possible, try to manage sport loads so there is no more than 3 high- intensity training/competition days in a week.”

What would you recommend an Olympic weightlifter who trains 6 days a week?

[winchesterX]

Hi Jake, thanks for all your videos and podcasts, best PT resources out there in my opinion. In your experience, how much/how often can you do isometrics to load the tendon to facilitate desired results (pain down and function improved), eg has 2x a day (am and pm) been more successful than 1x a day in improving load capacity and reducing pain
Thanks again man

[JTD]

Is there a limit to what next day pain should be or should it be zero? I had zero pain even in some sessions in stage 1 and into stage 2. Then I added running back in and very slowly ramped it up to 10 minutes easy jogging every other day, at which point I started getting level 1-2 stiffness/ache in normal day-to-day. I may not have pushed hard enough in isotonics so now focusing on loading the tendon more in stage 2. What's your experience with day-to-day pain level or should it be zero? Thanks man, I got your book too. Also if you have any other tips for distance running cases, it seems to be a bit outside the typical audience since there's no big jumps or quick starts/stops.

Just to add, I got the PT over a year ago, only started real rehab this summer after I tried returning several times but it always came back.

[ML-vrlz]

Do you have a link to that podcast you mentioned at the end there? Thanks great video again

[colinsprague]

Hi Jake, I have been following your patellar tendon recovery guide for some time. I was wondering if, when I have next day pain, I should train at a lighter intensity on that day or wait for the pain to subside? Thanks

[wonjoon]

Great vid dude. Would you say approach generally applies to other symptoms as well, not only patellar tendinopathy?

[alecc]

Is there a way to self diagnose tendinopathy vs patellofemoral pain? I don't do any jumping, but the side effects of jumper's knee initially seemed to characterize a majority of what I was/am feeling. However, I am now starting to think it is patellofemoral pain as that is more common in non-jumping athletes/people.

[JordyJayHomer]

Most of my symptoms suggest I have tendonosis, except for the "poke" test. No matter where or how hard I poke around, it doesn't hurt. I'm a cyclist

[misterace]

If I did 3x45s isometric spanish squat and 3x5kg knee extension machine and the tendon feels irritated the next day, should I lower the weight? For example doing only isometric spanish squat?

[qmgijte]

If I have next day pain, should I do a less intense isometric workout on that day? Or should I wait for all pain to drop back to normal, which could be 2-3 days?

[averymellor]

Do you think a few days of pure rest every few months will be detrimental to the rehabilitation and load tolerance of the tendon?

[ntvsrwm]

What exercises you recommend after my 2 surgeries for a ruptured patellar tendon. I have 100 degree flexion

[Stoic_Persistence]

Do you also think it's reasonable to check your tendon pains even if you're not in rehab and just want to play for example more basketball. So the pain the next day indicates you're not ready for that amount of load

[mangomariel]

I have a question:

Can a pain caused by damage be delayed and come after 2 days instead of the next day?

I have been doing good on single leg isometric hold, was around 45kg for 50seconds. next week I went for 60kg hold for 50seconds x 3 sets. I was feeling I could do 70kg, but I skipped out on that to be safe. Felt no pain at all while working, felt good right after, and felt good day after.

But 2 days after I actually started to feel worse, just a little, but annoying. Could it be because of the increase from 45-60kg ?

Does not really make sense that it was from the workout since I felt really good the day after, and only got pain 2 days after.

Also I thought if I could hold for seconds it can`t be that much load right