Tendons have the viscoelastic property of being able to stretch and relax while also creating rigidity and stiffness. They should have the pliability of muscles and the structural integrity of bone, to allow joints to move while also lock in place when absorbing and producing force from the ground. I’ve found that in improving my mobility, lengthening my tendons, it’s also improved my flexibility, overall lengthening and stretching in my muscles – which could be because the overall length from tendon to muscle to tendon is lengthening at the tendon points and also while my tendons are strengthening in lengthening my muscles are able to be in a more relaxed state not having to compensate for the shortness, instability and weakness of my tendons and joints.
Tendons are an overlooked portion of mobility principles. It’s on the lower rung of priorities when the time and effort is usually spent on strength, conditioning and skills. People tend to see mobility as best practiced through yoga or pilates and I think it’s also misunderstood as where you gain in mobility you lose in strength and stability.
Another reason why I think people overlook mobility is because it’s really difficult to see progression and results and while also understand and program the progression. Lifting weights for strength makes sense. Running for conditioning makes sense. But I think people don’t see immediate results with mobility first because tendons take a long time to adapt and second they’re doing mobility in a way that doesn’t produce the most efficient and optimized results. So I would say the keys are, fold your hinge joint like a book, release all tension in the crease and be patient. And also frequency works best here. Once a day is great but even 2-3 times a day spread out throughout the day will produce and accelerate the range exponentially.