Built from Broken: A Science-Based Guide to Healing Painful Joints, Preventing Injuries, and Rebuilding Your Body

by Scott H Hogan

mechanotransduction—the process by which your cells sense and respond to mechanical stimuli, changing them into biochemical signals that prompt certain cellular responses.2 Essentially, it describes how your body turns load-bearing activity into structural changes and healing mechanisms. And its impact is proportional to the load used. The more load, the greater the response.

Many people believe that weight training inevitably leads to joint breakdown and that pain and injuries are simply the cost of developing a fit body. But this is backward. Despite popular opinion, tendon breakdown and joint dysfunction can only be fixed by increasing the load tolerance of connective tissues. And how is that accomplished? Rest? Stretching? Anti-inflammatories and injections? Nope. Only through load training. But it must be well planned and well executed. Your ability to choose the correct exercises, stabilize your joints, and perform movements effectively determines how your body responds to load-bearing training.

eight times is also in the range of recommended reps for building muscle.4 Not only does load training build strength and muscle, it also thickens and strengthens connective tissue.5