Research

Mixed

Heavy resistance training induces region-specific hypertrophy (increased cross-sectional area) in the human patellar tendon, specifically at the proximal and distal regions, while the mid-tendon remains unchanged.

If you perform heavy resistance training (e.g., heavy leg extensions), your patellar tendons will physically grow thicker at the ends (near the knee and shin bones) over 12 weeks. This structural change may help protect the tendon from injury by distributing force more effectively, even if the middle part of the tendon doesn't change size.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Heavy-leg PT CSA increased at the proximal and distal tendon levels by 6 (cid:2) 3% and 4 (cid:2) 2% respectively (P < 0.05), but was unchanged at the mid tendon level.
M. Kongsgaard et al. · Acta Physiologica · 2007

Why this rating

Randomized controlled trial design with within-subject controls (heavy vs. light leg) and MRI verification, though sample size is small (n=12).

Source

Region specific patellar tendon hypertrophy in humans following resistance training

M. Kongsgaard et al. · Acta Physiologica · 2007

DOI 10.1111/j.1748-1716.2007.01714.x

rct · n=12Cited 383×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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