Soft tissue injury and repair--biomechanical aspects.

The main force which muscles, tendons and ligaments resist is tension. A single maximal tensile force will cause disruption of the tissue and an acute injury. Cyclic submaximal forces will cause adaptation if sufficient time is given for healing, and breakdown in the forces are applied over too short a period of time. The adaptive response is rate-limited. It is affected by the magnitude of the force and other factors.