Load, capacity and why overload injuries happen

Tissues adapt to what you regularly ask of them. Capacity is what your body can tolerate today; load is what you actually do. Injuries cluster where load outgrows capacity.

This is why a sudden jump in weekly kilometres, a tournament weekend after a quiet month, or a new pair of shoes plus faster intervals can tip a tolerant tendon into a painful one.

The fix is rarely complete rest. Rest lowers load, but it also lowers capacity, so the same training later feels just as provocative.

Rehabilitation restores the balance: reduce the provocative part of the load temporarily, then rebuild capacity with progressive strength and exposure until the original activity fits comfortably underneath it.