How to protect your knees and tendons in high jump?

In high jump, the knees and tendons take a lot of impact. The sequence of approach run, take-off, repeated jumps, and return to training particularly exposes the patellar tendon, often associated with tendonitis, in jumping sports. To last, the goal is simple: prepare the joint, manage the load, and react early as soon as the first warning signs appear.

Start with a truly useful warm-up

The first protection is a gradual warm-up. Before a high jump session, the most useful approach is an active warm-up, followed by dynamic mobility, then exercises that mimic the sport's movements.

Specifically, you can organize the beginning of your session like this:

• a few minutes to gradually raise your body temperature
• dynamic mobility for ankles, hips, and knees
• balance and stability exercises
• specific movements before more intense jumps

For knees and tendons, this logic is very important. A more mobile and gradually prepared body generally tolerates the stresses of impulses better.

Give real importance to the ankle and hip

When we think of jumping, we often only look at the knee. In practice, the ankle and hip also play an important role in how forces travel up the leg.

In high jump, two points deserve regular attention:

Ankle mobility

A stiff ankle can alter gait mechanics. Maintaining good mobility, especially in ankle flexion, helps to better absorb and redistribute the load.

Hip control

A stable hip helps maintain better alignment during unilateral supports, which are very common in high jump. This is particularly useful during the run-up, take-off, and all preparatory work.

Strengthen before piling on the jumps

Tendons like gradual progression. They tolerate load better when they have been prepared by regular strengthening rather than by a sudden accumulation of explosive sessions.

Useful work around the knee often includes:

• well-controlled unilateral squats
• calf raises
• calf strength training
• glute strengthening
• balance and stability exercises

The idea is not to constantly do "more." The idea is to give muscles and tendons a higher capacity to absorb the stresses of jumping.

Work on the quality of landings

In high jump, we often focus a lot on the take-off. The landing deserves just as much attention. A better-controlled landing helps to better distribute forces and limit unnecessary stress on the patellar tendon and the entire knee.

Some useful benchmarks:

• aim for a controlled landing
• avoid messy or overly "hard" supports
• maintain good knee control in line with the foot
• incorporate technical work outside of full jumps, on simpler versions

The cleaner the movement, the better the load is distributed.

Manage the load week after week

Protecting knees and tendons also involves organizing training. Many pains arise less from an isolated jump than from poorly managed cumulative load.

The most solid reflexes are often the simplest:

• increase the load gradually
• avoid stacking several hard sessions without recovery
• allow at least one full rest day per week
• plan lighter days
• monitor periods when the volume of jumps increases quickly

When the load increases too quickly, tendons often remind us fairly quickly.

Warming balm in your preparation and recovery routine

Before a session, a warming balm can be included in your preparation routine as a comfort gesture, just before mobility and activation. It can be useful when the knees, tendons, or muscles around the joint feel stiff at the start. The local sensation of warmth then accompanies the warm-up and integrates easily into a gradual warm-up.

After exercise, it can also be used in the recovery routine, massaged into the areas that have been most stressed during jumps. This application provides a pleasant sensation of warmth, which aids muscle relaxation and extends the recovery period after training.

Spotting warning signs early

The right reflex is not to let a recurring pain linger. Pain located at the front of the knee, below the kneecap, which increases with jumps, squats, or explosive movements, deserves to be taken seriously.

Some signs to watch out for:

• localized pain under the kneecap
• discomfort that returns with each jump session
• more pronounced pain the next day or after an increase in load
• sensation of the tendon "pulling" from the warm-up onwards
• decreased tolerance for impulses

In this case, the most useful approach is often to temporarily reduce the load, maintain adapted activity, and then seek medical or sports physiotherapy advice if the discomfort persists.

Conclusion

In high jump, protecting your knees and tendons primarily requires thorough preparation before jumping. A good warm-up, strengthened tendons, well-managed load, and clean technique form the most solid foundation.

IZOM Athlétique warming balm can be included in this routine as a comfort gesture before activation. The real difference then lies in the quality of the warm-up, the consistency of strengthening, and how you manage your weekly load.

Want to complete your pre and post-effort routine?

Find our IZOM Athlétique warming balm on our website.