Ryan Wissmer Remedial Massage

I’ve experienced both ends of the fitness spectrum.

For years I had elite-level cardio fitness.

I could run huge distances and had an aerobic engine that most people would struggle to understand.

But I was also surprisingly weak in muscular strength because I simply wasn’t lifting.

Then I swung the other way.

I became much stronger in the gym — lifting weights that I previously couldn’t — but my cardiovascular and aerobic fitness dropped, once again due to less running, and felt awful running due to this.

Two completely different systems.

Strength training develops your ability to produce force and handle load.

Cardio develops your ability to sustain effort, deliver and utilise oxygen, and keep going.

One does not automatically give you the other.

This is why I think a lot of people who exercise regularly may still be physically unbalanced.

You can go to the gym 5 days a week and become very strong while still being poorly conditioned aerobically.

You can run or cycle constantly and have excellent endurance while lacking significant strength.

Going to the gym isn’t the same as ticking every box.

I believe a genuinely capable body should be exposed to both:

Strength + cardiovascular fitness.

Not necessarily in equal amounts, due to what your goals or aims are set for, for example training for a marathon or perhaps just setting goals to lift heavier in the gym.

But enough of both to build a body that can produce force AND keep going.

That’s the difference between simply exercising and developing broad physical capacity.

Listen to Your Tendons!

“Listen to your body” is useful advice, but it is often too broad.

When it comes to training and tendon health, your body includes muscles, tendons, joints, bones and nerves, all of which respond differently to load. This applies whether you’re running, lifting weights, playing sport or completing rehabilitation exercises etc etc

I’ve experienced this for many years, and it has caused much of my time on the sidelines. I often felt fit enough to continue while my tendons were telling me that the load was too much.

I tried pushing through symptoms, and I also tried complete rest. Neither approach worked well.

A more useful strategy is usually to continue with appropriate activity while reducing the load enough to keep symptoms manageable. Then, as the tendon adapts, gradually rebuild capacity through progressive loading. The aim is not to train through worsening symptoms, but to find a level of loading the tendon can tolerate and build from there.

Instead of asking only, “How does my body feel?”, ask:

“How are my tendons responding to the load I’m giving them?”

Tendons give you information

Your tendons provide feedback during exercise, immediately afterward and over the following hours.

You may finish a run or gym session feeling fine, yet notice increased stiffness or discomfort later that day or the next morning. The response during the exercise also matters. Pay attention if:

* Pain increases as the set continues
* Symptoms appear earlier than usual
* Discomfort increases with each repetition
* The tendon becomes more sensitive when you add weight
* You change your technique to avoid symptoms
* Pain becomes sharper, more intense or more localised
* Symptoms do not settle when you reduce the load or stop the movement

These changes may indicate that the exercise, range, speed or current load needs to be modified. You do not always need to wait until the next morning for feedback.

After training, consider:

* Has stiffness increased?
* Has your usual discomfort worsened?
* Does the tendon feel more sensitive during normal activities?
* Do walking downstairs, climbing stairs or getting out of a chair feel different?
* Has the tendon returned to its usual baseline?

These responses often reveal more about load tolerance than how you felt during the session itself.

Why this matters for running and gym training

Running involves repetitive loading, but strength training can also place significant demands on tendons. Heavy resistance training, jumping, sprinting, deep joint angles, explosive movements and high training volumes can all increase tendon load.

Your cardiovascular system, muscles and motivation may feel ready for more while a tendon is still adapting.

Your lungs might say, “Keep going.”

Your muscles might say, “No problem.”

Your motivation might say, “Add more weight.”

Your tendon might say, “This is more than I’m prepared for.”

That signal deserves attention. It does not mean avoiding challenging exercises. Tendons need loading to become stronger and more capable. It means progressing the load at a rate the tendon can tolerate.

Look beyond the numbers

When strength training, it is easy to focus only on weight, sets and repetitions. Those measures are useful, but they do not tell the whole story.

Tendon demand can also increase through:

* Greater range of motion
* Faster lifting speeds
* Explosive movements
* Shorter rest periods
* More frequent training
* New exercises
* Training closer to failure

A small change in one variable can significantly increase the overall demand. Adding weight to a calf raise, increasing squat depth, introducing jumping or adding another lower-body session may all be reasonable progressions, but the tendon may need time to adapt.

Progressive loading is not simply about adding more weight. It is about gradually increasing the overall challenge while monitoring the tendon during exercise, after the session and the next day.

Don’t confuse pain with damage

Listening to your tendons does not mean fearing every sensation. Discomfort during training or rehabilitation does not automatically indicate injury or structural damage. Tendons can experience some symptoms while adapting to load.

However, symptoms should not be ignored. Focus on the pattern and response:

* Is irritability increasing during the set?
* Are you changing your technique?
* Does discomfort settle when you reduce the load?
* Is morning stiffness lasting longer?
* Are normal activities becoming harder?
* Are symptoms becoming more persistent or spreading?
* Does the tendon return to baseline within the expected timeframe?

The trend matters more than whether something hurt during one exercise. A manageable response that remains stable or settles is different from pain that progressively worsens and remains elevated for several hours or days.

Use immediate and 24-hour feedback

A session may feel fine while you are doing it but produce a different response afterward. This can happen after running, lifting or rehabilitation exercises.

Use both forms of feedback:

What did I feel during the exercise?

How did the tendon respond afterward and the next morning?

Think of it as a conversation:

You give the tendon a load.

The tendon gives you feedback.

If symptoms remain manageable and return to baseline, the load may be appropriate. If they increase during exercise, become more irritable later or remain elevated the next day, the training demand may need to be reduced or modified.

The goal is not to avoid every sensation. It is to learn what your tendon can tolerate and progressively build its capacity.

Modify the load instead of stopping everything

When symptoms increase, people often choose one of two extremes: pushing through as normal or stopping all activity.

Neither approach is always helpful.

Complete rest may reduce symptoms temporarily, but it does not necessarily rebuild the tendon’s capacity to tolerate running, lifting or everyday activities. On the other hand, repeatedly pushing through worsening symptoms may keep the tendon irritated.

A better approach is often to modify the load by:

* Reducing the weight
* Completing fewer sets or repetitions
* Temporarily limiting range of motion
* Slowing the movement
* Increasing rest periods
* Removing explosive exercises for a period
* Training the area less frequently
* Choosing a better-tolerated variation
* Maintaining general training while reducing the aggravating exercise

The appropriate modification depends on the tendon, the exercise and your response. If symptoms increase during the exercise, adjust the load immediately rather than waiting until the next day.

Be specific and progressive

“Listen to your body” might refer to fatigue, stress, muscle soreness, joint pain or tendon irritability. These signals require different responses.

This is not about ignoring your body and focusing on one separate part. Your tendons are part of your body. The aim is to be more specific about which tissues are responding to the load.

Ask:

“What did I feel in my tendon during the exercise?”

“How did my tendon respond after the session?”

“How did it feel the next morning?”

Fitness and strength can improve faster than tissue capacity, especially when motivation is high. Your heart and muscles may be ready to increase distance, speed, hills, weight, volume or training frequency while your tendons need a more gradual progression.

That does not necessarily mean stopping. It may mean modifying the load and building toward the demands you ultimately want to handle.

Learn your tendons’ baseline

Learn what your normal tendon feels like and how it usually responds to training.

Pay attention to:

* Your usual symptoms during exercise
* Whether symptoms change as the set continues
* Your normal morning stiffness
* Your usual level of discomfort
* How the tendon responds after running or heavy lifting
* How it responds to higher repetitions or explosive movements
* How it responds to increased training frequency
* How it feels during normal daily activities
* What happens later that day and the next morning

This gives you a baseline for comparison. Without one, it is difficult to know whether a response is normal for you or whether the tendon is becoming increasingly reactive.

Your tendons provide information throughout the training process. Learn to interpret it and use it to guide your next decision.

So yes, listen to your body.

But be more specific.

Whether you’re running, lifting weights or training in the gym:

Listen to your tendons too.

I work extremely deliberately and precisely, focusing on the symptomatic tissue that is contributing to the client’s discomfort.

I don’t believe deep work means simply applying more force.

Deep doesn’t mean harder. It means going deeper by allowing the tissue time to let you in.

I apply controlled pressure, feel the tissue’s response, and allow it time to yield rather than forcing my way through it. This allows me to work progressively deeper while keeping the treatment targeted and responsive to what I’m actually feeling beneath hands. When needed, I can still reach tissue at bone level, but I do so gradually and with control rather than relying on excessive force.

This approach can produce very significant results while keeping post-treatment recovery to a minimum. It also creates less discomfort during the treatment itself. The sensation is often best described as a “good hurt”—intense enough to feel therapeutic, but controlled, purposeful, and never unnecessarily aggressive.

The only limitation is that this is very slow, focused work. An entire one-hour session may be dedicated to a single area if that is what is needed. However, this level of attention is often what is required to achieve the relief—and the lasting relief—that a client is seeking.

I have no doubt, treating chronic, old tissue and connective tissue symptoms, this approach of heavily targeted treatment is king. Unmatched but also rare to find this kind of treatment.

Ironically, it is a very mentally and physically taxing technique due to tuning in every second of session, feeling for the most subtle changes in tissue, moving and changing positions sometimes a millimeter at a time when ready

Reach out to me if you require more information on my very rare and unique approach.

TWO WAYS I TREAT. ONE GOAL — BETTER FUNCTION.

🔥 DEEP • TARGETED • ULTRA-SLOW
The majority of my clients come to me needing highly targeted treatment for stubborn symptoms. This is where my main work lies—and where I achieve the biggest results.

This treatment focuses on specific problem areas that need time, precision and deep, controlled work.

⚡ SPORTS MASSAGE • GENERAL • FASTER •
A completely different treatment style for clients who need a faster-paced, more general treatment, muscle maintenance or a less targeted session.

This approach is not designed to resolve stubborn symptoms or complex, specific problems. It is better suited to clients who want broader, more active bodywork without the same level of targeted focus or depth.

Targeted treatment for stubborn symptoms. Faster, more shallow treatment for general maintenance.

Most bodies swing between two problems:

1. Overloaded / Defensive System
Your body is on high alert (often from overtraining or overuse).
• Guarding and protecting itself
• Muscles stay tight
• Everything feels more painful
• You get tired easily
• You’re stuck in stress mode
→ What helps: Calm the system down, reduce the threat, then progressively build capacity so your body can handle the loads you’re asking of it.

2. Underloaded / Deconditioned System
Your body has become weak/frail from not being used enough.
• Low strength and capacity
• Poor tolerance to activity
• Stiffness from sitting or inactivity
• Low resilience
→ What helps: Exercise and strengthening is the medicine. Gradually rebuild strength and capacity.
Most people move back and forth between these two states.
The key is knowing which one you’re in — then giving your body what it actually needs.

Updated therapy room pic.
Adding hot hand towels to treatment again to prepare and help relax clients further before treatment.
Yes I still say strength and exercise king for healthy aging, but the bridge and 1st step comes through my massage/manual therapy treatment.

I’ll be in Bali for next two weeks
I’ll be back working the week of the 16th September if anyone still wants to book in ahead

Getting your body into a space where it can start lifting weights progressively and exercising consistently is the whole game if you want lasting symptom relief.

I’m NOT saying don’t stretch.
I’m NOT saying don’t do core work like bird dogs.

Add them.

But don’t mistake them for the answer.

First, you need to get the body out of the acute or chronic irritated state and into a place where it can tolerate load again.

Then keep strength training and exercise simple, consistent and progressive.

And honestly, the word “fun” is one I don’t like when it comes to exercise.

It doesn’t always need to be fun.
It needs to be done.

The old saying “move it or lose it” is still very true.

Get the body ready.
Build the body.
Load the body.
Progress the body.

Frail body, fragile life