# Knowledge base — Gymnastics Injury Prevention Consortium

> Literature summaries, a misconceptions log, the Achilles model, and essays — the research behind the principles.

- [Home](https://provingconsortium.org/)
- [Principles](https://provingconsortium.org/principles/)
- [Into Practice](https://provingconsortium.org/practice/)
- [Knowledge Base](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/)
- [Consortium](https://provingconsortium.org/consortium/)

Working site  

The research behind the principles

# Knowledge base

Plain-language but rigorous summaries of the underlying literature. Each tissue review lists its sources; most cited papers are held as PDFs and available from Sarah on request.

   

How tissue responds to load

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## [Tendon: how the Achilles adapts, and how it gets hurt](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/tendon/)

What drives tendon adaptation (strain magnitude, heavy slow loading), how fatigue damage accumulates, and what it means on the gym floor.

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## [Bone: loading, damage, and adaptation](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/bone/)

How bone senses strain, why brief, high-rate, novel loading builds it, and how bone stress injuries happen when damage outpaces repair.

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## [Cartilage: the loading window](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/cartilage/)

Why cartilage needs moderate loading to stay healthy, how impacts and repetition damage it silently, and the path to post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

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## [Ligament: sprains, laxity, and fatigue](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/ligament/)

How ligaments carry load, the ~5% subfailure damage threshold, why healed ligament stays weaker, and what that means for landings.

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## [Growth plates: physiology and vulnerability](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/growth-plate/)

How the physis grows, why it's the skeleton's weak link, gymnast's wrist and traction apophysitis, and what's known about growth-spurt risk.

  

Coach education

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## [Eleven misconceptions in gymnastics training](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/misconceptions/)

Common beliefs coaches hold — from 'weights stunt growth' to 'pain is part of the sport' — each with an evidence-informed rebuttal and what to do instead.

  

The mandate

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## [The Mandate Map](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/mandate-map/)

What four national gymnastics federations require of their coaches, who controls those requirements, and where an evidence-based injury-prevention program can get in — country by country, with names, dates, and deadlines.

  

The model

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## [The Achilles tendon model](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/achilles-model/)

A multiphysics computational model of the gymnast's Achilles: why a tumbling pass does ~520x the damage of a heavy slow rep with ~2% of the adaptive signal.

  

Essays

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## [When pain does not always mean gain](https://provingconsortium.org/knowledge/recovery-informed-training/)

The case for recovery-informed training in elite gymnastics: why the traditional schedule loads connective tissue faster than it can repair, and what a smarter week looks like.

  

[Gymnastics Injury Prevention Consortium](https://provingconsortium.org/) — working reference for the founding group. Moving principles into practice.

Working reference site, shared by link and not indexed by search engines. Content is for general information and isn't medical advice; see a qualified clinician about any injury.