Have a question about tendons/ligament growth. If I train my lower body tendons and ligaments during my offseason, before GPP and into GPP will the sheer hypertrophy of the tissue allow for better force outputs? I do not mean I am going to train them simply with plyometrics and elastic type explosive movements like one does in season, but instead slow, full range-of-motion, high volume, low intensity deep knee bend squats, deep single leg calf raises, etc. The hypothetical benefits of this would be a much more injury resistant body, and perhaps a higher max ceiling for elastic force outputs when the traditional training begins because of literally physically larger tendons and ligaments. This will not replace any sprinting, plyometrics, or resistance training later in preseason/season and I may cease to do this tendon training when workload elevates. Very unsure and looking for advice/thoughts
You are training tendons/ligaments all the time. However they are stressed/ recovery at different rates. They take longer to repair and have maximum load threshold, anything above a certain volume will not further be beneficial.
Traditional strength training does not load tendons/ligaments like running or jumping activities. You entire program should be based on your however capacity to handle the volume/intensity and recovery.
I think there are definitely benefits in doing hypertrophic volume work in the offseason and GPP with the goal of stimulating tendon hypertrophy. Another thing that you may consider is extended isometric holds as it’s also a great way to cause blood flow to circulate to those areas and drain fluids, as well as reduce inhibition from something like tendinopathy from a rehab/prehab perspective. The main concern is that when running volume, so does the pounding on the tendon.
Anecdotally, I’ve done something similar to what you suggested with some jumpers that I coach, as well as isometric holds for the knee, achilles, and hamstring, and I have found that they are much more robust.