Last week I wrote about a concept that completely changed how I think about pain, performance, and longevity.
This week, I want to build on that with another idea that has been just as impactful for me and the people I work with, especially when it comes to long-term resilience.
That concept is absorbing force.
Most training programs and coaches focus heavily on one side of the equation: producing force.
And to be clear, your ability to generate force matters. Strength, speed, and power are essential for athletic performance and for navigating daily life.
But what’s far less discussed is the ability to yield to force. To receive, slow down, and redirect external forces without pain, injury, or compensatory movement.
That quality is just as important.
When most people hear “absorbing force,” they immediately think of eccentric strength. And while eccentric strength is certainly part of the picture, true force absorption goes beyond that.
It’s not just about how strong you are, it’s about how well your body can manage force.
Here’s why that matters, and how I approach training it.
Yielding to Force: A Key to Injury Resilience
If you’ve ever played sports or stepped onto the mat, you know athletics aren’t just about applying force outward.
There’s a constant give-and-take.
If you’re rigid, always trying to overpower force, you become slow, stiff, and inefficient. Worse, you increase your risk of injury.
There are moments when the smartest move is to yield: to go with an oncoming force in order to redirect it, dissipate it, or simply reduce its impact.
Being able to do that, without collapsing or compensating, is a major marker of long-term resilience.
From my perspective, there are three primary factors that determine how well someone can absorb force.
The Three Pillars of Force Absorption
1. Tissue Tolerance
Your muscles, tendons, and ligaments must be conditioned to handle high forces. That means having enough thickness and elasticity to effectively handle and distribute load.
2. Available Range of Motion
To absorb force, joints need space to move into. If a joint can’t yield into available range, force has nowhere to go, and something eventually gives. Adequate, usable range of motion allows force to move through effectively and reduces peak stress at a singular point.
3. Relative Motion
As discussed last week, relative motion is the ability of joints to move independently of one another. This allows force to be dissipated across multiple segments and pathways. When relative motion is lacking, the body defaults to orientation, or moving as a rigid unit, which sends stress into a single area and increases the risk of pain or injury.
So how do we improve these qualities, and reduce our chances of breaking down when force is applied?
That’s where training strategy matters.
Let’s break down each one.
1. Improving Tissue Tolerance
Tissue tolerance is your body’s ability to handle force without breaking down. That includes muscles, tendons, and ligaments having enough thickness, elasticity, and conditioning to distribute load.
The most effective ways to build tissue tolerance are:
Strength training
Heavy strength work exposes tissues to high levels of tension, which encourages adaptation. This is especially important for tendons and bone density, provided load is progressed gradually and intelligently. My personal favorites are kettlebell and Landmine training, and isometrics.
Plyometrics
Jumps, hops, bounds, and drops teach the body how to accept force dynamically. Landing is key, as it trains the system to decelerate momentum instead of resisting it rigidly.
“Catch” training
Exercises that involve swinging, catching, or receiving a load, such as kettlebell swings, cleans, or club work, teach the body how to manage moving force. This bridges the gap between strength and real-world athletic demands.
Progressive loading and volume
Tissues adapt over time. Gradually increasing load, volume, or complexity is what allows tolerance to build without overload.
2. Improving Available Range of Motion
To absorb force, joints need space to move into. Without usable range of motion, force has nowhere to go and gets concentrated in vulnerable areas.
Range of motion is best improved through a combination of approaches:
Breathing drills
Breathing influences ribcage position, pelvic orientation, and nervous system tone. Improving breathing mechanics often restores motion that stretching alone cannot.
Soft tissue work
Soft tissue techniques can temporarily reduce tone and create a “window” of opportunity. On their own, they don’t create lasting change, but they prepare the body for movement.
Loaded mobility training
Strengthening joints at end range is where mobility becomes durable. Controlled, loaded movement teaches the nervous system that those positions are safe and usable under stress. Try this program.
Range that isn’t owned through strength will eventually be lost, or avoided.
3. Restoring Relative Motion
Relative motion allows force to flow through the body instead of getting stuck.
The first step is assessment. Identifying where motion is limited tells you where the body is most likely compensating through orientation.
From there, we can restore relative motion through:
Breathing drills
Breath helps regulate tension and restore subtle motion between the ribs, pelvis, and spine, often the foundation for better joint mechanics elsewhere.
Corrective exercises
Targeted movements that bias motion at specific joints help reintroduce independent movement where it’s missing.
Rotational exercises
Rotation encourages joints to move relative to one another instead of locking together. This is critical for dissipating force.
Single-leg work and asymmetrical loading
These patterns challenge the body to manage force side-to-side and segment-by-segment, reinforcing relative motion under load.
The goal isn’t to eliminate orientation, it’s to ensure it’s a choice, not the only option the body has.
Putting It All Together
Force absorption is not passive. It’s a trained skill.
Athletes who absorb force well have:
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Tissues that can tolerate load
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Joints with space to yield
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And segments that can move independently when needed
As we age, maintaining these qualities becomes even more important. The cost of compensation rises, and the margin for error shrinks.
Train your body to receive force as well as it produces it, and resilience will follow.
WHENEVER YOU’RE READY, THERE ARE 4 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU:
1. Start improving your durability with this loaded mobility program, BJJ Kettlebell Resilience.
2. Fortify your body for BJJ with this free course on BJJ Resilience.
3. Join the free weekly newsletter here.
4. Apply for online coaching here.
