ACL injuries are an epidemic among athletes, especially female athletes (4-6x greater risk than their male counterparts), with serious, lifelong implications.
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An ACL tear takes 6-9 months to rehab (at the least), 24% sustain a secondary rupture within a year of returning to their sport, and
at least a third have knee osteoarthritis within 10 years.
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The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is a piece of fibrous connective tissue spanning from the tibia to the femur, preventing the tibia (lower leg) from sliding forward of the femur (upper leg).
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The ACL is most stressed when the knee is fully extended (straightened) or bent inward toward the midline of the body (called knee valgus). This can happen when athletes land more erect from jumps or when athletes’ knees collapse inward during decelerations, landings, planting, cutting, or pivoting (movements which happen a lot in most sports).
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The tragic thing about this awful injury is that there are a lot of ways to significantly reduce its risk factors but the majority of athletes are not doing them🤦🏽♀️. Research has shown that just 20 minutes of specific exercises performed consistently, 2-3 times a week, can reduce ACL injury rate 88%!
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Do you want to know what you should be working on?🤷🏽♀️
It’s simple! Just remember the 3 B’s:
Balance (on one leg)
Biomechanics (of jumping and landing)
Backside (strengthen your glutes 🍑and hamstrings)
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2-3 times per week train these three elements for 20 minutes and you will be helping your knees out so much!
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Here are 3 exercises to get you started:
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✅Balance: Single Leg Rotational Med Ball Wall Taps
✅Biomechanics: Base Landing —> Drop Jump
✅Backside: Kettlebell Deadlift
Strength Coach K8 