What if we told you that you can prevent, or at least minimise, your potential for an knee or ACL injury, would you believe us?
Research says you can reduce your risk of ACL injury
Injuring your knee or ACL can be emotionally and physically traumatic! Research tells us that between 5-70% of ACL injuries can be prevented through prevention programs (1,2,3)
Twice a week
These programs focus on improving strength, flexibility, lower limb control, balance and general co-ordination. A program should be sports specific and carried out 2 x a week in order for an individual to gain the best results.
The great thing about doing preventative exercises it is not only does it reduce the risk of ACL rupture, it has also been shown to improve performance (4).
How the Professionals do it
An example of a good football injury prevention program is this one by FIFA which is full of great sport specific exercises.
How you can do it
If you are not looking to be a football pro, some simpler exercise ideas to help prevent knee injury include:
Single leg balance on a wobble board or bosu - make this more challenging by closing your eyes or moving your arms/opposite leg around
Single leg knee bend with eyes closed - focusing on keeping your hip-knee-foot alignment spot on ie do not let your knee point inwards when you bend it, keep it in line with your 2nd/3rd toe
Hopping left - right, diagonally, backwards-forwards on a line or landing on targets/markers for 1 minute keeping good hip-knee-foot alignment.
Improve your running technique - we offer running assessments and can analyse your pattern and send you home with tips on how to run faster and for longer plus reduce your risk of injury.
1. Donnell-Fink LA, Klara K, Collins JE, Yang HY, Goczalk MG, Katz JN, et al. Effectiveness of Knee Injury and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Prevention Programs: A Meta-Analysis. PloS one. 2015;10(12):e0144063. PubMed PMID: 26637173. Pubmed Central PMCID: PMC4670212. Epub 2015/12/05. eng.
2. Gagnier JJ, Morgenstern H, Chess L. Interventions designed to prevent anterior cruciate ligament injuries in adolescents and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American journal of sports medicine. 2013 Aug;41(8):1952-62. PubMed PMID: 22972854. Epub 2012/09/14. eng.
3. Taylor JB, Waxman JP, Richter SJ, Shultz SJ. Evaluation of the effectiveness of anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention programme training components: a systematic review and meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine. 2015 Jan;49(2):79-87. PubMed PMID: 23922282. Epub 2013/08/08. eng.
4. Noyes FR, Barber Westin SD. Anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention training in female athletes: a systematic review of injury reduction and results of athletic performance tests. Sports health. 2012 Jan;4(1):36-46. PubMed PMID: 23016067. Pubmed Central PMCID: PMC3435901. Epub 2012/09/28. eng.