When it comes to ACL injuries, we have a BIG problem, and it isn’t going away. It’s actually getting worse every year. And with good intentions, most people make this mistake with their approach to ACL injury prevention.
As normal people, we all just want to be able to physically do what we love to stay active and enjoy life, right?
To some high school athletes, this dream could be getting a college scholarship for their sport…
To snow-sports enthusiasts, this could dream could be carving down the mountain every winter for as many years as possible…
We all want SOMETHING.
What one thing could get in the way of all of that?
If you know me and what I’m really passionate about, you know that I’m talking about a major knee injury. More specifically, a torn ACL, which will take you out of your sport, into surgery, and then into rehab for a year.
Did you know that MOST athletes don’t return to their same level of competition after a torn ACL? Luckily, some DO, but it takes A LOT OF WORK, SWEAT, TEARS, and TIME. The fact is that the numbers don’t lie. Most DON’T return to their top performance, and 1-in-4 will re-injure when they go back. So we have to face the reality that this is a PROBLEM.
Maybe you don’t think about the possibility of a devastating injury. Or maybe, like many of us, you worry about something out-of-your-control getting in the way of the life you want for yourself or someone else. And that’s just WRONG. You don’t deserve to live in fear of a knee injury shattering big dreams.
I’m here to tell you that you CAN take back the controls. If there is something in life that you want badly enough, you can make it happen with good old hard work and educating yourself. As for a major ACL knee injury getting in your way, what if you could lower that chance by 50-80?! You CAN…And it’s actually NOT THAT HARD!
Although this is where we run into another problem…
“Injury prevention” is easy. In fact, you can do a search on YouTube and get endless results. But beware of conflicting strategies. I saw one the other day that said “Flexibility is the most important way to prevent an ACL injury.” That couldn’t be more wrong, actually. So be careful about the advice that you take. You also might get totally overwhelmed by YouTube with all of the exercise possibilities, especially because they don’t come organized in a way that progressively loads the muscles and ligaments to strengthen them. They just randomly pop up in no particular order. I have seen some scary exercises that claim to be for “injury prevention.” Exercises that I wouldn’t do, myself…nor would I have some of my trained athletes do.
Knowing what I know about people, athletes, and our bodies, I know that you can’t just throw a random exercise at someone and expect it to be done safely. That’s another thing…Do you think those videos on YouTube explain all of the instructions for safe execution? I’ll answer that from experience watching them….they don’t. But most people don’t realize that. Now you do. So be careful. The right exercise, done the wrong way, can actually make you more susceptible to an injury. Repeat that sentence again. The right exercise, done the wrong way, can actually make you more susceptible to an injury.
So I’ll leave it at that for now. And I say this because I care.
We have a problem with ACL injuries ruining lives.
There is a lot of information out there that you can follow, but some of it can cause more harm than good, if you aren’t careful. So be careful.
I hope this post helps you think twice about where you are getting your “injury prevention” training. It doesn’t have to be the most expensive one-on-one training, but there are other programs out there, designed and led by experts, that can be very effective, and much more safe. After all, it’s your future you’re playing with.
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