Fresh Start 2 Fitness- ACL Injury Prevention

One injury every athlete dreads is an ACL tear because it ends their season and can be a long road to recovery after surgery. Intermountain TOSH certified athletic trainer Erin McFarlane says there are leg exercises athletes can do to help avoid this kind of knee injury. McFarlane suggests doing these leg exercises to strengthen the muscles which can prevent the knee from bending in the way it tears an ACL.

1) Side Steps:

• Using a band around your lower thigh or going without one.
• People can slightly squat down and begin moving their feet to the side and slowly stepping and bring back leg in while keeping band or knees with outward pressure.
• Do this for 60 seconds and rest before doing another set.

2) Monster Walk:

• While down in a half squat people should take diagonal steps forward and out while keeping outward pressure on their knee.
• This is important because ACL tears often happen when knees buckle inward and forward tearing the ligament.
• Strengthening the outside leg muscles can help prevent these types of injuries.
• Do this walk for 60 seconds and rest before doing the next set.
• Do 3-4 sets.

3) Jump Exercise:

• Jumping is a part of nearly every sport and doing it as an exercise can improve performance and keep knees strong.
• Jumping in place and making sure your knee are facing forward and in control can make muscles stronger.
• To add some difficulty people can jump and do a 180 degree turn before landing with knees facing straight forward.
• Do this for 60 seconds and rest.
• Do 3-4 sets.