Month: July 2009

ACL Tear prevention

Yes – Sooner or later you’re going to get hurt. That’s what happens when athletes train hard and play intensely.

Yes – there is a lot you can do to prevent injuries, especially ACL tears, which are prevelant in young athletes, especially women.   

Most ACL injuries are what we call non-traumatic, which simply means that it is an injury that no contact was made in. For example, a soccer player running down the line with the ball, works to move the ball inside, and suddenly falls down while hearing a pop; an ACL tear. These are all preventable!

The number one cause of these types of injuries is tight hamstrings. The three hamstrings should be stretched separately, and when tested in a straight leg raise, attention must be made that the findings are made with the pelvis remaining stationary. As soon as the pelvis rotates posteriorly, the test is negated. Most females have good straight leg raise range of motion, but have poor hamstring flexibility. The difference here is crucial. Normal is 80-90degrees. Please be tested, do the tests, and tell all of your friends and teammates, so that we decrease the incidence of ACLs!

The other preventable cause is a muscle imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings. I will say that this is crucial, that the three hamstrings need to be strengthened again individually. Closed kinetic chain strengthening should be done all of the time, unless it is a rehab program

Another cause of many ACL tears can be traced back to weak hip muscles, such as the gluteals.

The gluteus maximus and gluteus medius are the two large muscles in the buttocks that propel you forward and support the hip joint and pelvis.  As soon as your foot hits the ground, your glutes should fire first, followed by hamstrings and then quadriceps.  If the glutes aren’t strong enough to activate, the quads and hamstrings will have to pick up the slack. This throws off the alignment and mechanics of the entire leg and can lead to knee and foot problems.

Remember; the human knee is one of the most well-built force-transference mechanisms in all creation, and pain is usually the knee’s gift to us. Listen to your body and back off when needed.

For you “type-A” people who can’t back off, here is a great warm-up for you.  Give this to your coach or trainer; it may save your knees!

Always warm-up the bhody with light cardio then move to Dynamic Flexibility drills. They are very effective in preparing the brain and body for the movements of sport.  Dynamic warm ups get our bodies ready to do what we need them to. They increase our range of motion dramatically, warm up our bodies significantly, stretch all core muscles including the legs trunk and upper body and can be made to be sport specific.

Dynamic Flexibility warm-up

Hip rotations (both directions)                       20 each leg

Walking Lunges                                  20 each leg

High knees                                         20 yards x 2

Butt Kicks                                           20 yards x 2

Bear crawls                                         20 yards x 2

Crab walks                                          20 yards x 2

 

Squat Jumps                                                  3×8

360 Jumps                                         3×8

Skaters (Toe Touch)                           3×8

Lateral Jumps                                                 3×8

Want to look like an athlete?

To look like an athlete – you must train like an athlete!

My buddy Dave just asked me, as he was huffing away on the elliptical trainer, how Sly Stallone is in such good condition at his age.  My answer is the same as always.  He challenges his body!  

I think it is great that people get to the gym and jump on those cardio machines.  I’d rather poke out my eyes, but that’s just me. 

Getting your heart rate up and sweating is a great thing, but it wont make your stronger, it wont make you more toned and though you are burning calories while you are on those machines, they usually cause you to burn muscle ultimately slowing down your metabolism….. Ok…I am starting to rant.

If you want to look a certain way, find out what people who look that way are doing and copy them.

If you want sexy muscular arms, you better pick up some weights.  If you want those volleyball player legs, you better start doing some plyometrics or at least sprint a little. 

Don’t get confused, alll it usually takes is lifting up some heavier weights than you are probably doing.  See this is the only answer.  If you want your muscles to grow, you must lift heavier weights – period. 

However, I never trained that way.  Ever since I was young, I wanted to look like an Athlete.  I wanted to be able to run fast, jump high and do anything and everything I wanted to do.  So that is how I train.  Athletes have powerful legs, so I do sprints, lunges and squats until I fall over.  When an athlete falls down, they get up quickly, so I do hundreds up pushups and pull-ups a week.  Athlete must have good balance, so I spend a lot of time training on balls and unstable surfaces.  This way, the things I do everyday always come easy.

Oh yeah – This type of training also burns calories and builds muscle so in the end you will probably have that lean athletic look you are seeking.