Female Athletes and ACL injuries

An estimated 150,000 Americans suffer ACL injuries each year in the United States. A growing number of them are female athletes rather than male athletes.

Why?

Experts are not sure and are still researching this issue.

Some of the research done suggests that the female ACL injury might be caused by a combination of a couple of factors -- the width of the female pelvis relative to the length of the femur, an imbalance in the relative strength of the quadriceps and hamstrings; naturally greater joint laxity among women than men; hormones and the way females fire their muscles when they land.

Basically experts don't know exactly why this happens.

An ACL injury can take a long time to heal. Full recovery from ACL surgery can take 8 to 10 months. The reason why it takes so long to heal is because the ACL is located behind the knee cap. It connects your thigh bone to your leg bone. Is like a rubber band!

So if you break it, your bones will separate and you will fall over.

But athletes can reduce their risk of ACL injuries by performing training drills that require balance, power and agility.

Make sure you add some plyometric exercises, like jumping, and balance, because these drills will help you improve muscular reactions and ultimately will decrease your risk of ACL injury.

Back in college I used to recommend an ACL conditioning program, especially for my female players. I never had an injury with any of my athletes.

This is what I use for my ACL Injury Prevention Program with my athletes or clients make sure you try to perform this at least 2-3 times per week during the season and includes:

1. Warm Up ( Example: Jog line to line, Backward Jogging, Shuttle Run (side to side)

2. Stretching (Example: Calf stretch, Quadricep stretch, Hamstring stretch, Inner Thigh Stretch, Hip Flexor Stretch)

3. Strengthening (Example: Walking Lunges, Hamstrings, Squats on a BOSU)

4. Plyometrics (Example: Lateral Hops over Cone/towel, Forward/Backward Hops over cone/towel, Single Leg hops over cone/towel, Vertical Jumps, Scissors Jump/ Split Jumps)

5. Agility Drills (Example: Shuttle run with forward/backward running, Diagonal runs, speed ladders)

6. Cool Down (Example: Abdominal Crunches, regular stretches)

Have a great week!