Prevention is Most Important: Non-contact ACL injuries can be prevented! A proper warm-up and proper form can prevent non-contact ACL injuries and other common lower body injuries.
Warm-up: A warm-up is just as important as the workout. When a proper warm-up is implemented for athletes in particular, you reduce the risk of ACL, ankle, Quad, and Hamstring injuries. When athletes perform a Dynamic warm-up statistics show an improvement on power and agility testing vs. static stretching. If a muscle is properly warmed-up then it is able to have move more efficiently and allows the athlete to perform at there peak. There are many different types of dynamic warm-ups and we are always here to help show you one that targets the movements of your specific sport.
Body awareness: As our bodies grow athletes in particular can find they have trouble with their coordination. Creating Neuromuscular efficiency is vital for any athlete to be successful. Neuromuscular efficiency is the ability of the nervous system to properly recruit the right muscles. Proprioception is another vital requirement for athletes. Proprioception is our minds perception of where our limbs are in space, for example, if you put your hand up to catch a ball but you don’t have to look at your hand to actually see where it is before the ball is caught. You know your hand is to the side of you and that it is moving to where the ball is being thrown. Both Neuromusculat efficiency and Proprioception are things we often take for granted, but when these two functions are performing at their best our ability to accomplish specific athletic goals is spot on.
Strengthening: Most athletes want to jump into strengthening right away because they think that’s the first step to improving. Realistically strengthening should be done gradually and during the whole process form and body awareness is key. Elite athletes focus on strengthening only after their flexibility and movement is properly warmed-up. If you strengthen while you are form is off you are only enforcing the poor form which will increase your chances of injury. We are here to help teach and over all educate our athletes, because to do what they love their bodies need to stay healthy and efficient.
