ACL injuries

[Insomniator]

So Hixon (giants wr) just tore his ACL for the second year in a row... and so have probably 100 other nfl players so far this season.

Is there ANYTHING that can be done to reduce these injuries? It seems like all I hear about in football is torn ligaments... can't they design some kind of brace that limits knee movement to exactly what is allowed (stupid idea but you get the point)?

So basically pro athletes can get huge and ripped but the stuff holding all of their muscles together doesn't get much stronger? I feel like the next time I go play tennis I might destroy my knees.

 

[warr666]

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[CrazyAznDriver]

I see all the O line wearing DonJoy type braces. I had these when I tore my ACL's. They limit movement. It didn't stop me from tearing it again though. I am unsure if they are wearing them because of injuries or as preventative measure.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Football players don't rupture their ligaments because the human body sucks. They rupture ligaments because they're way, way, way overplayed in a sport that requires massive ballistic demands. With exercise, everything gets denser, stronger, etc - bone, ligaments, muscle, capsules, etc. However, if you apply awkward forces on them that they aren't meant to withstand, they will break. There are a lot of things that contribute to that. For football players, it can just be bad luck - a small dent in the field, too quick of a cut, a bad tackle. In addition to that, specific things like strength of the hip's external rotators, abductors, the ankle's posterior tibialis, possible foot, tibial, femoral, or acetabular deformities. Even something like trunk rotation ROM and trunk strength can influence stuff like that.

You couldn't design anything like a brace that could do what the knee's ligaments do. You'd have to essentially cover it and lock it in place for that much stability.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

good questions.

i think u can strengthen tendon and ligament further by incorporating holding exercises. like to strengthen acl, gradually build up weight and hold squat in the down position for as long as u can.

i know a jiujitsu black belt that uses holding exercises to further strengthen his tendon and ligament. like with a bench press, he'll incorporate holding the weight at both the up and down. common, is to strengthen his wrist tendon and ligament by suspending from a rope. farmer's walk also very effective

there's also stretching involved. depending on ur flexibility, might be uncomfortable at first. u sit in a variation of seiza position; top of feet against the ground, toes unbent, u don't sit on top of ur legs, u sit on the ground between ur legs and hold for as long as possible

look into holding exercises - variations of resistance, isometric

Research actually shows that eccentric exercises are far more effective for improving tensile strength of connective tissue. That doesn't mean you should just do eccentric exercises. You should train exercises as you would do them functionally. If you need stronger connective tissue, then you can supplement more isolation work. Isometric holds don't actually do that good of a job improving connective tissue strength.

 

[warr666]

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