Knee accidents account for one-fourth of all sports activities accidents. After puberty, women have an general Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) knee damage threat of 1 in 50. In faculty, ladies are 3 instances extra more likely to undergo an ACL damage compared to males. So, it is extremely necessary for feminine athletes to take motion now to guard their knees. Whether or not you’re a walker, a aggressive athlete or a weekend cycler, the essential guidelines of knee care apply. They embrace strengthening muscle mass, (particularly the hamstrings and glutes for women/ladies) growing flexibility, utilizing correct approach, trimming extra kilos and figuring out when to extend or lower exercise that places stress on the knee. This text lists 15 methods to guard the knees and the joint construction together with offering primary workout routines for strengthening and stretching the physique’s largest joint and surrounding musculature.
15 Guidelines For Knee Care:
1. Practice with a feminine particular, purposeful coaching program particularly for pivot sports activities.
2. Work with a power coach that stays abreast on coaching points distinctive to the feminine athlete, particularly, ACL damage prevention methods.
3. Shed additional kilos and keep a perfect physique weight. Every additional pound you carry places 4 additional kilos of strain in your knee whenever you stroll.
4. Examine your posture. You might have kyphosis (rounded shoulders), lordosis (swayed again), scoliosis (curvature of the backbone), flat toes, or different postural issues that may have an effect on gait and put further stress on the knees.
5. Practice the core, the weakest hyperlink within the physique. Additionally practice the again and hips with a purpose to play in an athletic stance, the knee-protecting place.
6. Put together correctly to your sport. Begin a power and conditioning program 8-10 weeks earlier than your season or a brand new exercise. Make certain plyometrics and stability and agility coaching are part of your general program. Keep away from actions akin to full squats, the place the hips drop beneath the knees, downhill operating and climbing stairs two at a time.
7. Discover ways to leap and land correctly. Leap straight as an arrow and land mild as a feather, toes to heels with hips, knees and ankles flexed. Preserve a straight back-neutral backbone place. Preserve chest over knees and knees over toes. Land on the ball of your foot and sink into your heel. All the time carry out leap coaching workout routines on the right floor, examples: land on mats or a wooden ground.
8. All the time pay attention to utilizing impeccable approach whereas coaching, particularly with leap coaching.
9. Practice functionally for improved efficiency and damage prevention. Useful which means, closed chain (toes on the ground) actions that mimic the abilities you’d use in your sport. Most of your coaching ought to be carried out off of train machines. Begin with physique weight actions after which progress to exterior mild weight resistance workout routines. As soon as kind is mastered with primary purposeful coaching workout routines then progress to extra superior types of power coaching, ex. utilizing heavier weights or coaching with the Olympic lifts.
10. Enhance agility and response instances. Girls contract their muscle mass slower than women and men take longer to generate most pressure. Practice extra like tennis gamers. They keep in an athletic stance, they keep low and transfer with smaller, faster steps. In addition they know the way to cease, minimize, twist and switch. You do not see many feminine tennis gamers tearing their ACL.
11. Strengthen the hamstrings, not simply the quadriceps. The hamstrings (again of the thigh) are normally weaker than the quads in feminine athletes. The hamstrings assist to stabilize the ACL and also can assist enhance ones vertical leap.
12. Guard towards overtraining and overuse. Keep away from intensified or lengthened exercises over lengthy intervals of time which create further friction within the joint and enhance threat of damage from overuse.
13. Decrease knee stress whereas biking. Make certain the seat of your bike is on the correct top and keep away from excessive gears.
14. Examine your athletic footwear. Worn out or improperly fitted footwear might put knees in danger. Exterior of your exercises, keep away from carrying excessive heels regularly.
15. Search alignment assist. Orthotics, custom-made foot helps, might assist right foot or leg alignment issues.
Do workout routines that strengthen the knee Carry out these workout routines to strengthen the muscle mass (quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes) that assist stabilize and shield the knees:
1. Single-leg, one-quarter bends: Holding onto a wall, carry and lengthen one leg ahead, slowly decrease your self one quarter of the best way down by bending the opposite knee. Take the hip again as if to take a seat down in a chair. Maintain for 5 seconds, slowly straighten up, repeat 10 instances and change legs.
2. Straight leg lifts: Lie on again, bend one knee with foot on ground; slowly carry straight leg about 12 inches off the ground, retaining hips, decrease again on ground; maintain 5 seconds, then decrease slowly; repeat 10 instances, then change legs (add mild ankle weights if snug, keep away from this train you probably have again issues.)
3. Standing Squats: This train is confirmed to extend vertical leap and help in making a co-contraction of the quadriceps and hamstrings. Stand with toes hip width aside. Descend right into a squat with hips shifting backward as if to take a seat in a chair. Knees ought to keep consistent with the toes, no “wobbly” knees. Keep away from an extreme ahead bend, preserve chest up and look straight forward. It is very important preserve the heels on the ground and do not let the knees protrude in entrance of the toes.
4. Lunges: Rise up-right, toes collectively, palms out to the perimeters. Take a snug lunge ahead with one leg, preserve knee over the foot and behind the toes. Sit down within the lunge till knee of trailing leg nearly touches the ground. Maintain torso upright, chest up and chin up. Push off heel of lead leg to stand up and step again to beginning place after which repeat motion with the opposite leg.
5. Stability ball leg curls: This train is nice for strengthening the hamstrings. Lie flat in your again on an train mat, with palms and arm down at sides, put each heels immediately on prime of a stability ball. Make certain the soundness ball matches your top. Elevate hips off the ground till physique kinds a straight line from head to ankles. Carry out a leg curl, bringing ball into buttocks, return to beginning place after which repeat. Maintain hips up your complete time for 12-15 repetitions. Do 1-3 units.
Stretches for the Quadriceps and Hamstrings:
1. Standing quad stretch: When standing upright, attain with proper hand and pull heel of proper foot up towards buttocks. Maintain proper knee pointed straight down. Maintain for 20-30 seconds, change legs. No bouncing.
2. Standing hamstring stretch: Stand going through a exercise bench, put the heel of 1 leg on prime of the bench. Maintain each knees mushy, (slight knee bend). Bend at hip, preserve chest up and attain with each palms to toes. Maintain for 20-30 seconds, change legs. No bouncing.
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