I’m continuing my series on ACL injury prevention.

Ok let’s chat about best practices for reducing your risk for an ACL injury (or any knee injury for that matter).

Prioritize strength work. Include the 3 main lower body movement patterns:

Hinge Category – Romanian Deadlift, Deadlift, Glute Bridge, Cable Pull Throughs, Kettlebell swings, Nordic hamstring curls. Females should especially prioritize this category as these patterns focus more on hamstring and glute development.

Squat Category – Back Squat, Front squat, heels elevated squat (more focus on the quads), Kettlebell squat.

Single Leg – Forward lunging, Reverse lunge, side lunge, step ups, single leg RDL’s, skater squats.

Bonus: CORE WORK! Add planks, side planks, pallof press, mountain climbers, crunches, and more.

Double Bonus: Upper body strengthening. Being able to control your torso is critical to maintaining your center of gravity and reducing sheer forces on your knees. At the very least, don’t forget to add pushing and pulling exercises like push ups, rows, and pull ups.

In the next post, I’m going to continue this series and dive into non-strength related ways to support knee health. These include things like jump and land mechanics, cutting mechanics, nutrition, recovery and more!