12 Aug ACL, Meniscus and Overuse Injury Sports Recovery in Tampa Florida: Why We’re So Diligent
One thing I take very seriously is ensuring injured athletes have a diligent return to their sport.
This means once they’re medically cleared, the real work to get back to game speed, strength and conditioning begins.
“Cleared” by the doctor, whether it’s an ACL tear, meniscus tear, or overuse injury (stress fracture, hamstring strain, ankle sprain, etc), only means the graft and/or the tissue has healed and is ready to be gradually loaded in a more intense environment.
When youth athletes get cleared, they must ensure they are working with the right strength and conditioning professional who gradually builds up their load tolerance to game demands: high speed runs, hundreds of hard deceleration and cutting movements, and in combination with this, pushes them in the gym with heavy strength training to build resilience so re-injury doesn’t occur.
Don’t go back to full playing once cleared.
Go back to full playing when you have the strength, speed, agility, and conditioning to play full minutes again. This means going through rigorous injury return testing. My process her in Tampa Florida for ACL and injury sports return is strict because re-injuries happen when athletes aren’t ready and rush the return process.
Work with someone who understands proper practice and game minutes re-introduction. Work with a strength and conditioning professional who has the equipment and big field space to load heavy with strength training and do proper build up of speed, conditioning and agility movements.
Also, work with someone who understands game load progression – who writes out a plan for return to practice and game minutes for the athlete’s team coach to follow.
A strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) operates in the scope of progressive strength training, teaching of deceleration and sprint mechanics, and proper conditioning and running progressions. Their job is to manage the load of the athlete as they integrate back into practice.
So many youth athletes re-injure themselves because they jump right back at full playing and full minutes, and their ligaments, bones, tendons and muscles haven’t adapted to such a high volume of game-like sprints in a chaotic setting.
Don’t mess up ACL sports return. Don’t mess up ANY injury return.
Do it diligently. Do it gradually.
Check out this podcast on when to stay with your physical therapist vs. when to go off to a strength and conditioning professional for your ACL and injury sports recovery:
Work with Erica Mulholland, an internationally known youth female athlete trainer in Tampa (Land O’ Lakes Florida) for speed, agility, and strength training, specialist in growth spurt/overuse injury return, and late stage ACL rehab (must be at minimum 2-3 months into physical therapy and post-surgery to be considered): BOOK ASSESSMENT HERE
Interested in REMOTE SPEED AND STRENGTH TRAINING for Youth Female Athletes? BOOK A CONSULT HERE
BOOK ASSESSMENT HERE IN TAMPA FL FOR ACL and INJURY Sports Recovery
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