Credits

Faculty

Additional Info

Program Information

Please note: There will be a lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion.

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. 

Target Audience

Objectives

1. Discuss the incidence and mechanism of ACL injuries and the differences in men and women 
2. Describe the up-to-date literature and what it says about ACL prevention 
3. Examine how "pre-hab" can decrease the number of ACL injuries, especially in females 
4. Identify the biomechanics of the lower extremity and how it relates to ACL injuries 
5. Examine screening tools and techniques to assess potential ACL injuries and determine a client's risk 
6. List the components of a successful sports enhancement program 
7. Develop an ACL injury prevention program specific to the age and gender of your client
8. Evaluate therapeutic techniques and interventions to reduce injury and increase performance 
9. Recognize how closed chain biomechanics and neuro-muscular control can impact the ACL and incidence of non-contact injuries 
10. Apply neuro-muscular control and specificity of training principles to the development of an athletic performance enhancement program

Outline

ANATOMY & NEUROMUSCULAR FACTORS IN ACL INJURY

• Narrow notch
• Men vs. women
• Biomechanical factors and increased risk in females
  • Increased hip adduction and internal rotation predispose
  • Fatigue and unexpected perturbations
  • Mechanisms for non-contact ACL include deceleration on extended position, landing from jump, sidestep cut maneuvers

BIOMECHANICS OF THE LOWER LEG, HIP, & PELVIS

• Tri-plane motion or pronation/supination
• Foot and talus
• Valgus motion at the knee
• Deceleration of pronation or “that’s what the hip is supposed to do”
• How hip and core weakness can lead to increased potential knee injuries and can be used as a predictor of future knee injuries

ANATOMY OF THE PROPRIOCEPTIVE SYSTEM & SPECIFICITY OF TRAINING

• Movements are specific to neuromuscular pathways
  • Skill training

INTERVENTIONS

• Therapeutic exercises to significantly reduce ACL and LE injury rates
• Body movement patterns can be changed
• Specificity of training
• Education interventions can affect injury rates

DYNAMIC WARM-UP

• Dynamic warm-ups have demonstrated improved effects on power and agility test scores vs. static stretching
• Dynamic warm-up program
• Hands-on lab

SPECIFICS TO INCORPORATE

• ACL screening
• Jump/jump landing training
• Tri-plane strengthening of the lower extremity with focus on G. medius, G. max, hamstrings, and other groups
• Sport-specific skills — SKILL TRAINING
• 8 or more weeks in duration to allow sufficient neuromuscular changes and performance training effects
• Hands-on lab: ACL screen and jump landing training

THE PROGRAM

• Dynamic warm-up
• Balance activities
• Exercises: single leg squats, etc.
• Hop sequence: one and two legs
• Sport-specific drills

FIRST STEP, SPEED, & AGILITY

• Evaluation of deficits
  • Posterior chain flexibility
  • Hip flexors
  • Hip weakness
  • Core

INDIVIDUAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

• Sport-specific
• Technique-based
• Fix the identified problems first
• Core, core, and core
• Teaching core exercises
• Core lab

POSTERIOR CHAIN TIGHTNESS & HIP FLEXOR TIGHTNESS

• Dynamic warm-up
• Monster walks
• Hip lab
• Posture
• Defensive position lab

FOOT WORK

• Cone drills
• Acceleration vs. deceleration the hip brake
• 40-yard dash/pro shuttle

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

• Dynamic warm-up
• Core
• Specifics for deficits
• Flexibility
• Deceleration (bands)
• Cone drills
• Sprint
  • Start techniques
• The length of an effective program
  • What does the research say?

MARKETING YOUR PROGRAM

• Target audience
• What to charge
• Reimbursement