Goodbye to the Torn ACL

I used to think the idea that women athletes are more injury-prone than men was sort of a sexist statement. The idea that women just weren't built for sports seems like an indictment. Is that code language for the notion that women should just put down the ball, unlace the tennies, go home and bake cookies instead? I can't accept that.

Yes, it is true that statistically, women suffer more injuries than men in sports. But that is not to say women shouldn't be out there at all. It just means we're built differently than men and therefore need to train differently.

ACL injuries are four to ten times more common in women than in men and volleyball is particularly tough on the knees. One theory is that it has to do with our muscle structure and the angle of our femurs which makes us more susceptible to a torn anterior cruciate ligament due to all the starting, stopping and quick changes in direction we have to execute when we play.

What if we could make the torn ACL and its difficult recovery a thing of the past? And what if it was as simple as the way we warm up? Well, it could be. The Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group came up with a warm up that prevents ACL injuries. They developed a 20-minute warm up that when used three times a week brought ACL injuries down to zero for the women's soccer teams that utilized it. Down to ZERO!

This came out last year to very little fanfare, but in my mind, this is a major development. If this slight change in practice can virtually eliminate torn ACLs, then it begs the question... Why isn't everybody using it?