Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Injury Early Exercise Programme
Aim to perform this programme a minimum of once per day unless prescribed otherwise. As with any new exercise, start slowly (repetitions as able) and build up as you are able within the guidelines below.
Pain should not exceed 3/10 whilst completing this exercise programme.
1. Heel slide
- Lay flat on your back or sit supported upright with the legs out straight on a flat, smooth surface – preferably wearing socks to reduce friction.
- Slowly slide your heel along the surface up towards you by bending the knee, ensuring your knee remains in line with the hip and ankle.
- Bring the heel as close to the hip as possible.
- After a 2 second hold, begin straightening the knee by sliding the heel away from you.
2. Inner range quads
- Lay flat on your back or sit supported upright with the legs out straight.
- Position a pillow/rolled up towel under the knee to support it in a slightly bent position.
- Push the back of your knee down into the towel/pillow by tightening the muscles at the front of your thigh – your heel may come off the floor.
- Hold the squeeze with moderate pressure for 5 seconds before gently releasing the pressure.
3. Straight leg raise
- Lay flat on your back or sit supported upright with the targeted leg out straight and the resting leg bent.
- Squeeze the muscles at the front of your thigh to push the knee straight.
- Maintain a straight knee whilst raising the whole leg up towards the ceiling.
- Hold at the top for 5 seconds and then slowly lower the leg back down and gently release the pressure.
We recommend consulting a musculoskeletal physiotherapist to ensure exercises are best suited to your recovery. If you are carrying out an exercise regime without consulting a healthcare professional, you do so at your own risk. If you have any concerns whilst completing these exercises, please contact a healthcare professional.
More Plans
When certain criteria have been met, you can then progress to the next stage of rehabilitation. During this stage, you will start to complete more dynamic exercises, including progressing onto single leg open and closed chain exercises and low-level plyometric exercises. Focus in the early phase of this stage will continue to be increasing load capacity, muscle hypertrophy and eventually returning to running (9,11). Pain should not exceed 4/10 whilst completing this exercise programme.
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 910
In the later stages of rehabilitation, you will start to develop your single-leg multi plantar and multisegmental movements. This is important to develop as the role of your injured anterior cruciate ligament is to prevent multi-planar movements. Sports-specific rehabilitation should begin involving visual-motor training (15). Strength and power work must continue through the intermediate and advanced stages of rehabilitation, making sure there is the incorporation of exercises addressing the limb’s rate of force development. It is important to be strong and powerful but, as peak anterior cruciate ligament strain can be seen very early on in a movement (within less than a second), it is important that our muscles are not only strong but are able to react quickly to protect the ligaments from excessive pressures (14). Pain should not exceed 4/10 whilst completing this exercise programme.
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 910