How do you train minus two knee ligaments?

For those of you who follow professional football you've no doubt heard about Shawne Merriman; he's quite possibly one of the most dynamic defensive players in the league. (Just understand that it pains me to say that considering he plays for the Chargers, but I digress).

In case you've missed it, Shawne had off-season surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee, but hadn't felt good in camp. He recently had 4 surgeons evaluate him and tell him that he needs reconstructive surgery because he has torn the PCL and LCL ligaments in his knee. Obviously, this would effectively end his season.

However, no one said that young men think about the long-term; Shawn has gone against the docs recommendations and decided against surgery even though he risks a "career-ending injury." So how could he possibly play in this state? Let's take a quick step back to examine how we create stability around our joints.

In your joints, you have what are called active and passive stabilizers. The passive stabilizers include cartilage structures (menisci in your knee, labrum in your shoulder, etc.), ligaments, and joint capsules. They are passive in nature because they don't contract and relax like muscles do. In essence, they just kind of keep things in place.

In contrast, your muscles are active stabilizers - you can use them to contract and improve stability around a joint. In the case of your knee the primary active stabilizers include the hamstrings, adductors, gluteals, and quadriceps.

So what happens when you tear two of the four ligaments in your knee? First off, you become very unstable - you've essentially lost half of your passive stability. If you asked for my opinion, I would tell you that he's assinine for trying to play. I have an infininte amount of respect for playing through the pain and giving yourself to your team, but I definitely worry about the long-term ramifications of doing so. With that being said, however, what could he do from a training standpoint to make it through the season?

The answer, my friends, is to get his active stabilizers as strong as possible. The stronger he gets his glutes and hamstrings to help him declerate, the better off he'll be. He still may not make it through the season, but it will at least give him a fighting chance. Another option would be a serious sized brace to help re-create some of the lost stability. Now keep in mind we don't know the severity of his tears, but I would assume you're looking at least grade 2 (partial thickness) if not grade 3 (full thickness) tears if all 4 docs want him to have surgery.

If you're interested in learning more about the anatomy and function of your knees, along with how to keep them healthy, be sure to pick up a copy of my Bulletproof Knees manual. Your knees will thank you.

Stay strong

MR

BTW - Can I give myself a virtual high-five for coming up with an entire blog post that consists of one single thought? Gooooooooooooooooo me!

'Tis the season...

...for knee injuries.

If you're a football fan like me, you love and hate this time of year. The pre-season is winding down, and it's time for us to enjoy the best time of the sporting year - football season.

Unfortunately, it's a double-edged sword - we've waited for 6 months for our favorite teams to take the field, and quite often, our whole season can go down in flames with one key injury.

And you know what I'm talking about - when we're talking football, we're talking knee injuries. In the past month or so we've lost Peyton Manning (surgically removed bursa sac), Shawn Merriman (torn PCL and LCL), Jason Taylor ("sprained" knee) and Osi Umenyiora (torn lateral mensicus) for various lengths of time. Some will be back this year - others won't. Last year the Colts lost three starters to season long knee injuries (Booger McFarland - torn patellar tendon, Rob Morris - torn ACL, Marvin Harrison - ruptured bursa sac).

Football is hard to prepare for physically when compared to other sports. In basketball, soccer, and volleyball you typically see non-contact injuries. Essentially, these people have weak or faulty active stabilization patterns - typically the glutes and hamstrings are either inhibited or flat out weak, and smooth deceleration of jumps and cuts isn't possible. When you lack active stability, your body is forced to rely on the next source - passive stabilizers like menisci, tendons and ligaments. Obviously, if you can get stronger and improve activation patterns, you go a long way to staying healthier.

In contrast, football players are exposed to both non-contact AND contact based injuries. As I mention in my Bulletproof Knees manual (and the lecture as well), you could have the most orthopedically healthy knee known to man, but if you get caught in the wrong position, or hit with enough force in the right area, your knee is probably going to go.

So if it were up to you, which option would you choose?

1 - You figure there's nothing you can do to protect your knees, so instead of playing you curl up in the fetal position on a remote corner of the sideline? Or
2 - Take as many steps possible to reduce, and possibly even prevent, a major knee injury?

If you're a competitive footballer, whether at the Pop Warner or Pro Bowl level, you owe it to yourself to check out Bulletproof Knees - it may be the only thing between you and a knee injury.

Stay strong
MR