The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is a ligament that connects the tibia to the femur. It is one of the four ligaments that are crucial to the stability of the knee joint. The ACL specifically prevents the tibia from sliding too far forward, making the joint unstable and prone to dislocation. When someone experiences an injury to the ACL, they often complain of the feeling that their knee will “give out” due to the lack of stability of the knee joint when the ACL is torn. An ACL injury makes the knee more prone to arthritis and cartilage tears. When you tear your ACL, you might hear or feel a pop in your knee. There will probably be a lot of swelling in the knee area, and you might not be able to straighten your knee. This injury will most likely inhibit your ability to continue playing that sport for a while. When you initially injure your ACL, you should treat it by using R.I.C.E. and medications to reduce the pain and swelling. Crutches or a knee brace may be required in the healing process, as well as stretching and strengthening exercises after the swelling subsides. Usually after an athlete tears their ACL, they are required to have surgery if they expect to play in contact sports again that require pressure or rotating of the …show more content…
You need to do so to incorporate all aspects of exercise that your body needs such as cardiovascular exercise, strength training, and flexibility. It is also important to work all of the muscle systems in your body. One training technique that is helpful with this is cross training. It allows you to condition different muscle groups and vary stresses placed on muscles and the cardiovascular system. Cross training allows your entire body to be conditioned rather than specific muscles, and the stresses placed on each muscle group are decreased as different activities use various muscles in slightly different ways. It also helps you to continue improving your body’s level of fitness. After a while of doing the same exercises and working the same parts of your body, the body maintains that same level of fitness. Cross training allows you to mix things up and work out different muscles than usual and enables you to maintain a higher level of overall