How can you prevent knee injuries in sports?
Knee injuries can be among the most devastating of sports injuries. They can range from minor tweaks to major tears and varying in recovery time from just a couple days to nearly a full year. I might be playing the role of Captain Obvious here when I say that it’s best to do everything you can to prevent a knee injury.
I know, I know - easier said than done. But there are a few steps you can take to ensure your best chance of success (which in this case means playing your sport without being derailed by a knee injury).
My top tips for preventing knee injuries in sports:
Invest in proper strength training
Work on plyometrics and speed weekly
Don’t skip your recovery
Dial in your nutrition
Optimize your sleep
Before we jump into how to actually do these things, let's first talk about injuries and what common knee injuries include.
Struggling with a knee injury?
And if you’ve stumbled upon this blog and want to know more about treatment for knee injuries, I’d love to help you inside my sports physical therapy clinic. Book your free consult call here.
Common knee injuries in sports:
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears/ACL injury
Ligament tears (you also have other ligaments in your knees: the medial collateral ligament or MCL, and the posterior cruciate ligament or PCL)
General muscle and joint overuse injuries
Pain secondary to movement patterns that are inefficient or cause excessive strain on different parts of the knee, likely secondary to decreased motor control and/or strength
At the end of the day, we want to protect our knees so that we can stay active and on the field/court/etc.
Now, let’s explore injury prevention a little more in depth, shall we?
Strength training is key for preventing knee injuries
Start strength training before you have an injury. Proper strength training has a huge impact on performance, endurance, power, and reduces risk of injury significantly. Consistent strength training increases muscle mass and bone density, making your tissues more resilient to outside forces.
Training for power and increased muscle strength helps you run faster, kick harder, skate faster, throw harder, and beat your opponent to the ball. When you look at the all-star athletes in your sport, it’s a safe bet that they’re supplementing their sports practice with strength and conditioning.
The biggest barrier to starting a strength program? Not having proper guidance or coaching for technique and form from the beginning.
When you Google it, you’ll see all sorts of training programs and recommendations from strength and conditioning “experts” that range from doing bodyweight exercises only to those that suggest power lifting only.
In my opinion, as the person who helps patients rehab from their injuries, the best program is one that’s applicable to your sport and designed for YOU.
That means you might have to invest in some private training or working on-on-one with a strength coach to make sure you learn proper mechanics and the basic principles of strength training from the get-go.
In particular, it’s a good strategy to target strength the hips, glutes, and hamstrings. Keeping muscle balance is key, so it’s not enough to just work these areas. Total body strength is what helps to promote wellness and lessen your risk of injury. And don't forget: single leg exercises are required.
Trust me, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Incorporate plyometrics and speed in weekly training
This is one that’s often overlooked in a lot of sports programs. Many spend their time in practice working on sport-specific skills, like dribbling, passing, shooting the ball, or scrimmaging. While they spend a lot of time on technique, they neglect a lot of the other training that is required to make those skills “stick” when it comes to playing the game.
Working on plyometrics and speed training help to strengthen tendons, improve tissue responsiveness to increased load (ex. running, jumping, landing), and help activate the quick-twitch muscle fibers that make you faster, able to change direction quickly, and beat your opponent to the ball.
I recommend athletes incorporate plyometrics at least once or twice per week for optimal results. And another personal favorite is the speed ladder for its ability to work on fast footwork, multi-directional movement, and various types of movement - jumping, hopping, and stepping.
No matter how skilled the other team is, there isn’t much they can do if you beat them to the ball first.
Don’t skip recovery practices
I’m always amazed by how many athletes skip (or are tempted to skip) their recovery practices. In case you were wondering, it’s a bad idea - on a variety of levels. Your body needs support and time off from performing at 100% so that you don’t get injured.
This allows your body time to repair from your training, replenish calories and nutrients, and recover so that you can perform harder and with more effort when you need it the most.
The most elite athletes in the world are religious about taking days off from training and taking the time to support their body’s recovery. Try a variety of recovery practices and identify the ones that work best for you - foam rolling, going to physical therapy, stretching, using a massage gun, going to massage therapy, yoga, and mobility work.
My recommendation: Target on recovery at least 1-2 days per week minimum. There are small daily practices you can incorporate, from those that take 10 minutes to ones that take two hours.
I can’t tell you how many athletes have gotten hurt on the day they were supposed to be recovering or taking an off day.
Take your nutrition seriously
This is another one we’ve heard time after time.
We are all super busy humans, whether you’re running from school to sports practice or from the gym to work, time just seems to fly by! And often times, nutrition is the last thing on our mind especially when it comes to planning ahead.
But the way we fuel our body matters especially when it comes to performance. And making sure your nutrition is dialed in is another way of reducing your risk of injury.
It’s important to not only get enough calories in a day, but to also focus on the quality and timing of food. Fueling your body with the proper amount of macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins) as well as micronutrients helps make your tendons, ligaments, and joints more resilient to stress.
Timing your food intake, especially after exercise, helps the body maximally absorb nutrients and helps your muscles and other connective tissues recover more effectively.
This is an area I always address with my patients, especially those who experience multiple aches and pains or always feel sore. It’s worth working with a nutritionist to learn how you can optimize your nutrition and get personalized tips for success.
Sleep well
You’ll either love it or hate it when I say this, but let’s be real - sleep is important (and underrated)!
It’s crucial to get 7-8 hours of continuous sleep for prime recovery! Why? Because our body goes through sleep cycles and each cycle plays a role in physical and mental recovery. When we sleep, our body repairs tendons, muscles, and ligaments.
Skimping on sleep can spell disaster for your recovery, especially when it becomes a habit. I get it - you have a lot going on and your to-do list is a mile long, but being strict about your sleep hygiene is absolutely crucial in order to prevent injury.
Some of my best tips for sleep health:
Use pillows to get comfy! Start with one between the knees to help reduce twisting and pulling on the spine and add additional pillows to the front and back of your body as needed.
Put your phone on “do not disturb” so that alerts don’t wake you up or distract you from your sleep goals.
I like to keep my room pretty cool at night! Find a temperature you like - cooler is generally better.
This is a perfect time for visualization or meditation practice to help calm the nervous system and prepare you for sleep
There you have it! To help prevent knee injuries in sports, make sure you strength train, work on plyometrics and speed, incorporate recovery practices (and off days), optimize your nutrition, and get plenty of sleep.
Where to find a physical therapist who can help you recovery from a knee injury (and one who understands the needs of an athlete)
If you are looking for physical therapy in Kennewick, my clinic, Game Changer Physical Therapy serves the Tri-Cities area and I’d love to help you. I specialize in working with athletes and active adults and am committed to helping you not only feel better but address whatever we need in order to decrease your risk for future injuries.
You can get started at any time by booking a free discovery call or submitting a contact form.
