Orthopaedics Menu ACL Injury Prevention Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Meet our ACL Injury Prevention Team Athletic Partnerships Sports Medicine Sports Injury Data and Prevention Program Athletes Maximizing Performance ACL Injury Prevention Program At St. Elizabeth, we help athletes gain strength and stability, perform at their peak and remain agile and healthy all year long. This partnership of St. Elizabeth Healthcare, St. Elizabeth Physicians and OrthoCincy Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine enables us to support athletes on their journey to be their best. We care for student-athletes, professionals and weekend warriors. Through our ACL Injury Prevention Program, we help athletes increase strength and learn new techniques and skills to reduce their risk of an ACL injury. High school athletes have a 1 in 100 chance of tearing their ACL. Sports that involve cutting, jumping, landing and pivoting increase the risk of ACL injury. Patients who have a primary ACL injury are twice as likely to tear their other ACL. About 75% of all ACL injuries did not result from contact. Female athletes are four to six times more likely to tear their ACL than their male counterparts. The highest incidence of ACL tears occurs in soccer, volleyball, football and basketball, but they are possible in all sports. ACL Education The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is located in the center of your knee. It keeps your leg bones (the tibia and femur) from sliding forward and rotating. A robust and stable knee keeps you kicking, running, twisting and cutting — all without injury. But a knee that isn’t healthy, strong or stable can give out, and an ACL tear is often the result. ACL & The Female Athlete Female athletes are four to six times more likely to experience an ACL injury. The cause for this phenomenon has many factors including physical, structural, and biomechanical. The ACL Injury Prevention Program, developed by the Orthopaedic Institute at St. Elizabeth, has been designed to benefit all athletes, both male and female. What is ACL Injury Prevention? Many ACL injuries are preventable. It takes strength training and sports training to ensure movements are completed correctly and athletes understand proper techniques. The ACL Injury Prevention Program helps ensure movements are completed accurately and athletes understand proper techniques that enable them to move more safely with less risk of injury. Prevention for Athletes with a Prior ACL Injury After an ACL injury, the rate of re-injury to the same ACL, or injuring the opposite knee’s ACL, is possible. One way to minimize those injuries is to continue to train and strengthen the knees. Injury prevention programs can be utilized by athletes who have experienced a prior ACL injury to continue to strengthen their knee after the initial recovery period. ACL Injury Prevention Program Using training interventions including stretches, plyometrics, agility drills and education, we help athletes compete safely. Training exercises take place year-round and are geared towards weekend warriors, school athletes and professional athletes. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Dynamic/Functional Warm-Ups This dynamic warm-up progressively increases your blood flow and warms your muscles up gradually. When completed properly, this warm-up will enhance athletic performance and help minimize the risk of soft tissue injury. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Neuromuscular Balance Lower extremity injuries are often linked to poor balance. Our team guides you through balance exercises to improve your neuromuscular control and challenge your muscles to work together as effectively and efficiently as possible. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Jump Training / Landing Stabilization Understanding proper jumping and landing techniques is key to healthy knees. This training is designed to improve jumping and landing techniques. We use drills that train you to land with your kneecaps facing forward in line with your hip and feet and teach you how to let your muscles “absorb” the forces of jumping or landing. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Plyometrics Plyometric exercises are movements performed in a quick, repetitive pattern. This training helps you develop power. Plyometrics training for the knees includes a series of jumping activities that help you build strength. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Strengthening During the strengthening component of our program, our team works with you to improve your core and lower extremity strength to reduce the risk of ACL injuries. Core stability strengthening helps reduce the load on knee joints during athletic activity, which reduces injuries. Pre-Season Workout Program In-Season Maintenance Program Meet the ACL Injury Prevention Team Adam Metzler, MD Orthopaedic Surgeon, Sports Medicine, OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Full Bio Kathy Boehmer, PT, SCS, ATC Specialty Program Coordinator, Sports Medicine, St. Elizabeth Healthcare Full Bio Logan Siemer, DPT Physical Therapist, Sports Medicine, OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Full Bio Samantha Zoulek, DPT Physical Therapist, Sports Medicine, OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Full Bio Meet Our ACL Surgeons Our ACL Injury Prevention Team is supported by a full team of surgeons from OrthoCincy Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine that are leaders in their field. The expertise and care for ACL and other knee injuries allows St. Elizabeth provides some of the best knee surgery options in the region. Check out the surgeons that help bring this expertise to patients. James Bilbo, MD Forest Heis, MD Bruce Holladay, MD Adam Metzler, MD Brian Wissel, MD