Common causes and prevention for knee injuries in sports

By Adam Stein

The prevalence of knee injuries is becoming more and more common amongst social, amateur and professional sportsman worldwide. It is seen in the likes of social indoor soccer to the profession level of Australian star Quade cooper in the 2011 rugby world cup.

The most prevalent knee injuries are the ACL tear (Anterior cruciate ligament) and medial meniscus tears. These tears can be partial or full tears. After an ACL or meniscal tear generally surgical intervention will be needed to get the sportsman able to return to sport.

Common causes for Knee injuries

• Poor lower body flexibility ( especially Hamstrings)
• Improper lower body muscular strength
• Imbalanced Biomechanics
• Incorrect sports equipment ( Soccer studs too long)
• Playing sports when unfit or unprepared , (this lead to rapid fatigue of stabilizing muscles)
• Inadequate warm up

How to prevent knee injuries

• Always warm up properly before playing any sport
• When doing gym training do not leave out lower body exercises , incorporate compound exercises for adequate strength such as squats and lunges and include isolation exercises such as knee flexion and calf raises.
• Maintain correct lower body flexibility, stretch after playing sport and after all gym workouts.
• Avoid overtraining and “listen to your body” if you are feeling sore do not exercise and allow for recovery.    
• Include proprioception and agility training into your gym training routine.
• Before playing sport after a long break ensure sport specific exercises and polymerics have been done so the body is ready to take on all the demands of your sport.