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Do you think we can reduce the number of ACL injuries in women by increasing the number of leg exercises they do? What works best for this -- leg presses? Squats? Speed drills?

Researchers are just beginning to identify specific training programs that might help reduce the number of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in women. We may not be able to change the alignment factors that contribute to this problem. But we are finding ways to alter muscle recruitment, motor control, and stiffness of the knee in response to changes in load and torque. The result may be to prevent soft tissues from yielding too much under physical stress in women. It's not clear yet whether it's a matter of adding more repetitions or higher resistance to the traditional leg exercises performed. It may be more helpful to learn how to recruit more muscle fibers faster when engaging in certain types of physical movements. Sudden shifts in weight, pivot shifts, or landing a jump are examples of common movement patterns that result in ACL injury. Physical therapists are especially interested in finding neuromuscular strategies to use for controlling motions that could cause an injury. Actions that prepare and activate select muscles can be trained. This includes using muscles (such as the hamstrings muscle) at the right time with the right amount of force during weight bearing activities. More information will be published on this topic in the near future. We will keep you posted on the latest.

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