Kettlebells for ACL Rehab - Underground Strength Coach

Kettlebells for ACL RehabWhen I tore my ACL it was after over a decade long of training like a bodybuilder.Plenty of machines coupled with a lack of listening to my body eventually caused thebreakdown of my knee. I was extremely frustrated with the injury and this is when myintense research into true “functional” training began.It was over a year and my knee had still not responded the way I expected it to. Iperformed exercises such as lunges, BW squats, barbell squats and deadlifts of allvariations. I had stumbled across an article on kettlebells and how combat athletes andspec ops military personnel were using them. They seemed to be the perfect new additionto my arsenal of training, little did I know they would speed up the rehab of my knee.I purchased two pairs of kettlebells, the 24 kilos and 32 kilos. I did all my training withdouble kettlebells, but looking back, I could have (possible should have) started mysquats with only one kettlebell at a time.The great benefit to the rehab with kettlebells was how I was able to easily sink waybelow parallel with comfort and ease. Also, the weight being placed in front of the bodytook strain off of my knees where as regular back squats were starting to bother my kneeswhenever I went above 225 lbs. On the flip side, once I started chatting with LouieSimmons, he told me how ALL of his guys box squat. Now I do box squats and the painCopyright 2005 www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

in my knees when back squatting is gone. As you age the body changes so if something isbroke, FIX IT!The technique I used when squatting was something I picked up from Steve Cotter, RKCat one of his workshops. He would have us squat as low as possible, once we got to thispoint we would exhale forcefully and this allowed us to sink even further. At this deepsquat position I would sit for 2 or 3 seconds and then explode back up. After a few weeksof training like this my knee starting feeling great again. Stability was coming back andflexibility was back to normal thanks to this form of squatting. I guess you can say it wascalled loaded stretching or perhaps forced stretching. It felt good to me so I kept workingon this exercise. Obviously you need to do what is good for you.Above, deep squats using one kettlebell.Copyright 2005 www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Below, deep squats using two kettlebells.The other exercise that helped my strength, stability and flexibility was kettlebell swings.I performed these during my warm up of EVERY workout. This meant a minimum ofthree times a week I did swings. This strengthened my hamstrings big time which was inCopyright 2005 www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

need of a rude awakening after my surgery. All proprioception, strength and muscle sizewere gone and I had to bring them back! The kettlebell swing, with its fast movement(especially the eccentric phase) helped teach my body some explosive strength againthrough this ‘reactive” method. I would sometimes pull the kettlebell down forcefullyrather than letting it fall back on its own. This was great and really kicked my reactivetraining into high gear.In addition to the above exercises I did plenty of variety using bodyweight, freeweights,and other kettlebell exercises. Lunges of all variations, RDL’s, trap bar deads and bentknee deads, as well as leg exercises using sand bags and logs.Hopefully you will NEVER have to actually use the information in this article as I wouldhate to hear how someone has torn their ACL. The best prehab is to stay away from themachines, incorporate a large variety of training tools, methods and modalities.Zach Even – Esh is a Strength & Performance Coach located in NJ. To check out morekick ass articles on Russian Kettlebells visit www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.comCopyright 2005 www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com