“We're killing the players! “Thomas Tuchel, then still on the sidelines as coach of Paris Saint-Germain, raised his warning index finger after the corona restart. His problem: a packed game and, as a result, an uncontrollable training and playing load.
According to Tuchel, the relationship between preparation, performance and recovery is extremely imbalanced due to the game calendar, which would put players in dangerous situations.
And it is precisely this problem of many games, difficult preparation and little regeneration that threatens amateur sport one-on-one year. Because injuries due to overloads and lack of regeneration will also occur this year. The only question is the severity and downtime for the players.
In the last post, we showed you what you can do before your operation (pre-rehabilitation) to keep downtime as low as possible. In this article, we look at the time immediately after surgery — a training program for post-surgery for knee injuries.
Disclaimer:
This blog isn't about questioning whether physiotherapists are doing everything right and getting you back on the pitch in a sport-specific way.
Your therapist is definitely the boss in the ring — he knows your body best, has your knee “in hand” and that is exactly why his opinion is of paramount importance.
Knee injuries are often serious in soccer
It is a sound that shakes the marrow and leg. One thing you'll never forget again: The slightly popping bang of a torn cruciate or outer ligament.
First comes this terrible sound, then the pain and then the certainty of having to get by without soccer for the next few months.
Knee injuries are common — and usually serious — in soccer. Even for professionals, the ability to compete is usually only possible after 9 months, in amateur sports even after 12 months.
Knee injuries are particularly serious, especially among women.
As soon as you wake up from the anesthesia of a knee operation, you first try to organize your thoughts — to get clarity. Become aware of how things will continue in principle, how you can start your comeback work and whether you will ever be able to return to the old level of performance.
Every soccer player is therefore faced with a plethora of question marks and fears.
With this blog article, we want to outline what to expect after knee surgery and what you can do to support you in the following weeks — until rehabilitation training starts in the B42 app.
Valuable training time usually passes immediately after surgery
After three days at the latest, a cruciate ligament patient is now released from hospital using crutches and splints.
Until the seventh day, there is often a standstill. More valuable time elapses before the first contact with a trusted physiotherapist — sometimes up to 14 days.
That is also the time when the threads are already removed.
However, legally insured convalescent patients often lose not only valuable time, but also more valuable appointments with the health insurance company's first prescription.
Especially at the beginning, more should happen than lymphatic drainage and Netflix
After surgery, the first four to six weeks usually fly by.
If you ask the cruciate ligament patient what has been done or what remains in the mind of the injured soccer player, the answer would often be:
I raised my knee, cooled it and had lymphatic drainage twice a week. I spent the rest of the day watching Netflix and reading a motivational book.
Everyone can read here what is happening during this time: not much.
But should that be what you set yourself as a goal for your rehab period?
It must, of course, be acknowledged that we are talking about a sensitive issue here. Each injury is considered to be individual. Were there perhaps even accompanying injuries?
There is no blanket prescription, a blueprint for THE perfect rehab. It can't exist.
But one thing should be clear: Everyone should want to get the most out of their therapy.
No ambitious athlete would say, “70 percent of the time it's enough for me to come back.”
Professional know-how for amateur athletes
So why not incorporate the latest scientific findings. Why not do things similar to professional athletes.
The only question is:
Where do you get the exercises that top athletes use?
This is exactly where we come to the point that should represent the content of this blog article.
As an amateur athlete, what can you do from the moment you arrive home after knee surgery — without major risks.
Conscious breathing as support after knee surgery
There are few situations in which conscious breathing can be harmful — including in the case of cruciate ligament surgery.
Whether it is conscious abdominal breathing or intermittent hypoxia — both methods can benefit circulation and lymphatic flow.
For this reason, breathing techniques are already the first step of your rehabilitation period. An early phase in which you can and may only put limited strain on the knee anyway.
As a rule of thumb, the increased metabolism could make inflammatory processes work better.
We are the game changer — B42
This means: Breathe in for 2 seconds — hold for 2 seconds — exhale for 4 seconds — hold for 2 seconds. That should also be the goal, because this could make the operated knee swell faster, possibly heal scars better and could also promote hormonal release.Next step: Back to activityThen — approximately two to three weeks after the procedure — the next step follows with our training program specifically for the period after knee surgery. In principle, it is important not to be overmotivated during this phase, but rather to move on safe paths.We therefore generally recommend involving your physiotherapist and/or operating doctor and not hesitate to answer any questions.
Exercise 3: Patella Glide
Exercise 4: Rotated Leg Lift
Exercise 5: Seated Heel Slide
Use the cross-education effectWhat do you actually do with your upper body and the healthy side of your legs? The answer. Please work out. Therefore, all exercises should be performed on both sides of the body in order to take advantage of the cross-education effect, a phenomenon in which one-sided training leads to strength gain on the untrained side. However, before you also perform these exercises with the injured leg, we recommend that you consult your therapist or doctor. For the long rehab period: our comeback trainingOur training and rehabilitation experts have been rehabilitating professional athletes for many years following serious injury patterns. Together with him, we have put this know-how into an incredible series of guides for you and are already looking forward to being able to help as many players as possible. With this guide, you can work on your comeback: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) inner ligament injury (MCL) knee joint instabilities meniscus injuryDistortions, twists, effusions, chronic cartilage damage In most cases, a torn cruciate ligament in soccer is not caused by direct contact with the opponent — but it often happens during landings or rapid changes of direction when the body is not sufficiently prepared for them. It is therefore important to protect your body from injuries through targeted training so that it is best never to hear that devastating sound in your own knee and never have to feel this terrible feeling. An operation is imminent If you have injured your cruciate ligament, then the first few days after the injury are decisive. You can find out what you can do here in the article “Prehabilitation”. This helps you both before surgery and during conservative treatment without orthopedic surgery.
Coach Peter Breitfeld has been the brains behind the B42 training programs for three years.
Especially in the area of rehabilitation, the sports therapist studied at the German University of Prevention and Health Management and is a master of his craft.
Whether Olympic champion, Bundesliga professional or district class player — Peter Breitfeld has been able to accompany countless soccer players on their way back to the field in his career as a sports therapist.
Coach Peter is a true all-rounder and, in addition to various continuing education courses in athletic and speed training, has also completed all advanced training courses in neuro athletics (Z-Health Education).
Since last year, he has been training as a CPNI therapist (Clinical Psycho Neuro Immonology) and has his own training and therapy center called FENICS opened.
Be fearless. Be focused. B42
Ardern, C.L., Webster, K.E., Taylor, N.F. & Feller, J.A. (2011). Return to the preinjury level of competitive sport after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery: two-thirds of patients have not returned by 12 months after surgery. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 39 (3), 538—543.
Butler, D. & Moseley, L. (2003). Explain Pain: Second edition. Noigroup Publications, Adelaide, Australia.
Lienhard, L. (2020). Strength starts in the brain: Maximize strength development with neuroathletics, Riva Verlag, Germany.
Luig, P., Bloch, H., Burkhardt, K., Klein, C. & Kuehn, N. (2018). VBG Sports Report 2018 — Analysis of accidents in the two top men's leagues: basketball, ice hockey, soccer and handball. Hambourg: VBG
Manca, A., Dragone, D., Dvir, Z. et al. (2017). Cross-education of muscular strength following unilateral resistance training: a meta-analysis. Eur J Appl Physiol., 117, 2335-2354.
McKeown, P. (2019). Oxygen success factor: Scientifically proven breathing techniques to improve health and increase athletic performance, Riva Verlag, Germany.
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