I would like to ask some questions about above mentioned sample program. In the clinic where I work, we have a protocol for our post operative ACLR clients. We were taught to do with them a lot of so called dynamic exercises, and running on treadmill after 11 weeks. I mean exercises like drop squats drop lunges, acceleration and deccaleration in different planes of motion, jumps, landing jumps etc. I see that this program does not involve this drills. Does is mean that those type of exercises which I mention are not obligatory in this stage of rehab?
I really hope that you are using more than time to start adding in more dynamic exercises. What program are you referring to here? We have not released a post-operative protocol and the knee rehab template was designed for athletes trying to return to barbell work. If an athlete needs to return to a sport that involves running/jumping/cutting those types of exercises absolutely need to be a part of their programming.
Gotcha, the average person who doesn’t participate in any sport and doesn’t have any specific needs is a bit of a different discussion in general. There is actually pretty decent evidence those people do not even need to undergo the procedure in the first place. The main reason for undergoing a reconstruction is to increase the likelihood of returning to cutting sports so if an individual is not participating in those sports, there likely isn’t a need to go through the 9+ months of rehab. For athletes attempting to return to cutting sports, as a soft rule, once we are at an ~80% LSI side to side we will start some higher level drills. Of course even this exists on a spectrum as I think it is fine to work on “jump technique” components even earlier like a step and drop onto the surgical leg. The athlete this program was developed for was not going to be doing as much jumping/cutting but did need to be able to carry large objects at awkward angles and move through odd spaces. So we worked more on drills related to this in the later phases. That being said, I will absolutely caveat that this was one of the hardest phases to program online as many of the reactive drills are much easier where the athlete is having to react to the coach/therapist versus and arbitrary “sometimes go here” cue.