The New Protocols for Knee Injury Mitigation and Recovery (Exclusive Interview)

Right now, there is a very concerning trend in sports. Injury rates almost across the board are increasing at unprecedented levels. Knee injuries, in particular, are taking thousands of athletes out of play and jeopardizing their careers. According to the British journal of sports medicine and UCLA Health, knee injuries account for 41 % of all sports injuries. Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, specifically, have been increasing at endemic levels. From 2007 to 2022, the average ACL injury rate grew 25.9%. Tiger, Roger Federer, and Kobe, the three athletes we’ve studied thus far on the podcast have all had knee surgeries at some point in their career. Today, I brought in Zak Woodward to talk all about knee health. Zak is a performance coach who has built a career out of helping athletes recover from knee surgery as quickly as possible. His athletes have seen unprecedentedly low re injury rates. In today’s episode, I talk with Zak about why knee injuries are increasing, how athletes can lower risk of knee injury, and his philosophy on how athletes can come back stronger after surgery. Links Mentioned : Training With Zak - https://zwoodwardafc.typeform.com/to/AQ7Z2aE6 Zak's Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/3MwrEHBJSS5K8vqSy1M3Al?si=b24ddd68970c45bb Zak's IG - https://www.instagram.com/zakwoodwardatp/ Floss Bands - https://amzn.to/3XoFNbA Athlete Stack - https://designsforsport.com/collections/retail/products/athlete-stack?_pos=1&_fid=34df57d86&_ss=c&selling_plan=3393683700 Exponential Athlete Socials Support the Pod on Patreon: https://patreon.com/ExponentialAthlete Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/athletexpodcast Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/exponentialathlete/ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-exponential-athlete-podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4XmCCYsVVOVmRavFYT5b1C Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-exponential-athlete/id1726985417 Website: https://exponentialathlete.co/ Affiliates: Track your health data with Whoop. Get 1 month free - join.whoop.com/exponentialathlete Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:00 - Why are Knee Injuries Increasing? 00:04:54 - Are there Common Deficiencies? 00:06:08 - Flexibility vs Strength 00:08:51 - Diagnostics For Knee Risk 00:12:13 - Relationship between knee and other injuries 00:14:39 - Muscle Balance 00:17:03 - Injury mitigation best practices 00:22:55 - What can coaches do? 00:27:08 - Skill acquisition and physical readiness 00:29:25 - Skill acquisition & Strength Coaching 00:34:39 - Zak Origin Story 00:38:55 - Conventional Wisdom vs ATG 00:43:49 - Time Vs Progress Criteria 00:46:28 - Variance in Healing Ability 00:51:16 - What Mindset Should Athletes Have After Injury 00:53:35 - What is the role of pain in recovery? 00:59:27 - What is the role of the athlete in recovery? 01:02:41 - How do you get past the mental block of competing? 01:09:44 - ACL Tear Scenario 01:16:25 - Are there phases of recovery? 01:21:08 - Extra help for recovery 01:25:40 - Bonus Content:: Deep Squat Research Cited: https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/Suppl_1/i1.1 https://projectplay.org/news/2023/11/22/analysis-serious-knee-injury-among-teen-athletes-grows-26 https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/acl-tears-in-young-athletes-at-epidemic-levels#:~:text=Tears%20and%20injuries%20of%20the,will%20sustain%20an%20ACL%20tear. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/sports-and-recreational-injuries/#:~:text=Sports%20and%20recreational%20injuries%20increase,increased%20another%2012%%20in%202022. https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/21/us/sports-injuries-rise-trnd/index.html