Wow, friend just tore his ACL...

[Jim Ouini]

...doing leg extensions.

When I first met him he was doing quarter squats with 275. Took him awhile to believe that below parallel was better but he stuck with it for a couple months and already up to 405 for 5 deep reps, he also said his knee was feeling better for it.

Anyway, I saw him briefly yesterday training with a friend of his who's a PT and I guess they had a 'leg day': Squat, RDL, leg press and finished up with some leg extensions - well he just emailed me and said he tore his ACL and meniscus (sp?) right at the end. I always thought it was a lateral stress that did it.

Regardless, it's bad news fo him, I was seriously thinking he'd get to 495 with some serious training.

 

[Stacemranger]

That sucks. My wife tore her ACL and meniscus also playing basketball(college) and had to quit the team. It sucked bad, she still has yet to get the surgery. I keep telling her, but she's stubborn.

 

[blut wump]

I think the jury is still out on whether surgery gives the best and speediest chance of recovery with a torn acl.

 

[captainfly202]

That depends on how serious the tear is, i.e. partial or complete tear, as well as whatever else might get messed up during the tear. But for the acl to tear during leg extensions is kind of....well, freakish. I could understand the mcl or pcl, but acl? was your friend doing them with his feet at different angles or something?

 

[Jim Ouini]

That depends on how serious the tear is, i.e. partial or complete tear, as well as whatever else might get messed up during the tear. But for the acl to tear during leg extensions is kind of....well, freakish. I could understand the mcl or pcl, but acl? was your friend doing them with his feet at different angles or something?

I wasn't there to see it, but it seemed odd to me too. Like I said I always thought it was a sideways thing.

He told me it happened at the bottom, which corroborates what I've read about that being the point where the load is the greatest and knee is weakest.

 

[nelmsjer]

I can see this happening...IF, and only IF...he was violently jerking the weight up from the bottom at the very end of the eccentric. I suppose the anterior stress on the knee with the combination of final eccentric + violent concentric + a lot of weight could equal an ACL tear. Who knows...I'm just trying to make sense of it.

Either way, that's just freaky.

 

[DZLS]

so if we use proper form, this is not something we should have to worry about...?

and what kind of weight was this guy using...?

 

[cyrex]

...doing leg extensions.

When I first met him he was doing quarter squats with 275. Took him awhile to believe that below parallel was better but he stuck with it for a couple months and already up to 405 for 5 deep reps, he also said his knee was feeling better for it.

Anyway, I saw him briefly yesterday training with a friend of his who's a PT and I guess they had a 'leg day': Squat, RDL, leg press and finished up with some leg extensions - well he just emailed me and said he tore his ACL and meniscus (sp?) right at the end. I always thought it was a lateral stress that did it.

Regardless, it's bad news fo him, I was seriously thinking he'd get to 495 with some serious training.

I had the same problem, except I didn't tear my ACL, I completely destroyed it (5 months after the injury I had surgery and there was no ACL left). But then I was playing football and not doing leg extensions lol

HOWEVER during physical therapy that was the 1 exercise I was told not to do. As a matter of fact I was told to do Squats, leg press, leg curls, etc but no leg extensions for up to a year after the surgery. The leg extension puts press on the knee joint rather than the muscles.

 

[NorgePrecision]

I have totally cut out leg extensions from my leg workout. Front squats and lunges replaced it. I don't like the way my legs feel after the workout. The movement isn't natural at all.

 

[Jim Ouini]

I had the same problem, except I didn't tear my ACL, I completely destroyed it (5 months after the injury I had surgery and there was no ACL left). But then I was playing football and not doing leg extensions lol

HOWEVER during physical therapy that was the 1 exercise I was told not to do. As a matter of fact I was told to do Squats, leg press, leg curls, etc but no leg extensions for up to a year after the surgery. The leg extension puts press on the knee joint rather than the muscles.

Oh yeah that reminds me, he's already torn it twice. Not sure what his physical therapist told him about rehab, and don't know how long ago his last tear was.

Still, as I mentioned, he'd already killed his legs doing deep squats so I'm not sure why he was doing leg extensions in the first place.