basic equipment. The system
could also help customers
at shoe stores choose
ready-made orthotics.
Calgary researcher Matt
Jordan, a PhD and director of
Strength and Conditioning
at the Canadian Sport
Institute Calgary (CSIC),
is also working to reduce
knee injuries. His recent
work focuses on the anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL),
a band of tissue that helps
stabilize the knee joint. ACL
injuries are common in sports
with sudden twists and turns;
these movements can cause
the ligament to rip in half or
disconnect from the bone.
“Normally, a person feels
a ‘pop’ in their knee and,
usually, a lot of pain,”
Jordan says.
Surgery and physiotherapy
can repair these injuries and
make such an injury a thing
of the past. But 40 to 45 per
cent of people do not fully
return to their sport and
many who do may have a
second ACL injury in either
knee.
The high risk of reinjury
makes it hard for athletes
and their coaches to know
when or if it’s safe to resume
muscles. The method can also
help athletes fine-tune their
rehabilitation strategy (one
of the CSIC’s specialties).
Jordan notes that
the research focuses on
competitive skiers and
could be used to help athletes
in any sport and level of
competition. A long-time
coach and athlete himself, he
hopes his research helps more
athletes return to the sports
they love.
“There’s nothing worse
than getting injured and
not being able to play your
sport again.” |a
We can
change the
biomechanics
of the knee
by changing
the way the
foot hits the
ground
training and competition.
Right now, athletes’ knees
and movements are evaluated
to determine if they are ready
to train. This only offers a
rough idea of their recovery.
Jordan has developed
a simple new method for
assessing athletes’ knee
strength after ACL surgery.
It measures and compares
the functional strength of
the injured and healthy leg
by having athletes jump
vertically on force plates.
If the force of the landing
varies significantly between
the legs, that suggests the
athlete needs more physical
training to strengthen the
injured knee and supporting
