3 Exercises For Early Stage ACL Rehab (Not Straight Leg Raises)

The lack of creativity in the early stages of ACL rehab frustrates me. Too many therapists only give you clamshells and straight leg raises and wonder why you're not making progress. While there's nothing inherently wrong with these exercises, they can get super boring if they're never progressed or switched up. I believe it's valuable to give athletes hard exercises in those initial phases.

1. Plank with Hip Extension

I love this exercise because it gets the whole body working and really requires the quad of the down leg to work super hard isometrically. This can be progressed from just marching to actually holding the position for 30-60 seconds.

2. Pike Opposite Leg Touch

I love this exercise to work on terminal knee extension (straightening the knee) as well as getting the whole body involved. This is a good exercise to get some gentle load through the quadriceps tendon early on.

3. High Plank KB Drag

I love this exercise to get some weight shifting into the legs in a weight-bearing environment. We spend so much time on our back in physical therapy — these exercises get the whole body involved and spice things up.

Giving patients the freedom to sweat early on in rehab is powerful. It makes them feel good and accomplished. Don't take that from them!