Rehabilitation is an integral part of an athletic trainer’s profession. Not only to athletic trainers have to treat injuries, they have to get athletes back to playing who have sustained an injury. This is done be developing a rehabilitation protocol based on the injury that the athlete has.

The athletic trainer will then advance the athlete through the rehab process until the athlete has gained his or her full range of motion and strength. Once these have been gained, the athlete will go through functional exercises to make sure the athlete can play in their respective sport. Below are two sample rehab protocols of common injuries found in sports.

Core Rehab

The core is an important part of the human body. As you can imagine, the core is in the center of your body, and includes many body parts that are essential to an athlete. Some of these parts include the abdominals, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, and back muscles.

The core is so important because many movements originate from the core. Therefore, if the core is weak, the athlete will have movement problems and will not be able to perform to the best of their ability. This is why it is so important to keep the core strong.

The following link is a more in depth look at the core and includes several exercises that can be utilized to strengthen the core: (www.kch.uiuc.edu/athletic-training-ed/Core.ppt)

Ankle Rehab

Ankle injuries in athletics are very common, and that is why it is so important to know how to treat them.
The ankle is a very complex structure and is used a great deal in most sports. This is why it is essential
that the ankle is healed entirely and rehabilitated properly before the athlete is ready to return to play.

The following link is a more in depth look at the ankle and includes several exercises that can be utilized
to strengthen the ankle: (www.kch.uiuc.edu/athletic-training-ed/Ankle.ppt)