Water and land based rehabilitation programme for young female athlete with Achilles tendinopathy
| Rehabilitation phase | Rehabilitation goals | Rehabilitation programme |
|---|---|---|
| Early phase (1st week) | Maintain cardiovascular endurance | Pool |
| Swimming interval training | ||
| Sessions 1–4 (40 min) | Dorsiplantar flexion | Pool and land based ankle calf stretching |
| ROM improvement | ||
| Sessions 5–7 (50 min) | Gait normalisation | Pool |
| Walking (in different stride length, depths, speeds) | ||
| Proprioception ability | Pool | |
| Ankle calf stretching | ||
| Mild static balance & isometric exercises | ||
| Wobble board training | ||
| Single leg/balance | ||
| Calf strengthening | Pool | |
| Open kinetic exercises | ||
| Dynamic strength with special equipment for all the lower limb muscle groups | ||
| Intermediate phase (2nd week) | Maintain cardiovascular endurance | Pool |
| Sessions 8–14 (60 min) | Swimming interval training | |
| Increase gait endurance | Pool | |
| Mild dynamic strengthening (gastrocnemius & soleus) | ||
| Gradually decreasing depths | ||
| Land | ||
| Progressively to fully weight bearing activities, focus on Achilles tendon | ||
| Late phase (3rd week) | Maintain cardiovascular endurance | Pool |
| Sessions 15–21 (60–80 min) | Swimming interval training | |
| More land based programme | Pool | |
| Specific event training skills | Impact exercises | |
| Land | ||
| Impact exercises in grass and gradually in track and field flooring | ||
| Passive and active ankle calf stretching | ||
| Return to sport phase (4th–6th week) (60–90 min) | Back to training | Land |
| Progressively augmented training intensity and volume |