The effect of a one-leg cycling aerobic training program during the rehabilitation period in soccer players with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Objectives: To examine cardiorespiratory fitness, resting cardiac parameters, and muscle oxygenation changes in soccer players having undergone anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction and to assess the benefits of a one-leg cycling (OLC) aerobic training program performed during the rehabilitation period. Design: Randomized clinical trial. Setting: Outpatient clinic, primary care. Patients: Twenty-four, male, regional-level soccer players who had undergone surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee. Intervention: Patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: either an individualized OLC aerobic training program with the untreated leg plus a rehabilitation program (training group, TG) or a group that received the same rehabilitation program but without aerobic training (control group, CG).