GreatLIFE membership helps baseball player recover from ACL tear

Jan. 29, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness.

It was the second game of the Sioux Amateur Baseball League when the season sadly proved to be a short one for Derek DeBates.

As he ran toward a shallow fly ball, “I did a sudden stop, and my knee gave out,” said DeBates, who ended up tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in that May 2018 baseball game.

Sidelined, he needed surgery the following month and started physical therapy a few weeks after that. By late summer, he decided to join GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness.

“At that point, I was starting to do things that called for more explosive moments,” he said.

He started off at GreatLIFE’s Performance Center and then moved to Woodlake Athletic Club.

“I liked the locations’ green space to do a lot of jumping and agility drills,” he said. “I would do my PT once a week, and then I’d do exercises every other day or every day at GreatLIFE as much as I possibly could. I couldn’t do much without getting sore, but I ramped it up to five or six days a week.”

As he progressed, he started running, and “at Woodlake, they have different styles of treadmills, so while the old-school one bothered me, when I started doing rehab I could use one with ridges that lessened the impact and worked wonderfully.”

His wife, Erin, joined GreatLIFE as well and found the variety of options fit her schedule as a nurse, he added. They have taken advantage of other GreatLIFE benefits and plan to do more.

“We’ve gone bowling and have been looking forward to using some of the other perks,” he said. “I like the wide variety of locations. While I primarily use Woodlake, I like the gym at 26th and Marion and the one at 41st and Sertoma. It’s about the same distance as Woodlake from our house, and each one has a little something different to offer.”

DeBates still visits GreatLIFE three to five days a week while he continues physical therapy.

“A lot of it is explosive movements and single-leg squats and strength training, but I also do upper body and cardio intermixed,” he said.

“When I first started, I could barely do a single-leg squat, so seeing progress every day really helped. I’m proud to say I’ve made a full comeback, and I’m stronger than ever before.”

This season, he plans to be back on the baseball field and credits his GreatLIFE experience for helping him get there.

“It was very beneficial to me,” he said. “It really kept my focus on the goal of getting back to everyday activities. Could I have just accepted I would never move the same? Absolutely. Did I do that? Absolutely not. Your setback is just a setup for your comeback.”

Ready to experience what GreatLIFE can do for your life? Join GreatLIFE now and receive no enrollment fee, no money down and your 13th month free! Click here to learn more.

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GreatLIFE membership helps baseball player recover from ACL tear

“Your setback is just a setup for your comeback.” This athlete credits his GreatLIFE membership for helping him recover from a big injury.

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