In the world of sports, one of the most troublesome injuries is linked to the Achilles tendon. Connecting the calf muscles to the bones in the heel, the Achilles tendon is responsible for an athlete’s movement. Be it walking, sprinting, jumping, or even climbing stairs, an injury to these tendons compromises everything. And even an Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe winner like Russell Crowe, is not immune from such an injury.

But how should one rehabilitate an injury to the Achilles tendon? Joe Rogan’s newest guest seems to have an answer to that. But it’s not any conventional physiotherapy rehab. This story has romance as the medicine to cure an injured Achilles.

Russell Crowe’s unconventional rehab leaves Joe Rogan flabbergasted

On episode #2191 of the Joe Rogan Experience, the beloved UFC color commentator sat down together with the ‘Gladiator’ star for an elaborate talk. As the conversation proceeded, the duo stumbled upon Crowe’s Achilles tendon injury. Needless to say, the 56-year-old podcaster was pretty curious about how the legendary actor managed to rehabilitate his legs. He asked the 60-year-old about the exercises that didn’t hurt.

However, Crowe sent forth a shockwave when he revealed that physiotherapy exercises simply made things worse. There was a time when everything that he did struck the nerves and pain gushed through his body. To enhance recovery, Crowe even tried administering full blood injections, which are rich in platelets, and painkillers to ease the pain. But everything failed. The Hollywood star recollected, “And it just wasn’t working, man. And I was doing the rehab exercises and everything, and I could feel that with the rehab exercises, that they were re-damaging the area. They weren’t making it better, you know.”

Crowe was left with no choice but to discontinue his exercise sessions. He claimed that he began limping the day after he exercised his leg. But things began to change when he started dating a girl who was a bit much into tennis. The actor narrated, “Then I started going out with a girl who loves playing tennis. I used to like playing tennis when I was younger. So, cool. Let’s play tennis, you know. Our romance is based on the fact that the first time I played tennis, I couldn’t beat her. ‘Okay. I’m gonna keep you around and play you enough times till I work out how to grind you into the dirt, young lady.’” 

How come tennis helped Crowe accomplish something that even therapy and exercise couldn’t? Well, it all came down to the short bursts of running associated with the sport. While playing tennis with his romantic interest, Crowe managed to take enough breaks in between games. And that helped him heal through the injury. 

The Kiwi actor continued, “You have a break between games or whatever. And then another burst of running, another burst of running. I seem to have rehabbed my Achilles by playing tennis.” Needless to say, Rogan was left in astonishment with the story. All he uttered after that, was a “wow”. 

But Crowe is not the only one to astonish Rogan with an Achilles injury story. The legendary NFL quarterback, Aaron Rodgers‘ recovery greatly impressed the UFC color commentator. Let’s take a look at the conversation between Rodgers and Rogan.

JRE host was amazed by Aaron Rodgers’ rehab

Rogan invited the NFL star to the JRE studio for episode #2099 of the podcast. Therein, the talks proceeded toward the quarterback’s Achilles tear, back in late 2023. Rodgers was carted off the field during the Jets’ game against the Buffalo Bills after the latter’s defensive end, Leonard Floyd, sacked Rodgers. This was Rodgers’ first drive ever with the Jets!

The former Packers QB assured Rogan that after his rehabilitation, he was able to sprint at maximum speed. But unlike Crowe, the New York Jet star opted for the traditional method. Rodgers said, “So the cool thing is I really attacked the rehab the first few months and kind of wanted to go as hard as I could for two months to see where I was at and also see where the team was at.” After all, the NFL legend didn’t want to miss out on an entire season with his retirement seemingly etching closer with every passing moment.

Rodgers admitted that he took painkillers to ease the pain. To be exact, it was Percocet, a combination of oxycodone with other analgesics. Yet, his injury began becoming a hindrance at the games. Nevertheless, the 40-year-old quarterback made a splendid recovery and is now running at full speed.

What are your thoughts on Crowe’s method of rehabilitating his injury? Do you think the traditional way of rehabilitation is better? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.