The Importance of Chiropractic for Peak Performance in Athletes at All Levels
Sports and chiropractic go together like peanut butter and jelly.
They have a long history of supporting and growing each other. Chiropractors emphasize a non-invasive, drug-free approach to the health of people suffering from various musculoskeletal problems.
The biggest focus of chiropractic care, whether we are talking about chiropractic for peak performance in athletes or elsewhere, is usually the prevention of damage or injury.
Athletes who receive regular chiropractic care, whether on the sidelines or in practice, report significant improvements in their sports.
The Athletes Dilemma
When you think about your favorite athlete, it often seems like they are the epitome of health.
It's easy to follow the media reports about how hard they work out, what specific exercises they do, and what diet is best for them.
But what we don't see is the discrepancy between everyday "fitness" and the true expression of "health."
Fitness is used to describe a person's ability to perform a specific task.
Health, on the other hand, describes a person's general state of well-being in which all physiological systems are working together.
Therein lies the athlete's dilemma....
Athletes can be fit without being truly healthy.
This is one of the main reasons why chiropractic is essential for peak performance in athletes. A major factor for this is overtraining syndrome or OTS.
An Overview of Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)
OTS can be caused by any combination of physical, biochemical, or mental-emotional injuries.
These include conditions ranging from seemingly harmless muscle soreness to more harmful malnutrition and even depression.
The factors involved in this condition can vary widely and depend on demographic factors such as age and gender, as well as the individual athlete's training history, current performance level, and sport.
Mindset Moment
When most athletes get injured, they want to return to their sport as soon as possible, and that's where sports chiropractors come in.
Some areas of the body are particularly susceptible to injury. That's why it's important to seek preventative treatments that can reduce the risk of injury or speed up the recovery process.
Three Ways to be at the Top of Your Game with Chiropractic
Thankfully, chiropractors receive countless hours of education on anatomy and physiology, and some pursue further education in the field of sports.
Sports chiropractor Dr. Mike Hadbavny in Victoria BC, holds a chiropractic fellowship in sports sciences meaning he has an additional five years of post-graduate training, and extensive experience with complicated injury and sports injury
Victoria Chiropractor for Peak Performance in Athletes: Sports Chiropractors
Every chiropractor is trained to help injured athletes return to peak performance.
Let's take a closer look at why chiropractic is so important for peak performance in athletes to help you and your favorite athletes succeed!
Risk Reduction
For some, avoiding a sports injury may feel like an uphill battle.
However, with a chiropractor as part of a sports medicine team, prevention is a breeze.
When evaluating the benefits of chiropractic for peak performance in athletes, keep in mind that a chiropractor can also prescribe exercises that, combined with his or her clinical expertise, can completely change the game for any athlete.
If you think of all exercises as a hockey game divided into three phases, you can understand the role of a chiropractor in each phase.
Period 1: The Warm-Up.
Chiropractors can prescribe sport-specific dynamic warm-up exercises to prepare your muscles and joints for the stresses during a practice or game.
Period 2: The Game.
Chiropractors can prescribe sport-specific exercises to strengthen muscles that stabilize areas at high risk for injury, such as ankles, knees, shoulders and wrists.
In addition, the exercises can serve as cross-training to stay active without burning out.
Period 3: The Cool-Down.
And finally, there's the cool down.
After a game or workout, stretching exercises can help your body recover from the intense workout and prevent injury during your next workout.
Improving Recovery
Chiropractic can help repair damage to muscle tissue and prevent future injury by using various therapies such as spinal manipulation, soft tissue work, and exercise.
The main reason these treatments are effective is because of their ability to relieve pain and promote faster recovery.
Chiropractors are trained to offer a wide range of non-pharmacological treatments, meaning no prescription drugs and safer treatment.
By not masking painful symptoms with medications, chiropractic care can work in many ways to treat the cause of pain, whether it is a sports injury or OTS.
While all chiropractors are trained in manual therapies like spinal manipulation and soft tissue work, Dr. Mike Hadbavny has specialized education in sports injuries, nutrition, exercise, and advanced imaging, which are additional ways he may add benefit to improving your recovery.
Balancing Stability and Mobility
Another reason chiropractic is useful for peak performance in athletes is that many sports involve repetitive motion, making certain joints, muscles and ligaments more susceptible to injury.
Chiropractic can help you find a balance between the mobility of these joints and the stability of the structures surrounding them in many different ways.
When it comes to mobility, the first thing that can be used is spinal manipulation.
This is the treatment for which chiropractors are best known. It can be instrumental in restoring mobility to a joint and reducing stiffness in the surrounding muscles.
Victoria Chiropractor for Peak Performance in Athletes: Soft Tissue Treatments
To improve flexibility in the surrounding muscles, other treatments such as Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Manipulation (IASTM), Active Release Technique (ART) or various types of sports massage can be used.
These soft tissue treatments can also promote blood flow to the tissues to aid in healing.
Victoria Chiropractor for Peak Performance in Athletes: Exercise Rehabilitation
You can address stability and strength if an injury has already occurred, or prevent it.
To prevent injury, a chiropractor can consider both your personal history and the specific requirements of your sport to develop exercises that will help you function optimally.
To treat an injury that has already occurred, a chiropractor can provide you with gentle rehabilitation exercises to strengthen mutual muscles in the injured area.
For example, if you tore your ACL, a chiropractor may prescribe exercises to maintain strength in the surrounding leg muscles.
Getting Chiropractic Care in Your Corner
It's easy to see how chiropractic for peak performance can help athletes in all sports and leagues - including you - stay in top shape.
While your favorite athletes have entire sports medicine teams to help them, you too can help your body perform at its best by seeing a chiropractor.
First, chiropractic provides a safe and non-invasive treatment option for pain by relieving pain in the body or pain due to a specific condition.
While there is a time and place for pain medications, non-drug treatments such as chiropractic are just as effective and can reduce the risk of side effects from these medications.
In addition, sports performance can be improved with simple sport-specific stretches and exercises to improve flexibility and strength.
Treatments used to improve mobility often reduce muscle soreness by improving blood flow and decreasing hypertonicity in the muscles.
Victoria Chiropractic for Peak Performance in Athletes: Recovery
Most importantly, chiropractors know the anatomy and physiology of the body, how it responds to movement patterns, and even the best treatment methods.
Your chiropractor needs to know how to repair injuries and how to get athletes back to their sport safely.
In other words, using chiropractic for peak performance in athletes just makes sense.
If you are an athlete looking to maintain or improve your physical strength and flexibility, or if you want to prevent a sports-related injury without medication and other potentially invasive treatments, you should add Dr. Mike Hadbavny Victoria sports chiropractor to your sports medicine team.
When your body is moving efficiently and pain-free, you may be amazed at how much healthier you feel and how much better your athletic performance is.
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Dr. Mike Hadbavny
Victoria Sports Chiropractor FRCCSS(C)
If you are interested in learning more about how chiropractic care can be effective for your particular condition or health goals, contact Dr. Mike Hadbavny at 250-881-7881 today to make an appointment and discover the many benefits of seeing a chiropractor in Victoria BC. Contact us today.