Use the power of chiropractic to help athletes reach the highest levels of performance

By DelRae Messer, DC

If you are now (or ever were) an athlete, you’re well aware that athletes are among the toughest patients to work with. They care about the bottom line: enhanced performance, speedy recovery, and injury prevention. As a chiropractor, you know that chiropractic not only benefits injury treatment and prevention, it also facilitates optimal nervous system function.

Whether working with high school, college, or professional athletes, keeping it simple seems to be the best approach.

A research study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Research, Study and Clinical Investigation,¹ indicated chiropractic care might improve athletic performance by nearly 17 percent over a two-week period. The report also concluded that subluxation-free athletes react faster, coordinate better, and execute fine movements with improved accuracy and precision, amounting to an overall better performance.

Chiropractic benefits for athletes

1. Posture improvement boosts athletic performance: For example: A baseball player who makes postural improvement through the core can develop a faster pitch. With football players, postural improvements and improved hip rotation can improve overall speed.

2. Joint pain reduction: Athletes who are in pain cannot perform optimally. Pain can induce compensation patterns that lead to future injuries, and thus decreasing pain can reduce the risk of injury.

3. Better range of motion: Muscles at work produce force throughout a given range. Adding up the force through the range of motion equals total strength. When you have short and contracted muscles from an injury or pain, those muscles will go through a smaller range of motion and therefore produce less force and less overall total strength.

4. Increased focus: There are studies that have shown increased blood flow to the brain and higher cognitive testing in athletes after a chiropractic adjustment.

5. Enhanced joint flexibility: Athletes who engage in repetitive movements are at greater risk of degeneration and osteoarthritis if the joints involved are not moving through their proper range of motion. Pitchers in baseball can throw at a velocity of 90 to 100 mph, and commonly experience degeneration at the elbow when they do not have full range of motion through the arm.

6. Reduced risk of injury: The strongest indicator of an athlete’s potential for future injury is a history of injury in the past. After an injury, they usually find ways to compensate and these patterns, with time, can add up to

future problems. An increase in flexibility of the soft tissue and joints can reduce their risks of such injuries.

7. Better recovery rate after injury: Chiropractic adjustments, rehabilitation, and soft tissue work can reduce the formation of scar tissue and compensation patterns by aligning collagen in the proper direction, which allows for improved healing and repair of the muscle.

Celebrities using chiropractors

Celebrity athletes who are reported to seek regular chiropractic care include Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, Jerry Rice, Andy Roddick, Evander Holyfield, Joe Montana, Dan O’Brian, and Lance Armstrong.

According to former Dallas Cowboys’ running back, Emmitt Smith, “Playing in a football game is like being in 30 to 40 car accidents. That stuff takes its toll. But if you take advantage of the healthcare, balance your body back out, put it back where it’s supposed to be, you function better, and you recover faster.”

Chiropractic Economics magazine has reported that 95 percent of NFL teams regularly provide chiropractic care for their players.

The majority of high schools, colleges, and professional sports teams are looking for easy and effective ways for their athletes to make better nutrition choices. The majority of athletes fuel their body with quick, convenient fast food that raises cellular inflammation, oxidative stress, and hinders recovery and performance. Optimal food choices can combat oxidative stress, promote recovery, and enhance athletic performance.

Simple solutions can be effective. Athletes can benefit from food substitution lists, optimal food choices, and an easy-to-follow nutrition plan.

Supplementation with athletes can be tricky. Making sure that the supplements you recommend have no ingredients that are on banned lists is essential. Athletes must be educated on proper hydration and the avoidance of energy drinks, poor quality whey protein, pre-workout products, and stimulants.

By educating athletes on proper spinal rehabilitation, optimal food choices, and supplementation that enhances recovery, your chiropractic office can be a one-stop shop for athletes looking to enhance their performance.

DelRae Messer, DC, is an honors graduate of Northwestern Health Sciences University. She competes in fitness competitions nationally and specializes in chiropractic marketing and speaking. She can be contacted at delrae@drdelraedetox.com or through www.drdelraedetox.com. Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/drdelrae and on Twitter.

Reference

¹Lauro A, Mouch B. Chiropractic Effects on Athletic Ability. The J Chiro Res and Clin Invest. 1991;6(4):84-87.