Boost Sports Performance With Chiropractic
There’s a big secret in sports you may not know about it.
Athletes get paid big money to perform as well as possible. Naturally, athletes want every edge they can get to play better than their peers and maximize their performance and income.
Athletes employ many different healthcare professionals in order to get every last percent out of their performance.
One of the professionals they employ are chiropractors.
Virtually every professional team has a chiropractor on staff, and almost all athletes in non-team sports have a chiropractor or employ a chiropractor to travel with them.
Why you may ask? Because chiropractic boosts your sports performance by improving your muscle balance, proprioception (ability to sense your body and improve movement accuracy), coordination and more. Let me explain.
Improved Muscle Balance
Chiropractic improves muscle balance. If your body is out of alignment, your muscles won’t have even resting muscle tension. Balanced resting muscle tension lets all your muscles have similar tone. If your muscles have similar levels of tension throughout your body you will be able to use your muscles in a much greater capacity.
When you have some muscles that are tighter than others, you will be out of balance. A tight muscle has already used some of its contractile potential just by being tight. If your muscle is tight it has less ability to further contract. It’s already partially contracted by being tight.
Think about a tall antenna that is held up by guy wires. Your spine and frame is like an antenna. If the antenna is straight, the guy wires that hold it up will have even tension. Your muscles will be balanced if your spine and frame is straight as well.
Athletes use chiropractic to maintain the health, function and alignment of their spine and frame. If you’re an athlete or have a child who is an athlete, you can also use chiropractic to improve the balance and resting muscle tension in your body or your child’s body.
Improved Coordination and Reduced Injury
Chiropractic will improve your coordination as well. Your coordination will be compromised if your joints aren’t moving through your full range of motion, or are stuck out of alignment.
Joints are always sending position information to your brain. Your brain needs this information to properly coordinate movement. Your brain doesn’t get all the info it needs to properly coordinate movement at 100% when a joint is stuck or even slightly out of alignment.
Chiropractors look for these stuck joints or joints out of alignment. We put a quick force into the joint to get it moving again. This quick force is known as a chiropractic adjustment.
When we adjust a joint, the joint will move through its full range of motion and be able to send more accurate position information to the brain. This will improve your ability to perform complex sports related movements. It will also help you avoid injury.
When your joint position sense is improved you will have less potential to roll an ankle or experience other joint related injuries from trips and falls or awkward movements. More position information = better coordination = fewer falls and injuries.
Proprioception means perception or awareness of body position and movement. Chiropractic improves your proprioception by keeping all your joints moving full their full range of motion and improving your resting muscle tension. This improves your sports performance and reduces injury.
If you are interested in learning more about how chiropractic can help you become a better athlete, call my office today for an appointment: 408-380-4035.