How Spinal Alignment Can Help You Improve Your Sports Performance
Do you have trouble meeting your athletic goals despite hours of practice time? Skill isn't the only factor that affects your ability to run faster, throw a ball accurately or prevent the other team from scoring. A misaligned spine may compromise your range of motion, recovery time and flexibility, causing performance difficulties. Fortunately, spinal manipulations performed by your chiropractor can correct misalignments and help you excel at your favorite sport or activity.
6 Spinal Alignment Advantages
Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps understand the importance of spinal alignment on sports performance. They, like many other exceptional athletes, visit chiropractors regularly for treatments that help them naturally enhance their abilities. In fact, chiropractic treatment offers a medication-free way to improve your athletic abilities without any concerns about side effects.
When your spine is properly aligned, you'll enjoy these benefits:
- Fewer Injuries. Misalignments not only affect your spine but can also cause tightness in your muscles, ligaments, and tendons, increasing your risk of injury. Regular visits to your chiropractor will decrease misalignments, known as subluxations, and help you avoid aches, pains, and serious injuries.
- Better Balance. Correcting subluxations may also have a positive effect on your balance, improving your ability to make a save, avoid a fall if you stumble or perfect your balance beam routine. During spinal manipulation treatment, your chiropractor uses gentle, hands-on pressure to improve the alignment of the vertebrae in your back and neck.
- Improved Strength. Strength, an important factor in many sports, can decrease if you have a subluxation. The problem may affect your ability to grip or catch the ball, tackle opponents, run long distances or make key plays. Chiropractic provides a natural strength-boosting option. Brazilian researchers discovered that manipulating the vertebrae in the neck offered significant increases in strength. Judo athletes who received cervical (neck) spinal manipulation therapy improved their grip strength by 16 percent on the right side and 11 percent on the right side. Their results were published in the January 2012 issue of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.
- Quicker Healing Time. Correcting subluxations can also help you reduce healing time after an injury. Manipulations, electrical stimulation, ultrasound therapy, and other treatments decrease inflammation, ease spasms, enhance healing and improve the flow of blood and nutrients to the injured area.
- Faster Recovery Time. Sports take a toll on your body, no matter how diligently you stretch and warm-up before starting an activity. Without an adequate rest period following exertion, you may increase your risk of injury. When your spine is aligned properly, you may notice that it doesn't take quite as long to return to top form.
- More Flexibility. Spinal manipulation, massage, and other treatments loosen tight joints and muscles, in addition to improving spinal alignment. These treatments increase your range of motion, prevent the formation of scar tissue, and decrease stiffness caused by tight muscles and joints. Thanks to your visits to the chiropractor, you may find that it's easier to follow through when you swing a golf club or racquet or notice that you can stretch a little farther when making a diving catch.
- Enhanced Performance. You've probably noticed that your performance suffers if your back and neck hurt, your muscles are tight, or you have a throbbing headache. Fortunately, aches and pains due to subluxations won't prevent you from excelling when you make chiropractic therapy part of your training regimen. Treatments may also improve nerve function, improve your reaction time, and even help you breathe more deeply.
Would you like to enhance your sports ability with chiropractic treatment? We'll devise a comprehensive treatment plan that will help you improve your performance and strength and avoid injuries. Contact us to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
WRAL: The Dream Team
Palmer College of Chiropractic: Why Do Athletes Often Rely on Chiropractic Care, 7/1/16
National University of Health Sciences: 5 Reasons Why Chiropractic Treatments Are Important for Athletes, 5/31/17
PubMed: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1/12