Chiro Tips for Athletes and Workouts

Chiropractic has numerous benefits no matter what you’re doing! It can improve the function of your musculoskeletal and nervous systems, and can help people in all facets of life. For athletes or even those who are just active, it can improve flexibility, strength and endurance. It can also help with posture, balance, coordination.

Chiropractic can even help with sleep and helping you through your recovery process. Whilst this is all speaking in a general sense, let’s look closer at some sports and some tips from us here at Tan Chiro: your chiropractor in North Brisbane!

Joggers:

The health benefits of running are countless! From helping with mental health, quality of life, healthy ageing and losing weight, running is one of the best ways to get out there and get active! Here are some great tips to keep in mind when getting out there and running:

Pay Attention!

Make sure you’re running on flat surfaces as much as possible. Not only are uneven surfaces more difficult to run on but they are more likely to lead to injury!

Posture

Yes, it does always come back to posture with Chiropractors! Make sure you are running as straight up and down as possible! Try right now, lean right over until you’re looking directly at your feet and step out as far as you can. Now stand up straight and step out as far as you can. Big difference right? This applies directly to your running also! Not only will this decrease neck and back problems but also will help with fatigue. We also recommend running with your elbows tucked right into your side, almost as if you have a 10c piece that you’re trying to hold between your body and your arm.

Shoes

Try and replace your running shoes as they show signs of wear and tear and damage, these will decrease your risk of injuries, ankle sprains and foot problems

Weightlifters:

Warm up and cool down

Try not to skip these important steps! These are the best ways of keeping your muscles loose and preventing injuries. It may feel like a waste of time but it will preserve your health!

Core

Do not lift things with your back! Make sure you’re building a strong core to help with all aspects of the gym, for both arm days and leg days! This will help with your overall posture and will decrease your risks of straining muscles. Chat to Dr Jace when you’re in next for some examples of exercises you can do to both activate and build a strong core.

Technique

If you’re having issues and pains with technique, don’t keep pushing through it. Even if an exercise feels wrong, it probably is! Feel free to chat to Dr Jace at your next appointment, or even pull aside a PT or fellow gym goer for a second opinion. Everyone at gyms are more than happy to help, don't forget that!

Rugby:

Look after your neck:

As many as 1 in 4 players will be injured during the season! Each player will perform anywhere between 20-40 tackles, which will lead to 25% of neck that occur during matches! One of the best ways to try and avoid this is to do simple isometric exercises in your warm up! All you have to do is resist your own pressure trying to flex, extend and laterally flex your neck. Something as simple as this can strengthen your neck muscles and help to avoid more serious injuries!

Injury Prevention:

It’s easier said than done, as anything can happen on the field. However, injury prevention is much easier than injury rehabilitation! If you look at any professional footy player in either major code, they don’t skip their warm ups. Make sure you take your time and go through the process, as this is vital to reducing injuries in frequently injured areas such as the groin or hamstrings. It’s often the subtle differences that make the most difference, so make sure your body is working at it’s optimum to minimise any chances of injury.

Tackling:

This essentially goes under the topic above for injury prevention, as tackles are responsible for the highest number of injuries throughout a game. The average force through the shoulder during a tackle is 166kg! This stress is passed not only through the shoulders but the neck, upper back, lower back, knees, ankles and hips. Some research even suggests that the force is equivalent to two cars colliding. Chiropractic adjustments can help dysfunctions that may be caused through these tackles, and therefore help with muscle function, balance, agility and spatial awareness…all super important for your overall performance when playing!

Swimming:

Correcting your stroke:

Injuries like Swimmer’s shoulder are easily prevented by paying close attention to details with your stroke. Paying close attention to your technique, and if you feel like you’re compromising for whatever reason, make sure this is corrected. Whether it’s by seeing Dr Jace, doing extra warmups, working on your cardio to help with fatigue, it’s worth it - prevention is always better than rehabilitation!

Swimmer’s Knee:

Exercises by Dr Jace or other physical therapists can help to strengthen the surrounding areas and treating with ice packs twice daily can also help! Strengthening muscles like the hip abductors and adductors will do wonders for you in your recovery.

Soccer:

Core:

During games, players have to constantly twist their backs which requires using core strength and stability to run and kick the ball with power. This all starts with the core, and a strong basis there will help tremendously. Talk to Dr Jace at your next appointment for advice on exercises that will both activate and strengthen your core.

Invest:

Make sure you invest in shinguards and boots that fit correctly! And make sure if you’re in need of replacement that you’re replacing them regularly! For soccer boots, screw-in studs have been proven to be more hazardous so stay away from these when possible.

Preparation:

Stay on top of exercise and stretching that goes into the game - including the warm ups and warm downs. If you’re skipping steps and not getting your body properly warmed up, you’re increasing your risk of sustaining potentially serious injuries!

Basketball:

Wear supportive shoes!

We all know that the low top basketball shoes look cooler, however they aren’t the best for supporting your ankles! Make sure if you are selecting these you have appropriate ankle support by the way of ankle braces, or at the very least make sure you’re doing specific exercises to strengthen those tendons and ligaments that can very easily be stretched and damaged throughout the game

The Process:

Remember to take yourself through the process of a proper warm up (no this doesn’t just mean shoot around). All of the great NBA players have been known to get to the arena hours early to take their body through an extensive warm up process. While this may not be feasible for you every time, make sure you go through proper stretching and warming up process on top of your normal shoot around to minimise your risk of injury!

The GOAT

If none of this sounds good enough to you, just remember that Michael Jordan saw a chiropractor during his playing career. He was quoted as saying, “ever since I went to a chiropractor, I have improved by leaps and bounds.”

While there are tips here for all sports, the best thing that you can do for yourself is to get regularly checked by Dr Jace or another chiropractor, North Brisbane, helping with recovery and keeping you functioning at your optimum at all times! Contact us to speak to a specialist.