Staying Active with Chiropractic

If you say the way you exercise has NOT changed throughout 2020 and 2021, I’m calling BS! Whether it’s the frequency of your workouts, the amount of weight you’re lifting (you can only fill up a milk jug so heavy), intensity (are you a class person?), duration, or type of workout, it’s guaranteed that something has changed.

Although you might miss your old workouts, changing your workout routine can be awesome for your body. It challenges your body in new ways. It makes us stronger by strengthening different muscle groups, switching between anaerobic and aerobic exercise and challenging our brains. It also helps to prevent overuse injuries!

New exercise routines and challenging our bodies in new ways may also mean new tight and sore spots, new injuries as we learn a new skill, or flare-ups of an old injury. Changing the way you work out might mean you need to change the way you recover.

So what’s a weekend warrior to do?! Take a tip from the professional athletes - experts estimate that 90% of world-class athletes use chiropractic care to prevent injuries and to increase their performance potential.

According to Tom Brady:

“Chiropractic just makes you feel so much better. When I walk out of the clinic, I feel like I’m about three inches taller and everything’s in place. As long as I see the chiropractor, I feel like I’m one step ahead of the game.”

So how does chiropractic help?

Recover better!

Through our many modalities, including adjustments, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitative exercise, chiropractors can help you recover from your workouts faster.

Chiropractic can also help regulate sleep cycles, which is an essential component in recovery. It helps to relieve pain, allowing your body to relax and enter the rest & digestion state.

Perform better!

Improved ROM

In a study by Wayne Whittingham, DC, PhD, and Niels Nilsson, DC, MD, PhD, neck adjustments were shown to increase active range of motion on average by 8° to 12° in each of the 4 directions of movements.

Having a good range of motion is essential to reducing injuries, improving your strength and performing at your best. For example: are you one of those people who can’t possibly touch their toes? Often times, by adjusting, working on soft tissues and incorporating some rehabilitative exercises we can bring your pelvis to a more balanced position, improving your range of motion and helping you to touch your toes!

Improved proprioception

Are you a "klutz"? Proprioception is what allows our bodies to understand where they are in space. When your neck is not moving properly, it can impair the way proprioceptive input from the upper body is processed. By adjusting the neck and allowing it to move properly, your body has a better idea of where it is in space and how to interact with its environment. This could mean less tripping and better balance. Check out this study to learn more about how this works!

Chiropractic has also been shown (in this study) to reduce the size of your blind spot, indicating improved cerebral function.

Improved strength and reduced muscle inhibition

A study compared the quadriceps strength of a group of 10 people before and after an adjustment, and found a significant improvement in quadriceps strength after the adjustment.

Improved reaction times

Evidence suggests that adjusting the upper neck leads to improvement in reaction-time, suggesting improved cognitive function and skill acquisition after getting adjusted.

Want to be better, faster, stronger? Get adjusted!

Prevent future injuries.

When you are lacking the needed range of motion to do a certain movement (for example: squatting, but no hip mobility), or weak in certain movements, compensation mechanisms develop.

Compensation patterns put excessive stress on vulnerable joints and tissues. Eventually, these tissues become overloaded.. That's because our body is most prepared and optimally functioning when things go according to Plan A! Our body is smart enough to come up with a Plan B, C, D, etc. to keep you moving when we lack the strength, mobility, or are injured. However we are not as well equipped for these plans, and if we rely on them for too long, something's got to give!

By taking care of your injuries and pains as they come, you prevent chronic problems and other injuries from developing.

What's it like to see a sports chiropractor?

First we take an extensive history of your current injury, along with past injuries to determine whether compensation patterns have developed.

Then, we do our exam. We first look at your injury and do tests to figure out which structures are involved. Then we look at your whole body to assess your posture and what may the root cause to this injury. We check if your feet are overly pronated or supinated, knees cave in or out, hips swing forward or backward, shoulders go forward or backward, if there are curves in your back, if your ears are level, whether your head goes forward. Then we get you to walk, and look at your gait pattern. Lastly we do functional movement screens such as an overhead squat.

Based on our assessment we will be able to tell you what is going on. If needed, we will send you for some more imaging which may include an MRI, ultrasound or XRay.

Then, we get to work! Treatment includes adjustments and other modalities: taping, compression flossing, muscle release therapy, cupping, dry needling, etc. We incorporate our nutritional expertise as needed. We also incorporate rehabilitative exercises and help with modifications to your current workouts.

Don't let nagging pain develop to a chronic injury! Call or text 303-683-9494 for a complimentary consult. Let's get you back out there doing what you love!