Staying Healthy During Sports Participation
posted: May 20, 2016.
Tips for Health and Peak Performance through Sports Activities
As people are becoming more active with Spring in full swing and Summer time rapidly approaching, the doctors at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic would like to share a few tips to keep you happy and healthy while playing sports.
Some general tips:
Eat healthy
Get appropriate sleep (6-8 hours per night)
Warm-up before sports and activities
Stretch after sports and activities
Regular Chiropractic Care
Regardless of your activity or sport that you participate in, it is a good idea to get warmed up first. Warm-up includes low intensity exercises and activities aimed at increasing the heart rate and getting the body moving. Warm-up should include some focus on body areas that will be stressed during your sport. If you are taking part in a throwing sport, warm up should include short distance, low intensity throwing and catching with a team mate, some running and some gentle spine twisting activities. Similar types of warm-up should be done with kicking sports. Maximal effort activities like goal kicking and long distance throwing or ball kicking should be avoided, especially at the beginning of warm-up.
Stretching after sports/activities/workouts helps reduce tension and pain and the possibility for future injuries. Stretching should focus on the muscles or muscle groups used during your activity.
Chiropractic care has strong evidence for injury treatment but also is effective at helping athletes achieve peak performance. Most professional sport teams employ a chiropractor as a regular part of the team for rehab and peak performance. Recent research has shown that chiropractic adjustments for athletes reduces neural and muscular fatigue, significantly increases maximal voluntary muscle contraction (fake adjusting actually reduced maximal voluntary muscle contraction), improves reflexes, improves reaction times and increases the rate of information processing in the brain.
If you are interested in chiropractic care to help achieve peak performance or have questions regarding appropriate warm-up or stretching for your chosen sport or activity, feel free to contact your doctor at Gallatin Valley Chiropractic for professional advice.
406-551-2177