Improving Sports Performance with Chiropractic

We see many athletes in our Middleburg Heights, OH clinic, because chiropractic is a great way to increase recovery times and enhance performance. Almost every professional athlete uses chiropractic care to keep themselves working at maximum capability, and the US Olympic Team has an entire staff of chiropractors for their athletes.

In a 2011 study, researchers evaluated the results of chiropractic treatments on 18 professional judo athletes in Brazil. Half of the athletes received chiropractic adjustments of their cervical spine. The other half got a fake treatment. Since judo relies considerably on the arms and hands, researchers evaluated athletes' grip strength with a device that calculates muscle force.

After 3 treatments, those in the chiropractic group had significantly increased grip strength. While the chiropractic group improved their grip strength by about 15%, the athletes in the fake treatment group had only gotten better by about 5%. The study came to the conclusion that chiropractic enhanced grip strength in these athletes.

While more research is required to understand all the advantages of chiropractic on athletic performance, this study is encouraging. A 2010 study revealed that chiropractic care reduced the risk of lower-limb injury in football players. Regardless of whether you’re trying to recover from an injury or you’re just trying to better your performance, Dr. Baker can help you achieve your best.

Give our Middleburg Heights, OH office a call today at (440) 888-6979 for an appointment.

Botelho MB, Andrade BB. Effect of Cervical Spine Manipulative Therapy on Judo Athletes Grip Strength. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapies. 2011; 35(11):38-44.

Hoskins W, Pollard H. The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized control trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11:64.