CrossFit athletes are a unique breed. Few athletes push themselves harder and sacrifice more to make their bodies as healthy as possible. Through intense workout routines and a dedication to proper nutrition, CrossFit athletes are among the sporting worlds most dedicated athletes; however, with all the benefits that CrossFit training provides, it also does a lot of damage to the body. In order for athletes to succeed in maintaining a healthy and fit body, they must also understand and take care of their bodies to prevent and treat injuries. To achieve this, many athletes are turning to chiropractic care. By using the body to naturally heal itself, chiropractors are able to reduce pain and injury without the need for invasive surgery or prescription pain medications, and with their understanding of proper body mechanics, they can improve athletic performance as well.
Common CrossFit Injuries
During high-intensity WODs, the goal is to push your body beyond its physical and mental limitations. Although this reaps incredible benefits for both body and mind, it also puts excessive strain on the body that often leads to injury. The most common injuries that result from heavy CrossFit training include tendinitis, muscle strain, flat foot injuries, skeletal misalignment, and sore joints. Although these injuries can be very painful and sideline your workouts for weeks, there is a great way to prevent and treat them: chiropractic care.
Chiropractic Care for CrossFit Athletes
As the popularity of CrossFit continues to grow nationwide, so does the need for chiropractic care for its athletes. Chiropractic care is becoming a highly utilized service in the world of CrossFit to not only treat injuries sustained during a workout, but to help prevent them as well. As most injuries that occur during CrossFit are the result of the body wearing down and the musculoskeletal system becoming misaligned, chiropractic care ensures the body performs at its most optimal level without the need for invasive surgery or prescription pain medication. Following is a list of how chiropractic care can prevent and treat injuries, all while helping improve athletic performance.
Prevent Injuries
Most people view chiropractic care as a post-injury service. However, it is also a great way to prevent injuries from developing, especially those that occur in high intensity exercise programs like CrossFit. One of the leading causes of pain and injury is poor body mechanics and overexertion. In order to reach new levels on the white board, athletes often sacrifice form in sake of improving efficiency. This leads to excessive strain being placed on the muscles, joints, and tendons of the body, which over time can lead to serious injury. By receiving a biomechanical assessment from a chiropractor, athletes can find areas of concern in their workout mechanics and learn how to fix them. When accompanied with muscle strengthening exercises that improve weaker areas of the body and spinal adjustments that ensure proper spinal alignment, athletes can reduce their chances of getting injured with chiropractic care.
Treat Injuries
If an injury has already been sustained during a workout, chiropractic care can help reduce the pain
and get the athlete back to their workout faster. Depending on the athlete’s unique injury, a chiropractor will use a variety of treatments to reduce pain, increase range of motion, and promote proper alignment of the spine. The most common injuries sustained during workouts are the result of a misalignment of the musculoskeletal system. When this system is out of line it can lead to serious pain throughout the entire body. Through a series of spinal adjustments, a chiropractor will ensure the spinal system is aligned properly, which can heal a variety of injuries resulting from overexertion during CrossFit training. Furthermore, chiropractic care uses the body to naturally heal itself, keeping CrossFit athletes out of the operating room and off prescription pain medications.
Improve Performance
One of the biggest benefits of incorporating chiropractic care into your CrossFit training regime doesn’t involve preventing or treating injury at all. Studies show that chiropractic care can improve athletic performance by helping the body perform at its highest levels. This is achieved by realigning the spinal system to allow for the proper range of motion, nerve communication, and blood flow throughout the body. When the spine is misaligned, the entire body suffers, as your brain communicates to your body through the spinal cord. In order to allow your body to perform at its highest level, the brain must be able to easily communicate to your entire body. In addition to aligning the spinal system, a chiropractor will also make sure your body mechanics are working as they should. When your body mechanics are in proper order, your muscles, joints, and tendons will be able to perform at a higher level, which in turn improves your athletic performance.
The ultimate goal of the CrossFit athlete is to do today what they could not do yesterday. With the aid of chiropractic care, athletes can prevent injury and improve performance, all while avoiding invasive surgery and prescription pain medication. Watch any professional CrossFit event and you will see a team of chiropractors working with the athletes during competition. Through an understanding of how the body functions, and a focus on naturally holistic medicine, athletes can be assured they they are receiving the aid they need to perform at their highest levels while reducing the probability of getting injured.
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License: Royalty Free or iStock source: 123rf.com
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Dr. Kevin Christie is a Chiropractic Physician and Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) in Miami, FL at Health-Fit Chiropractic & Sports Medicine where he treats college athletes, as well as professional athletes from the NFL, MLB, and NHL. Dr. Christie was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to the Board of Athletic Trainers as the Chiropractic Advisor. He is also part of the IRONMAN® Provider Network through A.R.T., which sets up a treatment tent for every IRONMAN event to provide treatment to IRONMAN athletes.
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