More Chiropractic Care Articles
Athletic Performance and Dehydration
Now that we are entering the summer season there are articles popping up all over the sports news about dehydration and athletic performance. The NBA play offs are in progress as this article is being composed and one of the best players in the league is having problems with severe muscle cramping. LeBron James in Game one of the NBA finals couldn't move his legs and was carried off the court.
One of the most important ergogenic aids in hot weather is water, with the addition of sodium and magnesium. These two minerals are most importance in long endurance activities. The body is typically 50-60% water for female and male bodies respectively.
Track and field events involve long distances and repetitive events. For example, runners reduce their pace by 2% for each percentage of body weight lost by dehydration. Water losses of 6-10% can occur in a half marathon. Many athletes who find a plateau or worsening of their maximum aerobic functioning are usually experiencing dehydration.
At sporting events we can see some severe hamstring, quadricep and calf muscle spasms and cramping. Utilizing Applied Kinesiology (AK) soft tissue techniques we can reset the damaged muscle tissues back to its natural resting state and move the athlete through the acute phase of soft tissue injury much faster. Many times depending on the severity of the problem, minor issues can be fixed on the spot with the proper tools.
We reset the muscle spindle cells in the muscle belly and address tendon origin and insertion dysfunction with manual means as well. The joints are always evaluated for proprioceptive imbalances, namely, fixations. Local soft tissue adhesions in the muscles and fascia are addressed with the Graston Techinique, which is a soft tissue mobilization approach to break up these adhesions and re-establish proper physiology in the muscles and joint.
This is the tenth year that our office has been using the Erchonia Cold Laser in our chiropractic and physical therapy practice. At all the running races we have participated over the years this light technology has had the advantage of providing the athletes with cold laser therapy to up-regulate the motor part of the nerves going to the muscle for full function, thus providing full power (strength and endurance) for that event. Again pre-performance screening is the best kept secret about laser therapy. We evaluate and test for muscle inhibition in the upper and lower extremity and re-establish proper firing patterns of the muscles
As sports chiropractors, we address any current overuse problem that is affecting optimum performance and do hands-on or manual soft tissue procedures to look for dysfunction before a potential injury may happen.
