Peak Performance Tips from your Chiropractic Coach!

• Warm up before commencing any sporting activity as your body needs to be prepared. The type of sport/activity will dictate what muscle groups you should focus on preparing. For example if you are walking the dog, you should stretch your hamstrings, quads and calves (and your shoulders if it's a disobedient dog). A few minutes is all that is required.
• Stretching is one of the easiest ways to prevent injuries. If the muscle being used is warmed up and flexible, the risk of damage is significantly reduced. Stretching should be done before and after exercise and ideally once per day as a routine. If you are in doubt about which stretches are best suited to your particular sport, don’t hesitate to ask us.
• Walking is a great pastime to maintain a basic level of activity. We recommend that you walk as often as possible. Take large strides, but don’t forget to stretch your leg muscles before and after the walk.
• Running is good for those people who want the added benefit of a good cardiovascular workout. Running three times a week for as little as 12 minutes has profound benefit on not only your muscles, but also your heart and lungs. A word of caution however - running is a high impact sport and therefore can place a great deal of stress on your spine. Be sure to speak to us before commencing a running program and we will advise you if your spine is up to the challenge.
• Cycling is a low impact exercise that is excellent for maintaining good cardiovascular health. Unfortunately some of these benefits can be offset by poor cycling posture. With the forward positioning of the head, it is essential that your spine is properly aligned and free. If your posture is poor it can accelerate any damage you may already have in your neck area and complicate any misalignments. We can advise you on ways to minimise this risk.
• Swimming provides your entire body with a terrific workout. In order to swim to your potential, your shoulders need to be well stretched and your spine needs to be in proper alignment. These two factors, if not addressed, can lead to both slower times and a marked increase in the risk of injury. Most of the power muscles used in swimming come off either the spine or the shoulders, which is why many top swimmers and triathletes use chiropractic to help them perform at their peak.
• Golf is all about control, patience, balance and the use of power. For this reason our top players rely on chiropractic to give them the edge on the course. We focus on improving the function of your nervous system so it can operate at its best. If there is any interference to your nervous system your game will suffer. Did you know that the major cause of abnormal body control during the golf swing is misalignments of the spine? These misalignments interfere with what is called the body’s “Proprioception” which is a system that is made up by a collection of hundreds of thousands of nerve endings all around the body which constantly convey messages to the brain indicating where each part of the body is placed. The brain is then able to fine tune all body movements accordingly to make the right adjustments to the swing.

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