When participating in any sport, core strength is crucial towards an athlete’s overall performance. The body’s core consists of the back and the abdominal muscles and for many athletes, this area can be a weakness. In runners for example, a strong core can prevent injuries to other joints including the hips and knees. Essentially, having a strong core helps stabilize the body to allow the individual to perform to their fullest capacity.

Core Strength

Increasing core strength to improve performance for any sport is not difficult, in fact, a regular routine of crunches together with several other basic exercises can help. Planks are another common core strength exercise. A side plank, also used to increase core strength, is similar to a plank except its performed by turning the body onto its side. When participating in core exercises, always be sure to not over-exert your body as many athletes commonly experience injuries from forcing greater repetitions especially when their core is not properly contracting.

Occasionally, an individual’s core muscles might not contract properly due to a possible complication of the spine that could be causing nerve compression or damage. Individuals who’ve previously suffered from chronic back problems or had a recent back injury can experience difficulty exercising their muscles to their fullest potential. A chiropractic doctor can help determine where the spine is impacting your muscle strength.

Core strength is essential for both athletes and any individual performing physical activity in order to improve overall fitness performance and avoid injury. The core consists of strong back and abdominal muscles which ultimately help with agility, stamina, and power. For more information, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at (915) 850-0900.

Sports injuries occur when an athlete’s participation associated with a specific sport or physical activity leads to an injury or causes an underlying condition. Frequent types of sports injuries include sprains and strains, knee injuries, shoulder injuries, Achilles tendonitis and bone fractures. But most of all chiropractic can also help with injury prevention.

Athletes from all sports can benefit from chiropractic treatment. Adjustments can help treat injuries from high-impact sports i.e. wrestling, football and hockey. Athletes that get routine adjustments may notice improved athletic performance, improved range of motion along with flexibility and increased blood flow.  Because spinal adjustments will reduce the irritation of the nerve roots between the vertebrae, the healing time from minor injuries can be shortened, which improves performance. Both high-impact and low-impact athletes can benefit from routine spinal adjustments.  For high-impact athletes, it increases performance and flexibility and lowers the risk for injury for low-impact athletes i.e. tennis players, bowlers and golfers.  Chiropractic is a natural way to treat and prevent different injuries and conditions that impact athletes.

By Dr. Alex Jimenez

Physical Rehabilitation & Chiropractic