What Makes a GREAT Athlete?

When you think of the “standout” performers over the last 50 years, who comes to mind? Here are a couple hints; Tiger Woods, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Wayne Gretzky, Serena Williams and Roger Federer and Usain Bolt. There are many more, but that’s a good start! (Want to know what these people think about Chiropractic? Here are some truly amazing quotes!)

These top athletes who became household names and perform at the highest level have many things in common including relentless drive and talent. Let’s be honest, not all of us have those! Through our “doctor’s” lens, the main clinical signs of these great athletes that can be taught and trained are the following:

• Great Hand-Eye Coordination

• Excellent Mental Acuity

• Ability to Dual Task (Dissect a Defense and Throw a Ball)

• Coordinate the Entire Body (Upper from Lower, Left from Right: No Weak Areas)

• Amazing Vestibular System (Perception of Where You are in Space)

All of these attributes can be evaluated, trained, and tailored to any specific sport.

What Can Hurt My Performance?

We all love to play our sports, and we hate taking time to nurse injuries or take a rest day. Here are the most common things that can hurt your performance:

• Eating Inflammatory and Artificial Foods - Although not recognized in the mainstream medical field, things like gluten- and dairy-sensitivity are very real challenges. You may feel like your pre- or post-workout drink which includes whey (dairy) protein, artificial sweeteners, and fillers cause bloating or diarrhea after consumption.

• Over-Training 7 Day a Week - Although it is great to show dedication to your craft, more than 6 days without a rest day will cause more good than harm. Our bodies stay in a "Fight or Flight" dominance, which can release cortisol and too much glucose, both of which can be inflammatory to your body, brain, and joints. For most athletes, training 3-4 days with a day of rest with a brisk walk or reparative yoga stretching allows the body to heal and repair and better perform the next week.

How Can LIFEstrength Help My Performance?

The process is quite simple.  As mentioned above, the GREAT athletes not only worked hard, but they were gifted with certain attributes.  If you work harder on those certain attributes than others, you will separate yourself from your opponents and get the results you’re after. On the first visit, an athlete can expect the following at LIFEstrength Health Center:

• History and Evaluation of Past and Current Injuries

• Neurological Performance Assessment: hand-eye coordination, mental acuity, dual tasking, coordination of upper/lower extremities and core, vestibular system function

• Postural Assessment and/or X-Ray Evaluation: optimize biomechanics, especially important for sports that are asymmetrical or one-side dominant

• Food and Supplement Assessment

• Sleep and Recovery Assessment

Based upon the finding, our sports specialized doctors will create a tailor-fit care plan to help you succeed. As with all patients that start care at LIFEstrength Health Center, this care plan will be a comprehensive and multi-faceted plan to help you not only get the quickest results, but also

• Chiropractic Care and Rehab Program - optimize biomechanic, increase neurological communication, increase injury prevention

• Extremity Adjusting to most commonly injured joints for your sport

• Brain Region Specific Exercises will be performed to improve any deficient attributes

• Weekly or bi-weekly exercises will increase in difficulty to keep your system challenged and improving

• Nutritional Recommendations for accelerated recovery

• Soft Tissue Therapy like Graston, Cupping, Fascial Distortion

Who Needs a Sports Chiropractor?

If you are active, you want to stay as active as possible and want to prevent injury, then you need a Sports Chiropractor!

No one likes to cut back on their activities due to injuries, pain or even just apprehension from past injuries. Our goal is to help you quickly and maximize your abilities on the field of competition. No matter your age or your health history, we’d be honored to check if we can help. If we can’t help for whatever reason, we’ll make sure to help guide you in the right direction.

To schedule a Free 15 minute Consultation or a New Patient Examination, simply call us at (239) 774-5433, or your can message our team at Staff@LIFEstrengthHealthCenter.com.