Can chiropractic help athletic performance?

What do Usain Bolt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Evander Holyfield and Tiger Woods all have in common?

They’ve all used chiropractic care as a way of improving athletic performance.

We know the majority of people who seek chiropractic care do so to help alleviate problems with their back, neck or other areas of their body where they are experiencing pain.

However, it’s an open secret among sports professionals that elite athletes have been using chiropractic care for years… and not just for treating injury.

Running Times, back in 2008, reported on the growing trend of elite sportspeople to seek pre-race chiropractic care as a way of optimising their performance. (1) Although, chiropractic care is usually thought of as a means of helping athletes get back on their feet after injury, its use for performance purposes was eye-opening for many elite athletes.

In the story, Olympic medallist Meb Keflezighi explained how he was initially cautious when he first started treatment back in 1996 but became a convert, as did many other Olympic athletes.

And chiropractic care is still very much a part of many Olympians’ preparations.

World record sprinter Usain Bolt is one athlete who is known to use chiropractic treatment as a way of not only helping recovery and preventing injury, but also in pursuit of ever greater speed and optimum performance.(2) In fact, the entire Jamaican Olympic team has an official chiropractor.

It isn’t just limited to athletes, with golf stars such as Nick Faldo (3) and Tiger Woods, as well as Formula 1 racing drivers, having employed chiropractors as part of their support team.

At Wokingham Chiropractic Centre, we also have our fair share of athletes who find that chiropractic care helps in keeping them at the top of their game. We are proud to be working with Team GB gymnast, Kate Donnelly, in her preparation for competition in Mexico in a few weeks’ time.

Good luck Kate and the rest of the team 🙂

If you would like to discover more about how chiropractic care could help you, please call us on 0118 978 7466.

 

Sources: 

1. Owners’ Manual: Cracking Back – Running Times https://www.runnersworld.com/injury-treatment/owners-manual-cracking-back?page=single
2. 2012 Olympics: World’s Fastest Man Utilizes Chiropractic Care https://www.examiner.com/article/2012-olympics-world-s-fastest-man-usain-bolt-utilizes-chiropractic-care
3. Chiropractic Care Advances Performance in Golf Game – Foundation For Chiropractic Progress https://www.f4cp.com/pr/2012/golf-game.pdf