Sports Performance
Today you’ll find chiropractors at
ringside, on the sidelines and in Olympic villages. Chiropractors
tend to athletes that range in ability from high paid professional
to amateur to “weekend warrior.”
Below are just
a small example of the many stories and papers that have featured
chiropractic care for the famous and not-so-famous athlete.
The
use and role of sport chiropractors in the National Football
League: A short report Stump JL, Redwood, DJ Manipulative Physiol
Ther 2002;25:E2
There is significant chiropractic participation
in US professional football. In a survey, 77% of NFL trainers
reported referring a player to a chiropractor, with 45% of
the NFL trainers reporting that they themselves had seen a
chiropractor. It was discovered that thirty-one percent of
NFL teams have a chiropractor officially on staff, and an additional
12% of teams refer players to chiropractors.
Detroit Lions Now
Get Regularly Adjusted thanks to Farmington DC. ICA Review
Fall/Winter 2002 P. 43
“Most of the members of the Detroit Lions receive
regular chiropractic care from Dr. Sol Cogan and his HealthQuest
Chiropractic offices. Dr. Cogan attends all home and away-from-home
games and is also available at the team’s training
facility three days a week.
“Dr. Cogan spends one or two
hours adjusting players before each game and provides care
for players during the games as well.
“Most of the players aren’t just getting treatment
for specific symptoms,” said Dr. Cogan. “The
players recognize that chiropractic adjustments greatly increase
their performance.”
Peak performers. Well-adjusted UT volunteers capture NCAA
track and field championships. by James Panter, Today’s
Chiropractic September/October 2001 p. 52.
From the article:
“The Volunteers of the University of Tennessee, who
edged Texas Christian University 50-49 to win the men’s
NCAA title, performed at their peak by supplementing their
talent and determination with specific care from team chiropractor
Dr. Michael Petty.”
“I do an analysis of each athlete, from head to toe,
to determine what needs to be adjusted,” says Dr. Petty.
Freshman
decathlete Blake Sabo sought care from Petty prior to this
year’s SE-Ray Relays and discovered chiropractic’s
performance enhancement benefits.
“He had never been adjusted
before this year, and he actually had six personal bests out
of 10 events at the meet.”
"Cowboys' Smith still runs ahead of time" "Body
maintenance key to longevity for backfield star." October
16, 1998 USA Today
From the article about Emmitt Smith.
Smith will head to his
chiropractor. Smith himself commented, "I
started doing this on a regular basis about four or five
years ago. I believe what I am doing is helping me go on.
I think Warren Moon does the same thing. So I've become a
big, big believer in servicing my body and making sure it
is lined up properly and functioning the way it should be
on Sundays.”
Considering the Alternative. The San Francisco
Chronicle October 1998
More and more professional athletes are
embracing alternative health practices, forcing teams to acknowledge
the effectiveness of everything from shark cartilage to chiropractic
care.
Though more teams are acknowledging the effectiveness
of acupuncture and chiropractic care, even these practices
are considered too unusual by some teams. The Chicago Bulls,
for example, do not have a chiropractor on staff, so Scottie
Pippen has to hire one on his own. In the NBA finals in June,
Pippen received chiropractic care at least once during a
game--only because he brought the chiropractor to the game.
"Chiropractors are flown in at the player's expense," said
Dr. Malcolm Conway, a chiropractor in Pennsylvania who works
with wide receivers Rocket Ismail and Qadry Ismail and other
professional athletes. "Athletes like Pippen are willing
to pay for chiropractic care because they need to recover
quickly from injuries and they believe chiropractic treatment
has a good rate of success." I agree!”
Chiropractic
effects on athletic ability. Lauro A. Mouch B. Chiropractic:
The Journal of Chiropractic Research and Clinical Investigation.
1991; 6:84-87.
Fifty athletes involved in various activities
including football, volleyball, track, cross-country running,
weightlifting, body building, rugby and aerobic dancing were
tested. They were divided into two groups.
One group received
chiropractic adjustments, the other served as controls. Eleven
tests were used to measure aspects of athletic ability including:
agility, balance, kinesthetic perception, power, and reaction
time. After 6 weeks, the control group and chiropractic group
were examined.
The control group exhibited minor improvement
in eight of the 11 tests (only two were statistically significant)
while the chiropractic group improved significantly in all
11 tests (eight were statistically significant).
In a hand reaction
test measuring the speed of reaction with the hand in response
to a visual stimulus (reaction time), the control group exhibited
less than a 1% response while the chiropractic group exhibited
more than an 18% response after 6 weeks. After 12 weeks the
chiropractic group exhibited more than 30% improvement in reaction
time.
Long psychomotor reaction time in patients with chronic
low-back pain. Taimela S. et. al. Archives of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation. 1993;74:1161-1164.
People with chronic low
back pain have decreased reaction time.
Rehabilitation prescribed
in coordination with prior chiropractic therapy as a treatment
for sacroiliac subluxation in female distance runners. Grimston,
S.K., Engsberg J.R., Shaw L, Vetane N.W. Chiropractic Sports
Medicine, 1990;4: 2-9.
This is the story of a Canadian research
team that included chiropractic care in the rehabilitation
program of 16 injured female long distance runners. The runners
recovered quickly and seven of them scored “personal best” performances
under chiropractic care.
Effects of chiropractic care on athletic
performance in baseball players. Schwartzbauer J, Kolber J,
Schwartzbauer, DC, Hart, JDC, Zhang J. Paper Presented at the
National Subluxation Conference, October 12-13, 1996 Phoenix,
Arizona, Sponsored by Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic
and later published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation
Research Vol. 1 No. 4. 1997 under the title Athletic performance
and physiological measures in baseball players following upper
cervical chiropractic care: a pilot study.
From the Abstract:
The athletic performance of university baseball
players was assessed before, during and after chiropractic
care. Each athlete’s performance was evaluated by athletic
abilities, such as the vertical jump, standing road jump,
linear space (specified), broad jump (specified), muscle
strength; and physiological tests such as electrocardiogram,
blood pressure, pulse rate and treadmill stress testing.
28 players were recruited for the study. Twenty players completed
the entire experiment with usable data.
All players were randomly
divided into control and experimental groups. Every player
was required to complete three sessions of athletic ability
and physiological tests. The first test was administered before
any chiropractic care was given. The second test was given
after six weeks of chiropractic care. The third test was given
after fourteen weeks of chiropractic care. Only the subjects
in the experimental group received chiropractic adjustments
to remove/reduce vertebral subluxation. The results showed
a positive correlation between chiropractic adjustments and
athletic performance.
Note: In addition to the above improvements,
the chiropractic group showed significant improvement in capillary
count at five and fourteen weeks of chiropractic care. Since
healthy oxygenation of tissues is dependent up blood supply,
this physiologic parameter may be the most important one of
all.
Copyright 2004 Koren Publications, Inc. & Tedd Koren,
D.C.