Chiropractic Care Can Help NFL Players Get Ready for Their Season
Many people look to professional athletes when they are trying to develop a health and fitness plan. After all, it is easy to admire these individuals because they have to be in top condition in order to play their chosen sport. For some people, professional football players represent the hallmark of fitness. These men take and receive hard hits during a game and need to be agile and quick on the field.
While it is easy to just emulate the workout routine and dietary preferences of NFL players, you have to look far beyond that if you want to be truly healthy. For instance, football players have to make sure that their entire body is in game-ready condition. This includes their spinal column.
Chiropractic Care Is Available
Did you know that all 32 NFL teams offer chiropractic care for their players? This might shock you, especially if you remember the lawsuits that came about after players blamed the league and teams for pushing narcotics to keep them on the field despite injuries. The lawsuits led some players to look for ways to control pain that didn't involve drugs of any sort. Some of them turned to chiropractic care.
Kinesiology is important to these athletes. The mechanics of body movements that are at the center of this focus come from a variety of systems in the body, almost all of which are connected to the spinal cord. Without a properly aligned spine, there is a good chance that the body isn’t going to function optimally.
Part of Comprehensive Care
The availability of chiropractic care doesn’t mean athletes are foregoing traditional medical care. Instead, they are using chiropractic care to address issues before they develop into medical issues. Chiropractic care can help prevent some of the most common game-related injuries that football players experience, such as neck and back issues that come with crouching down and tackling.
Tackles can be especially dangerous since they can compress the cervical spine, which can cause catastrophic injuries. However, chiropractic care can help align the spine so that it isn't impacted as severely when it is hit.
Football players who receive chiropractic care report less soreness and fewer aches and pains. Jerry Rice, for instance, an NFL Hall of Fame and official spokesperson for the Foundation of Chiropractic Progress, has remarked on several occasions about how adjustments have helped him both on the field and off.
Mr. Rice is in good company. Joe Montana, a former quarterback, also touts the effects of chiropractic care. Even if you look at more recent NFL athletes, you will find many who espouse the benefits, such as running back and Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush. “I look at chiropractic care as important to keeping me healthy and at the top of my game,” Bush has said.
A Growing Practice
Since the “no pain, no gain” train of thought has dissolved since the end of the 1970s, chiropractic care has boomed in the NFL. There is now even a Professional Football Chiropractic Society. With this in mind, it is easy to see why other athletes are following suit by making sure to include chiropractic care in their arsenal.
It is important to note that chiropractic care isn’t limited only to the playing season. In fact, even in the offseason, an NFL team’s chiropractors stay busy. Players know they need to stay in top shape, which includes taking care of the spinal column year-round.
Chiropractic care has a cumulative effect on the body. As regular adjustments are made, the body will begin to hold the spine in place, which will increase the effectiveness of the treatments and help the body function in the best way possible.