Chiropractic for athletes

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Chiropractic: an ally for summer athletes

Summer is finally here, bringing with it sunny days and the desire to get active outdoors. Whether you’re a keen runner, swimmer, hiker or any other sports enthusiast, it’s essential to take care of your body to avoid injury and maximize your performance. The advice and treatment offered by our chiropractors can help you do just that.

What can I do about the pain I feel when exercising?

Whatever your level, if you regularly engage in sporting activities, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll experience discomfort or even pain during or after a sporting activity at some point in your life. Rest assured, pain and injury are an integral part of sporting life. In fact, science clearly underlines that the risks of injury during physical activity/sports are far less important for your health than the dangers of being inactive! What should we do if we suffer pain during training/physical activity? Is it absolutely necessary to stop your sport? Is it acceptable to continue with a certain level of pain? The simple (and flat) answer is often that “it depends”. The good news is that the following guidelines may help you manage your discomfort and pain independently, before you consider consulting a health professional such as one of our chiropractors or physiotherapists.

How can I manage my activities and training when I’m in pain?

It’s safe and normal to experience discomfort and even a little pain during and after a workout/sports activity. Here’s a summary of important points to consider if you experience pain during or after your sporting activity:

The pain should be tolerable for you. It should be between 0 and 4 (maximum 5) on a visual pain scale, where 10 is the worst pain you can imagine (see image below).
Post-exercise soreness (24-48 hours after exercise) should not interfere significantly with your activities of daily living.
The pain should not get worse. Pain levels must return to baseline or lower within 24-36 hours.

What about pain from strengthening exercises in the gym?

If a strengthening exercise is painful to perform, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should be avoided. Try modifying these variables first (alone or in combination):

Reduce the Load (e.g. cut the load by 50% and note whether the pain disappears or diminishes considerably)
Reduce the amplitude of the movement performed (e.g. go less far in the movement and note whether the pain disappears or diminishes considerably)
Modify load placement (e.g. change the “back squat” to a “goblet squat” in which the load is placed at the front of the body rather than at upper back level)
Reduce the number of repetitions and/or repetitions
Increase rest/recovery time
Do the exercise more slowly (a slower tempo is generally more tolerable)
If necessary: change to a similar but less strenuous exercise for a few days. Consult our chiropractors or physiotherapists if necessary.

Bonus: Adjust exercise intensity according to daily pain level.

Here’s the “rule of 10”, a pictorial way of showing you how to adapt the intensity/difficulty of an exercise/activity to your pain level. The pain scale (“VAS” in red on the arrow) is combined with the RPE scale (“RPE”, in green on the arrow) so that the sum of the 2 gives a total of 10. For example, if your pain level before starting training is perceived as 3/10, you’ll max out at an intensity of 7/10 on the RPE scale. If your pain level on the day is 4/10, then you’ll max out at an intensity of 6/10 on the RPE scale, and so on.