A Preventative Medicine: Acupuncture for Sports Performance
We live in a skier’s paradise, and Glenwood Springs is perfectly situated to dawn patrol up Williams Peak or jet up to Aspen and blow cold smoke. And like so many other outdoor sports, when the season is in, it’s nonstop. But how is your body holding up to all that use and abuse trying to squeeze out every little ounce of the goods during the season? I’d be willing to guess you wake up sore for work and by the time February rolls around you’re still feeling like you’ve been body slammed even as you’re booting up on a fresh day.
You don’t have to wait until you’re in pain or injured for acupuncture to be effective. Acupuncture is perfectly suited to work as a performance enhancer or as a part of your routine maintenance. Because it is a preventative medicine, acupuncture really shines in this area by coaxing your body’s naturally occurring systems to work optimally to help you heal and recover between days out.
Acu-Boost Your Performance
Acupuncture is a safe, effective and cost-effective method to keeping your body in top form. In addition to a well tailored training plan (I recommend both general strength and sport specific), acupuncture can help treat pain, inflammation, range of motion as well as having an effect on mental/emotional wellbeing (key if you’ve been in an intense performance mindset for an extended time).
This post by Canadian acupuncturist Oliver Roy, stacked with research to back it, sums things up well: “Acupuncture boosts sports performance by positively affecting muscular oxygenation, muscular strength, power, as well as muscular and cardiopulmonary endurance, range of motion, haemodynamic and metabolic parameters. It can even help prevent and treat sports related injuries. Acupuncture has also been shown to modulate the physical and psychological well-being of athletes.”
Recommended Dose
I recommend monthly maintenance session for any athlete (whether professional or a weekend warrior), which can be increased to weekly or every other week during the peak season or during intense training cycles. If you sustain an injury during the season, getting in to see an acupuncturist as soon as possible can help decrease pain as well as your recovery time. Feeling worked as the season hammers on? Head to the Contact Me page to set up an appointment before the next storm cycle drops the fresh goods!
Research to tide you over (or make you hungry for more…):
Acupuncture’s effect on endurance
Electroacupuncture to enhance rapid strength
Acupuncture’s effects on isometric strength