Chiropractic for Runners & Joggers – How Chiropractic Can Help
Endurance running and jogging takes a unique toll on the human body, even though we are anatomically well-equipped for these activities. The pounding of feet against pavement puts strain on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints of the legs, which then has an effect on the rest of the body. If you’re regularly spending time running or jogging on the track, here’s what you need to know about how chiropractic care can help support your health and well-being.
Is the human body made for running?
A popular question people commonly ask is “is the human body made for running?” There’s a lot of proof that suggests our bodies are naturally good at running, jogging, and walking. For example, the size of our leg muscles in comparison to the rest of our body, or how uniquely shaped human feet are–all signs point toward running being an activity we’ve evolved to practice.
The reasons people often choose running and jogging as their go-to workout are plentiful. In addition to quickly burning calories, these exercises also strengthen the legs, create lean muscles, improve balance, metabolism function, lymphatic system circulation and respiration & heart health – just to name a few benefits. Though it’s hard to believe with all of those advantages, running can actually have some drawbacks if not done correctly.
What are the downsides of running and jogging as exercise?
Although there are numerous benefits to running and jogging, there are some drawbacks that cannot be ignored. Running and jogging put a tremendous amount of pressure on the knee joints which can lead to early-onset arthritis and disc degeneration. Additionally, this high-impact activity has also been cited by medical doctors as one of the leading causes of joint degeneration.
Not only is running and jogging tough on the joints, but it can also harm muscles and tendons. The constant motion of “pounding the pavement” often leads to cramps, and long-distance runners are susceptible to a form of muscle loss that doesn’t allow for proper healing before using those muscles again.
How do I prevent the negative effects of running and jogging?
It’s crucial to let your body rest properly between running and jogging sessions so it can heal and recover. In fact, you won’t realize the full benefits of exercise until you’ve had enough time to rest. Without adequate rest, all your efforts toward a healthier lifestyle will be for naught.
Diet is just as important, if not more so, than exercise when trying to improve your overall health. In order to maintain and rebuild muscle tissue, you need a diversity of minerals, proteins, and amino acids which can best be achieved through speaking with a nutritionist or dietary expert. This will help make sure that you are getting the most out of your workouts without depleting any important nutritional resources in your body.
At SpineWorks Chiropractic, we believe that chiropractic care is important for supporting your body if you are a runner or jogger. often serves as a preventative health practice for our patients. Chiropractic care can help to protect muscles and joints, infuse the body with energy, and increase athletic performance.
How can chiropractic care help runners?
By addressing the neuro-musculoskeletal system, chiropractic care can help runners and joggers. The neuro-musculoskeletal system comprises bones and joints, nerves, muscles, tendons, soft tissue, and ligaments of the body–which is mostly affected by running or jogging. Consequently, supporting its health allows the body to adapt more easily to running/jogging recover faster post-run/jog, and improve performance overall .
Chiropractic care can support the joints.
If you constantly worry about the state of your joints as a runner or jogger, then consider chiropractic care to improve and support them. Chiropractors can help decompress any joints that have been compressed by constant impact–an occupational hazard for runners. They achieve this through adjustments which ultimately enable the knee, spine, and ankle joints to move smoothly over surrounding discs and nerves.
Chiropractic care can support the muscles and connecting tendons.
When you receive chiropractic care, it benefits not only your muscles and connecting tendons, but also the soft tissues of your body. This is because as the layers of the neuro-musculoskeletal system are addressed, any inflammation or abrasion from joints, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissues is alleviated. In other words, chiropractic care allows resetting and facilitates optimal function in the neuro-musculoskeletal system.
Chiropractic care can improve the function of nerves.
When your joints aren’t positioned properly, they can press down on surrounding nerves. This pressure leads to various issues such as severe pain, tiredness, numbness and tingling sensations, difficulty paying attention and being alert, among other symptoms. Fortunately, chiropractic care can relieve this nerve pressure by realigning the joints.
When our nervous system isn’t working as it should, our body appears to be much older and more fatigued than it actually is. However, by restoring balance to the neuro-musculoskeletal system through chiropractic care, we can rejuvenate the entire body. Our patients at SpineWorks Chiropractic in London often say they feel younger, livelier, and healthier after receiving treatment from us.
Chiropractic Care in London
At SpineWorks Chiropractic, Dr. Luc Archambault focuses on getting to the root of your symptoms. This means that if you experience any recurring pain or discomfort due to running or jogging, we can help you here. At SpineWorks Chiropractic, we look at your overall health and wellness, as well as your lifestyle and daily activity levels. By doing this, our team is able to get a better understanding of where improvements need to be made in order to help you reach your wellness goals.
Our treatment plans are designed to help make sure you’re getting the most out of your care and seeing results as quickly as possible. Chiropractic BioPhysics®, a form of care that uses mirror-image® adjustments and spinal traction, can take up to 90 days to create significant changes in your spinal alignment. By providing a personalized treatment plan from the start, we can help get you relief from pain more efficiently right away, and ensure that by the end of your treatment period, you’re seeing life-enhancing results.
SpineWorks Chiropractic may be the perfect place for you if you’re looking for a chiropractor specializing in back pain, and we serve London area athletes as well as anyone else seeking general back pain relief. Why suffer from alignment issues any longer? Pick up the phone and give us a call today!
