Chiropractic care has been helping CrossFit enthusiasts maximize performance and minimize injuries for a long time. CrossFit is an intense workout regime embraced by over 5 million people each year. Given its demanding nature, many CrossFitters, who often have sedentary jobs, find themselves prone to injuries. However, these injuries are not inevitable. Incorporating stretches, foam rolling, and other mobility exercises into your routine can significantly reduce the risk of injury. Additionally, chiropractic care offers numerous benefits for CrossFitters, enhancing their performance and overall well-being.
Chiropractic Care and Injury Prevention
CrossFit workouts involve high-intensity movements that can strain muscles and joints. Regular chiropractic adjustments help maintain proper alignment of the spine and joints, reducing injury risks during workouts. Poor form during lifts and exercises is a primary cause of injuries. Misaligned joints can lead to unintended poor form. Chiropractic care enhances joint function, increases range of motion, and improves form, thereby preventing injuries.
Get the Most out of your Workout
Proper joint alignment and function improves biomechanics of the spine or other effected joints. Improved mechanics allow you to get the most out of your workout, including more intense Crossfit workouts. When the body is in alignment, muscles function optimally, allowing athletes to generate more power and strength.
Recovery, Recovery, Recovery!!
CrossFit workouts can be intense, often resulting in muscle soreness and fatigue. Being in optimal alignment with Chiropractic adjustments will promote faster recovery by reducing inflammation, improving blood flow and aiding the body’s natural healing processes. The better your recover, the more you can perform on your next workout.
Enhanced Range of Motion
Flexibility and range of motion are crucial in all aspects of life, including CrossFit. It is important to have smooth movements to aid with proper form and technique. Chiropractic care improves joint function and reduces muscle restrictions, helping CrossFitters move more freely and efficiently. Given how much time we spend sedentary in front of a computer with poor posture, achieving full range of motion when starting to work out can be challenging. Regular chiropractic visits can significantly improve this.
Prior to any big workout including CrossFit it can be beneficial to warm up your core. Core engagement is critical to preventing significant injury during a workout. If we engage the core for a few minutes prior to a workout, it will be there to support us when we need it. Plus, it can help with your form, especially with more intense movements.
Also, don’t forget to stretch after the workout. You have spent all that time working your muscles, shortening them and putting stress on the surrounding joints. Take the time to lengthen those muscles after your work out. They’re already warmed up, they’ll have good blood supply and post workout stretching has been shown to reduce soreness and speed up recovery.
Overall, chiropractic care supports the health and performance of CrossFit athletes by addressing musculoskeletal issues, promoting better range of motion, optimizing overall function and faster recovery. It’s essential for athletes to work with qualified chiropractors who understand the unique demands of CrossFit training. At Desert Valley Chiropractic, we are dedicated to providing expert care to help you achieve your fitness goals safely and effectively.
One of my favoritee things about being a chiropractor at Desert Valley Chiropractic is restoring patients ability to do the things they love and returning them to active lifestyles. In fact, it may be my most favorite thing! Seeing our patients regain their ability to hike, bike, walk, practice yoga, garden and enjoy time with their family and friends is incredibly rewarding. The amazing bonus is we get to do it using gentle effective activator adjustments and NO drugs! Your ability to move and exercise is so strongly linked to both your quality and quantity of life that it is not an over statement to say getting active can literally save or change your life. So this month we are going to discuss exercise and why just 30 minutes of activity might be the ultimate life changing biohack!
Numerous health care professionals have stated that if you could bottle the benefits of exercise you would have a miracle drug or supplement at your disposal! The benefits of getting just 30 minutes of exercise a day include:
So where do you start if you or a loved one are struggling to be active or can’t do 30 minutes of exercise? I would recommend starting where you are, if you can do five minutes do five minutes. You don’t have to do an hour of Cross Fit to reap the rewards of exercise (if you are doing an hour of Cross Fit AWESOME keep going!). Start with walking or swimming both are excellent low impact exercises. Revisit each one of the topics in this blog series. The topics we have discussed so far have all been chosen to help with healing, vitality and energy. Get your vitamin D tested, practice breathing exercises, work on your posture, do vagus nerve exercises, clean up your diet and at the top of the list GET ADJUSTED chiropractic keeps you moving!
Exercise Facts
Exercise is defined as any movement that makes your muscles work and requires your body to burn calories. There are many types of physical activity, including swimming, running, jogging, walking, biking, sports and dancing, to name a few. Being active has been shown to have many health benefits, both physically and mentally. It may even help you live longer
Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, more use of medication and more illnesses.
Approximately 85 percent of people in North America live largely sedentary lifestyles this includes our children. The human body was designed to move, and when it’s deprived of this movement, the results can manifest as poor physical health, mood disorders, and accelerated aging. In fact, studies show that inactivity might be as bad for our health as smoking, leading to increased risks of chronic health problems such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, and some forms of cancer. Your physical and mental health depend so much on exercise that not getting enough is considered one of the 10 major risk factors for death worldwide.
Regular exercise is a highly effective way to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression, which affect millions of people throughout the United States. In addition to lowering your risks for chronic diseases, making your body move boosts your energy and improves your overall fitness. Likewise, more energy and a leaner, healthier body can boost your self-confidence.
Lack of physical activity can also strongly influence the rate at which your body ages. Inactivity accelerates the loss of muscle tissue, a process also known as atrophy, leading to weakness, increased risk of injury, and reduced coordination. This contributes to increased fall risks and decreases the ability to live independently . Inactivity also ages your brain by contributing to memory loss and brain fog.
Fortunately, experts agree you can combat these risks with just 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day.
The specific benefits of daily 30-minute workouts, such as reduced risk of disease, improved blood pressure and increased bone density, can be measured using diagnostic testing .However, many positive changes will stand out to you and your loved ones, including increased energy, a firmer body, and a stronger immune system.
Exercise boosts circulation, muscle strength, and endorphin production, helping your body work more efficiently. Simple tasks such as walking up the stairs and washing your car will feel easier almost immediately. You’ll also be more focused at work, less fatigued, less reliant on caffeine, and more capable of accomplishing tasks throughout each day.
Gradually, regular exercise increases your muscle mass and helps you shed excess fat and fluids. As moderate daily exercise supports your body’s production of antibodies and white blood cells, it will also fight off viruses and other pathogens more efficiently, significantly boosting your immune response and ability to fight disease.
Here are some exercise ideas to help get you moving:
Walking, bicycling, or dancing. Endurance activities increase your breathing, get your heart pumping, and boost chemicals in your body that may improve mood.
Yoga. This mind and body practice typically combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation.
Tai Chi. This “moving meditation” involves shifting the body slowly, gently, and precisely, while breathing deeply.
Activities you enjoy. Whether it’s gardening, playing tennis, kicking around a soccer ball with your grandchildren, or something else, choose an activity you want to do, not one you have to do.
One of the things that is really scary about the corona virus is the effect it is having on lungs.
Did you know that even your lungs need exercise to stay healthy and for your body to function normally? Your body needs oxygen for survival. Every activity in the body is dependent on oxygen, including the metabolic functioning of cells. The lungs perform the task of delivering oxygen to every part of the body. And, by practicing a few exercises regularly, you can train your lungs to increase their capacity, which will help you inhale more oxygen. This will, in turn, protect the body from various breathing disorders, help increase stamina, and ensure every part of the body gets adequate oxygen. But breathing is not just a necessity of life—it also has an array of positive effects on our body, mind, and spirit.
When we breathe deeply and mindfully, our breaths can create profound physiological effects that we’re only beginning to appreciate with the rise of yoga, meditation, and other breathwork practices in the last few decades.
Your chiropractic adjustments assist in healthy breathing by reducing tension and inflammation allowing the vertebra in your mid back to align, your ribs and the muscles in your neck to all work together to assist in better breathing.
So, scroll right down and check out these super efficient exercises to increase your lung capacity.
These exercises are not meant to diagnosis or treat COVID-19 or any other condition If you are not feeling well please seek medical attention . Also if you have an existing lung condition get clearance from your lung doctor (pulmonologist) before you begin these.
You are going to be exhaling with a bit of force during these so I suggest you stick with the current social distancing rule of six feet or more from anyone else while doing these.
Better Breathing Tip: It’s normal to hold your shoulders tense and high. Before starting any breathing technique, take a minute to drop your shoulders down, close your eyes, and relax.
Number One is Belly Breathing
Inhale through the nose push your belly out.
This is the exact opposite movement of sucking it in! Now breath out through the mouth and push it out
To do belly breathing:
Place one hand on your abdomen. Place one hand on your upper chest.
Focus your breathing on your abdomen.
As you breathe in, the hand on your abdomen should rise.
As you breathe out, the hand on your abdomen should lower.
Breathe in through the nose. Breathe out slowly through pursed lips.
Start by doing it while lying on your back. Then try it while sitting. Then try it while standing. Finally, try it while doing an activity.
Number Two is Pursed Lips Breathing
This should fell like smelling flowers and blowing out candles.
To do pursed-lips breathing:
Breathe in through your nose (as if you are smelling something) for about 2 seconds.
Pucker your lips like you’re getting ready to blow out candles on a birthday cake.
Breathe out very slowly through pursed-lips, two times longer than you breathed in.
Work towards increasing your times
2 seconds in : 4 seconds out
4 seconds in : 8 seconds out
8 seconds in : 16 seconds out
Bonus points you can use this for homeschool math!
Practice this 2 to 3 times a day for 5 to 10 minutes
Many people feel they do not need to increase their lung capacity until the time a simple and short exercise like playing with their kids or running with pets tires them and leaves them breathless.
Do these exercises to increase lung capacity and enjoy leisure time with loved ones without experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue
Stay well both mentally and physically. We will see you all soon!
One of my favoritee things about being a chiropractor at 
alking, bicycling, or dancing. Endurance activities increase your breathing, get your heart pumping, and boost chemicals in your body that may improve mood.