Sports Chiropractors have been treating injuries related to intense workout sessions from athletes to workout buffs for decades. Most of us have worked out recently, whether it be a hard weight lifting session, a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), or an exercise class, the common thread is typically weights and/or kettle-bells are likely involved.  Weight lifting has tremendous health benefits, increasing endorphins and dopamine (making us feel good), burning calories, and most importantly, strengthening weak tissues.  Typically, you should lift weights 30-45 minutes daily 3 days per week to see appropriate strength gains.  However, as with lifting weights comes the possibility of suffering an injury resulting from poor form and/or fatigue.  Below will mention a few common exercises that sports chiropractors can treat and help to alleviate chronic pain here.

Sit-ups, AKA crunches, with no support behind your lower back, can cause injury to your lower back and neck.  Every time you perform a sit-up, you place 6-8x the amount of forces on your lower back vertebrae, and discs, leading to strains, possible disc injuries, and joint inflammation.  Regarding your neck, you can strain a muscle, affecting your range of motion, flexibility, and function.  Sports chiropractors can adjust the spine limiting injury, in addition to properly addressing exercises that perform the same functions as a crunch.  Also, sports chiropractors can stretch tight muscles and tendons that have become overused from doing these repeatedly as often as one does.

Dead-lifts often result in injury because of the strain placed on the lower back resulting from bending here.  Repetitively doing dead-lifts may result in disc and/or lower back injuries creating potential debilitating pain.  Individuals wanting to strengthen their hamstrings and lower back can perform other exercises recommended by a sports chiropractor.  The sports chiropractor can reduce inflammation, increase flexibility, and strengthen weak tissues to avoid causing serious injury to his/her lower back.

 
The last exercise is the bench press as this can lead to lower back injuries or shoulder injuries due to poor form.  Often, as one increases their weight while performing several repetitions, if they don’t exhibit proper form with each repetition, they could suffer an injury from compensation (i.e. arching their lower back, or not keeping your shoulders back against the bench).  Over time, bench press can lead to instability and degenerative changes due to wear-and-tear on the shoulder.  A sports chiropractor can focus on correcting form, improving one’s posture, and T/S extension so they can bring their shoulders back easier.

These 3 exercises illustrate common injuries affected by weight lifting that sports chiropractors treat and counsel their patients on how to prevent injury so he/she doesn’t lose the ability to workout/exercise.

Brian Marion, DC, CCSP, ART, CKTP

2202 N. Lincoln Ave Ste 1 Chicago, IL 60614

www.lincolnparkchiropractic.com 773-248-2790