As Illinois HS football ended in late November/early December for all around Chicago and the state, it is important for football athletes to recover from likely an injury suffered during the season or playoffs.  As the offseason is now here (despite the colder weather in and around Chicago), taking the next steps to recover and rehab from these injuries will be necessary as you prepare for next season.  This post will address proper steps and tips to recover and rehab properly avoiding injury.

Likely with the bumps, bruises, or actual injuries one suffered, it is important to visit your local sports chiropractor especially in the surrounding areas of Lincoln Park in Chicago (if your child attends HS nearby or attends a different school).  A sports chiropractor needs to address your injury first with proper treatment via a treatment plan that likely includes soft tissue work (in the form of Active Release Techniques, Graston, massage) and chiropractic manipulation.  Also, rehab exercises will help the injury heal and to retrain the weaker tissues around the injury.   Discussion with your sports chiropractor as treatment begins will include the following:  learn what muscles to strengthen, what muscles and joints to stabilize, and what muscles to loosen in enhancing recovery.  This may take a few months depending on the length of time one has dealt with their injury, but as long as one stays committed, one will achieve the results one seeks.

As rehab concludes, the focus should shift to nutrition, strength, and speed as these will be the determining factors in building progress from the previous season.  Evaluating and assessing one’s nutrition are quite important in achieving strength and speed.  Learning the proper macro intake (proteins, fats, and carbs) for a growing and developing HS athlete are critical for proper strength when one includes the gym or sports-specific exercises.  Knowing how much protein:fat:carb ratio for daily consumption will allow tissues to rebuild, and heal correctly minimizing injury as you continue your offseason preparation.  Discussing and formulating one’s nutrition with a sports nutritionist will create the plan to balance your workouts ensuring recovery.  As much as sweets and snacking taste great to any teenager, one needs to avoid these in excess to allow maximum function of one’s tissues via nutrition.

Finally, strength training programs created by a football related trainer, an online program/app, or sports facility that works with football players will produce offseason workout programs to build strength, and speed.  These workouts will take place at least 3-4 days/week, but cross training involving stretching, mobility work of one’s tissues, and rehab exercises (given from the sports chiropractor) are just as important to avoid injury when lifting heavy and moving fast.  It is important to have check-ins with the proper health and fitness professionals throughout the offseason to ensure one is sticking with and meeting their goals.

There will be a lot of sacrifice given in the offseason months to achieve the maximum results you seek as you become the best football player you can for yourself and your team next season.  Learning how to better take care of yourself through ideal health, nutrition, and strength training pillars will reduce your risk of injury and improve your performance on the field. Consulting and utilizing the right health and fitness professionals will give you a leg up on your competition (both against other teams and within your team against other those who you compete with at a particular position) to be successful in the upcoming season.

Brian Marion, DC, CCSP, ART, SFMA, CKTP

Lincoln Park Chiropractic https://lincolnparkchiropractic.com