Sports Chiropractor For Athletes in Columbus, OH

Athletes don’t like to slow down. They play hard and train hard. Their mind is bigger than their body’s ability to keep up. Go hard or go home is the paradigm. That paradigm is a breeding ground for dysfunction.

Athletes are covert at hiding dysfunction. Count on it! There are many assessments and evaluation procedures specifically designed to spot dysfunctional patterns and compensations. However, subtle signs of compensation chaos may be overlooked by an untrained eye because the athlete is so good at ‘cheating’ movement. So what can you do to look for the hidden signs of dysfunction that athletes are so great at covering up? How can you find the kink in the armor? Search for neurological signs of compensation the body uses as a fall back mechanism for stability.

The best part is an athlete has no idea they are doing these compensations, so it’s a ‘tell’ of instability (poor motor control). These five signs are extremely valuable for divulging central core dysfunction. An athlete must have central (proximal) stability to achieve optimal distal mobility. If this relationship is altered, they will ‘bleed’ energy and move inefficiently with loss of power, speed, endurance, and performance. That’s bad.

These signs are ‘Red Flags’ of dysfunction. So what are they?

1. Foot Stability

The foot should appear stable. Signs of stability dysfunction include: The tendency of the foot to excessively pronate or supinate. Toes grip (claw) the ground for dear life. Extensor tendons on the dorsum of the foot are popping out like mad. The athlete may complain of Planter Fascitis, or other foot and ankle pain.

2. Breathing Patterns

Labored breathing is a surefire sign of dysfunction. Monitoring how an athlete breathes during non stressful movements and during high intensity training divulges valuable information about their core. Optimal breathing patterns are achieved via the diaphragm. The diaphragm is one of four primary components to the inner core (diaphragm, pelvic floor, transverses abdominis, and multifidi). If the diaphragm is not functioning at optimum and is facilitated you can have inhibition of the pelvic floor and transverse abdominis leading to faulty recruitment of the core.

3. Jaw Clenching

The jaw muscles are a default mechanism for overcompensation. In other words, the jaw muscles can become facilitated for other inhibited muscles throughout the body. Clenching up the jaw during minimal challenges to the core is a sure sign of instability. The pterygoids often inhibit the scalenes, the latissimus dorsi, the obliques, the quadratus lumborum, and the hip abductors. If these relationships are left unattended the tension in the jaw muscles increases tremendously resulting in the aforementioned symptoms. The jaw muscles must be considered in global relationships with the rest of the movement chains.

4. Grip (Clenching fist)

Finger flexors tend to be facilitated in relationship to finger extensors and synergistic muscles of the anterior chain. Often you may see an over compensation ‘death grip’ on power movements when there is inhibition in the psoas. Your brain can’t get the stability from the psoas structure so it fires on grip muscles to pull more with the upper torso as opposed to the core. Watch for athletes complaining of increased cases of elbow tendonitis or shoulder injuries. This indicates altered patterns in grip to upper extremity muscle sequencing. Is the athlete making fists when performing isometric movements? They have instability!

5. Rolling Patterns (Ground movements)

The ground is the great equalizer for the core. It does not care how big and strong you are because it eliminates most of your global power movers relying on core stability sequencing for movement. There is no cheating on the floor! The movement should be easy and seamless. No sticking or altered patterns from the lower extremity should exist. The underlying weakness or core instability of sequencing will be noticed easily by a trained eye. Athletes will feel the difference. If an athlete cannot accomplish a simple rolling task on the ground, where gravity is a minimal challenge on the core for stability, you can be sure there is no way they will be stable and functional in a standing position. If the core is weak, the pelvis will be unstable. If the pelvis is unstable, the rest of your spine will be unstable. It’s simple tensegrity of the body.

An unstable spine will lead to trigger points in your soft tissue, unequal strength and development of your muscles and a decreased function in whatever activity you are into. Want a whole body assessment, not just a look at why it hurts when you do “this”?