Sports therapy is a profession that helps people with a wide range of treatments for pain relief and improved performance. Many people see a sports therapist who arenât athletes, but simply want to feel and move their best! In this post, weâll define sports therapy, discuss its importance, and give you some of the 3 best exercises for your back that a sports therapist will recommend.
What is Sports Therapy?
Sports Therapy is a treatment approach which uses a variety of techniques to treat tight, sore, or injured soft-tissues. Practitioners are trained in a range of modalities like massage, joint mobilisation, dry needling, taping, tool assisted release and many more.
Soft tissue techniques have been used for thousands of years to treat tight and sore muscles. There is copious evidence from greek and roman times that athletes would regular receive soft tissue therapy to help them perform. Further, techniques like acupuncture have been used for millennia to treat a wide range of symptoms.
Using a mixed treatment approach, Sports Therapists help patients mobilisations (movement), soft tissue work (massage, stretching), acupuncture, taping, and exercise prescription (rehab).
Why is Sports Therapy important?
A lot of people experience muscle pain, tightness, and restriction day to day. These problems over a long period can cause dysfunction in the joint of our body which can contribute to long term pain and disability. Further, tight muscles and poor posture contribute to symptoms of many systemic conditions like asthma and breathing difficulties, IBS and digestive issues, and inflammatory pain conditions.
By seeing a Sports Therapist regularly you can address these chronic tight muscles which are affecting you. Your therapist can develop strategies with you to manage these long term and avoid the problems associated with tight tissues.
#The best 3 exercises for your back!
The âMcGill Big 3â are your go-to exercises to train your back. Developed by Professor Dr Stuart McGill these exercises are safe, effective, and well researched to aid in the treatment of lower back pain conditions. Any sports therapist worth their salt will prescribe you these to treat your back pain and core stability. There exercises are:
Repetitions and sets will vary but the general guideline is 3 sets daily of each exercise. For the curl up and bird dog, try 10-15 reps on each side. For the plank try a 30-60 hold on each side. Remember as with all exercise, if you are in pain stop and consult your therapist.
Summary
The important things to remember are: pain is normal, tight muscles and pain are normal and effect most people. Your sports therapist can help and getting them treated when the problem is new can help prevent it developing into a long term issue.
If youâd like to book a consultation follow this link: https://move-shrewsbury.uk2.cliniko.com/bookings or visit our website: www.moveshrewsbury.co.uk
As always â Move Better, Move Stronger!
