Athletics

For information's sake, the Superbowl XLV winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers' father is a chiropractor.  I bet he was adjusted before the game for the purpose of enhanced flexibility, improved reaction time, co-ordination of body parts, and overall performance.  I bet he sure enjoyed his post-game adjustment to aid in recovery from strong impacts and repeated strenuous efforts.

Football Hall of Fame Inductee Jerry Rice also used chiropractic for reasons of heightened performance, injury recovery, and career longevity.  Enjoy his story as seen below.

Recent Training Seminars Experienced By Dr. Hargreaves In Order to Help the Athlete

• Neuromuscular Adaptations to Resistance Training
• Facts & Fallacies of Fitness
• Protein Needs for Athletes
• Agility Training From Fundamental Movement to Game Speed Success
• The Ins and Outs of Vertical Jump Training
• Muscles and Movement in 3D
• Applied Injury Prevention Techniques for Females
• Year-round Strength and Conditioning considerations for Basketball Athletes

If you don't want to be like everyone else then don't train like everyone else! 

Learn about and master spine-centered muscle integration training vs historic single joint action muscle isolation which is NOT found in any sport. 

Athletes and professionals at the top of their game are using a secret.  The ultimate performance-enhancement is not coming in the form of a syringe or pill, but from the power, growth and potential available when you access the unlimited intelligence within your own body. 

Regardless of the profession to which you belong, repetitive motion and demand on the body create imbalance, fatigue, and dysfunction.  Chiropractic adjustments reconnect you with your own inner source and optimize performance.

Consider the decades of ongoing "bad press" my beloved profession has received from basically unqualified people.  If chiropractic was the "menace" or "hoax" which these amateurs profess it to be, then please answer my questions with authority and not innuendo or stale and time-worn reasoning.

If chiropractic is a hoax or quackery, then why does the 2011 NFL Players' Association and NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulate that every NFL team provide funded chiropractic treatment to the economic assets (players)?  The owners, general managers, coaches, and trainers of the NFL, CFL, NHL, NBA, MLB franchises and dozens of national Olympic committees entrust their multimillion dollar economic assets (players) to a profession which has stood the test of time.  Why at successive Olympic games is the chiropractic area of the health care tent packed with athletes whilst other areas of the tent are relatively vacant?  Why do athletes in all sports and at all levels seek out chiropractic care for purposes of performance enhancement, training benefits, injury prevention, injury recovery, and career extension?

Following are the comments from experienced users of chiropractic. 

"The team wasn`t just riders.  It was the mechanics, masseurs, chefs, soigneurs, and doctors.  But the most important man on the team may have been the chiropractor."
-Lance Armstrong
 7 Time Winner of the Tour de France

 "… as long as I see the chiropractor, I feel like I`m one step ahead of the game."
-Tom Brady
 Quarterback, New England Patriots
 3 Time Superbowl Champion
 2 Time Superbowl MVP

"I believe in chiropractic, and I know that it works.  You probably know about my long and successful career in football.  I'm flattered by the testimonials to my durability.  Football is a very rough and vigorous sport.  Chiropractic was the key to keeping me in the game."
 -Jerry Rice 
  Wide Receiver San Francisco 49ers
  3 time Superbowl Champion
  Superbowl MVP

By the way, my son's team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, unconditionally pays the bills so the players and other field staff can receive chiropractic health care on a regular basis during the season.  Now why in the world would such a storied franchise ensure that chiropractic is available for its economic assets? 

Why do thoroughbred and standardbred owners and trainers fly in their favorite chiropractors to treat the $15,000,000 economic assets?  Why?  Any trainer will tell you that the horses run better, train better, breed better, and recover more quickly after vigorous physical efforts.  Chiropractic is all about the high-level performance, human or non-human.

From the May 29, 2003 issues of the Daily Racing Forum and the Johnson County Sun, comes a story of how a top level race horse, "Ten Most Wanted" was helped by chiropractic.  The story reports that at the start of the Kentucky Derby, he had been bumped sharply leaving the gate, putting his back out of alignment.  "He wouldn't jog," his trainer, Wally Dollase, remembered. "He had displaced his back about a half an inch."

Dr. Herb Warren, a veterinarian who worked on Ten Most Wanted said, "There was severe pressure on his spinal cord.  His back was out of whack.  He didn't want to move behind."  This is where the chiropractor Dr. Dave Hand came in.  Dr. Hand is a former trainer who for more than a decade has been sought out by some of the top trainers to work on their horses.  During the week leading up to the Derby, Hand did adjustments on four horses - Atswhatimtalkinbout, Scrimshaw, Ten Cents a Shine, and Ten Most Wanted.  Hand worked on Touch Gold prior to his victory in the 1997 Belmont Stakes, but his most consistent client has been Dollase, for whom Hand has treated the likes of Grade 1 stakes winners Deputy Commander, Jewel Princess, and Windsharp.  "He's good at what he does," trainer Wally Dollase said."

I call him in if I think a horse needs him.  He puts a horse back in place with his own arms.  He adjusts the back to where it's normal."  According to Dollase, "He is moving fine now, and Ten Most Wanted is scheduled to run in the June 7 Belmont Stakes.  One of the reasons he will be there is the long-term care he has received from an equine chiropractor."

The Daily Racing Forum article was written before the running of the Belmont stakes.  The chiropractic care that Ten Most Wanted received must have been effective as the horse finished second in the Belmont Stakes.

I had the chance to get in touch with Sacramento chiropractor, Dr. Jeri Anderson, who’s an expert on competitive horseracing.  While everybody’s been talking about Mine That Bird and his amazing upset at the 2009 Kentucky Derby, I’ve been wondering how champion jockeys like Calvin Borel manage being on a horse, traveling at such a fast speed.  I figured it’s got to be incredibly tough on the body. 

On the topic of New York’s Belmont Stakes, Dr. Jeri reminded me that most jockeys and riders functioning at elite levels in equestrian sports are receiving chiropractic care.  She emphasized that their careers depend on it. She also reminded me that many of the race horses are adjusted.

Dr. Michael Dorausch, DC

Youth Athletes 

 When our son was growing up in his world of athletics, he told me the following after a 4:30 AM weekday all-star hockey practice.  "Dad, every single player talked about their sore back.  When they asked me I said I didn't have a sore back.  And they said, 'that's because your dad is a chiropractor.'"  Those kids knew the truth. 

All that most of those kids needed was some regular chiropractic treatment to take the pressure off young bodies training for and playing a high-intensity sport.  I basically watched almost each and every one of those other young players deteriorate with respect to speed/agility/attendance at practice or games/giving up the game.  It was not due to lack of ability as these kids were all highly-talented athletes and every one of them was good enough to receive a college scholarship (free education) or be drafted at 15 years of age to leave home and play Canadian junior hockey.  With the exception of three players, the best hockey training, coaching, and tons of ice time could not overcome nagging and accelerating injury problems.

Chiropractic Care for Athletes

High school, college and professional athletes are increasingly turning to chiropractic care to help them relieve pain and stay fit.  Many athletes seek chiropractic care on their own. However, there is a growing trend for schools and professional teams to either have a direct relationship with a chiropractic physician or have one on their health care staff.  Chiropractic treatment by itself frequently gets the athlete/worker back to successful performance more quickly than other treatment methods.  That strong fact is well-known in volumes of workers' compensation studies. 

Many athletes began looking into chiropractic care in the mid-eighties.  Quarterback, Joe Montana, was treated on national TV by Dr. Nick Athens prior to the 1989 Super Bowl. Following their win in the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49ers decided to have a chiropractic physician on staff permanently.  Today, the 2011 NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement mandates that all teams provide funded chiropractic care for the athletes.

Professional players are demanding top-notch care.  Wade Boggs, after winning baseball's World Series with the New York Yankees, was traded to the expansion team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  However, Boggs would not agree to the trade until the Devil Rays signed a chiropractic physician to the team.

Golf great, Tiger Woods, is another example of what the benefits of chiropractic care can offer an athlete.  Tiger Woods states, "lifting weights and seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis has made me a better golfer."

Seven-time winner of the National League's Most Valuable Player, Barry Bonds, is another avid proponent of chiropractic care.  He has been under chiropractic care since 1993.  "Your body is being treated like it is supposed to be with chiropractic care" stated Bonds.  He recommends that every athlete have some contact with a chiropractor.

The list goes on and on. Mark McGuire, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Charles Barkley, Evander Holyfield, John Smoltz, Trevor Hoffman, Irving Fryar, Fred Funk, Jose Canseco, Ali and the U.S. Olympic Team all choose chiropractic care.  These are just a few of current and Hall of Fame athletes that support chiropractic care for athletes.

Chiropractic care has made great strides both on and off the field.  As you can see, many world-class athletes, college and professional teams implement chiropractic care in their lives.

Athletes, young and old, I encourage you to consider chiropractic for proper care of your neck, back and joints.  Play Ball!!

All I can now say to you parents is "get your athlete to the chiropractor."