Crossfit and Chiropractic Care, A perfect match

By Dr. Michael Eid

“Hi, my name is Mike, and I have a confession to make… I really like Crossfit.”

I like the community, the atmosphere the gym creates, the variety of movements involved. I like the technical aspects of the gymnastics and weightlifting movements. I even like the lung burning, lactate inducing metabolic and mental demands of the constantly varied approach to each workout. All this merged with the shared suffering that we each endure, comparing ripped and calloused hands, to the intensity pushing people to their physical limits bring nothing but… pain, and a sense of achievement 4-5 times a week.

In my opinion, any kind of exercise method that gets people moving and improving the condition of their body is a great thing. As the functional fitness movement has grown and expanded, Crossfit, F-45, boot camps are getting people out of their comfort zones in a supportive group environment, strengthening both bodies and minds. 

I am passionate about getting active and conditioning the body, as it’s an important component of achieving good health. 

What do I love about Crossfit?

For me Crossfit ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to keeping me motivated to achieve my health goals. Why?

1. It’s fun and engaging
2. Each session is always different
3. The gym provides a supportive environment
4. It’s always a challenge
5. And there is always room for improvement, inspiring me to always get better.

Combining my passion for Crossfit and Chiropractic Care, I wanted to take a look at how a the partnership between Function training and Chiropractic care could assist in helping you achieve your health goals, reduce potential injury and manage any injuries you might already have.

Injury and functional fitness

As with all sports, and movement in general, there is an assumption that the individual performing them has appropriate biomechanics and body control. 

Unfortunately, this is not the case, with flexion addicted society in which we live, we are forever in front of a steering wheel, book or screen of some description, usually in a seated position. 

With this low-level chronic stress, extensor muscles of our shoulders and hips get weak and sluggish. Flexion muscles get short and tight. 

Lots of movements involved in the functional fitness programs require the opposite positions to what we find ourselves in on a day to day basis: extension. Doing these things at high volume and intensity it is an injury waiting to happen. 

What can a Chiropractor look to improve?

As a Chiropractor we are looking to help to improve:

• the function of the nervous system 
• Improve the awareness of the body in space
• Improve the function of joints that are chronically affected by bad posture.

Flexion and internal rotation at the shoulder predisposes us to: 

• Rotator cuff injury 
• Overuse problems like tendonopathies and bursitis 
• Poor posture’s effect on forward head posture and breathing mechanics. 

Flexion and internal rotation at the hip can lead to:

• Groin pain
• Premature arthritic change
• Addductors or gluteal tendonopathies 
• Trochanteric bursitis 
• Osteitis Pubis

From a chiropractic perspective we are looking to improve the function of the entire body to reduce the risk of injury, however all the adjusting in the world won’t fix problems if the provocative factors are present, this could be bad work position or poor technique. 

Managing your injury during Crossfit sessions

Management of injuries in Crossfit need to monitored by an experienced coach that programs workouts that your body can tolerate, avoiding provocative positions, for example avoiding pulling movements off the ground; using weight lifting blocks to start at the power position instead of off the ground.  We are still able to get work in and get better, we are going about with longevity in mind. 

At the end of the day, the common injuries we see are of the shoulder and hip due to bad posture and position in our everyday lives 

It’s a 2-way street when it comes to how your body responds, adherence to advice and avoidance of provocative movements. One of the beauties of CrossFit, the diversity of movements and modalities allows for changes to workouts if we do have an injury 

A good coach will be able to substitute movements to avoid aggravation of your condition and assist in rehabilitation 

My role as a chiropractor is to assist in the proper function of the body to be able to get into the positions required at the gym

Book an appointment with Dr Mike?

To book an appointment with Dr. Mike at our Norwood clinic,

you can call on 08 363 5773