Mobile Physiotherapy Clinic

9 Ways Physiotherapy Can Improve Your Performance as an Athlete? 

Have you ever thought of adding Physiotherapy to your athletic journey? 

Perhaps, you’ve thought that Physiotherapy is only for when you are injured or that only professional athletes have a Physiotherapist.

This is most simply not true!

Physiotherapy is for everyone, whether you’re only starting your athletic journey or have been active for years. Below is an example of how small impactful changes can improve your performance.

How 1% performance improvements led to Olympic gold medals.
Before 2002 the British Cycling team had little record of success. When Sir Dave Brailsford became the head of British Cycling in 2023, he broke down all the elements that go into riding a bike and focused on improving each element by 1%. This amazing tactic led the team to win 60% of the gold medals available. 

This is exactly what Physiotherapy does! A Physiotherapist will work with you to improve your body and performance to help you reach your athletic goals.

How can a Physiotherapist help you?

Physiotherapy is a process of restoring movement and function to those recovering from an operation or injury and those struggling with back and neck pain. However, for athletes, a Sports Physiotherapist may be a better choice for reaching their goals.

Physiotherapy is a highly personalised and holistic approach to recovery by taking into consideration: 

  • your unique situation
  • your goals 
  • your exercise routines 
  • and, most importantly, your limitations.

A Sports Physiotherapist can identify any areas of weakness by assessing your exercises or running technique. With a structured rehabilitation process, they can help you with a targeted improvement plan.

Discuss with your Physiotherapist if you have any discomfort or minor issues. This can help them spot any areas of weakness. It will also go a long way towards injury prevention and improving your athletic performance.

Mobile Physiotherapy Clinic

Benefits of Physiotherapy 

1. Improves Range of Motion and Flexibility 

Have you ever felt frustrated by your movement limitation? Whether you’re an athlete or just a beginner, improving your range of motion and flexibility is vital for muscle development. 

It helps maintain healthy joints and muscles, lowering your risk of pain or injury. 

While flexibility is seeing how far your muscles can stretch, range of motion assesses the degree of movement for a particular joint. Although they work hand in hand, increasing your flexibility can effectively improve your range of motion.

A Physiotherapist can test and correct any imbalances or body misalignments and help you improve flexibility and range of motion. 

2. Prevents Injury 

Going to a Sports Physiotherapist for sports injuries can speed up your recovery. 

A Physiotherapist will focus on treating the source of the injury. It will allow for holistic recovery. 

Providing unique exercises to enhance strength, flexibility, balance, and stability can prevent future injuries. 

3. Improves Body Posture and Alignment

Proper posture aligns your joints and spine, distributing weight evenly and creating efficient movement. 

While it is debatable whether good posture can increase an athlete’s performance, it assists with injury prevention. As the well-known saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

According to the Sports Performance Bulletin, “It is far better to put into place a training and lifestyle programme that prevents poor posture.”

A Physiotherapist can help you correct your posture. The first step is assessing your posture. The next step is giving you unique exercises to build strength and flexibility to improve your posture.

4. Redefined Muscle Strength and Balancing 

Because a muscle imbalance can slow you down or cause an injury, correcting muscle imbalance will help protect the joints by absorbing the forces that impact them due to excessive wear and tear.  

Redefining muscle balance and strength increases power and improves endurance performance. 

A Physiotherapist can assess your muscle balance, showing each muscle group’s strength. This will help you take corrective action and guarantee maximum contraction and relation speed. 

5. Build Power and Speed

Physiotherapists do more than rehabilitate injured athletes. They can also help with athletic development by considering your sport’s physical demands and athletic physical profile.

From there, they can create a personalised program to help you on your journey or to prepare for any sporting event.

Here are a few benefits of having a personalised program: 

  • Increased power
  • Improved speed
  • Faster acceleration 
  • Better agility 
  • Reduce the risk of injury 

6. Enhance Neuromuscular Control

Neuromuscular control is the ability to produce controlled movement through coordinated muscle activity. In sports, neuromuscular control is crucial to execute any jumping, landing, and pivoting tasks correctly and without injury. 

The National Library of Medicine did a study on the effects of Neuromuscular training on athletes and found the following conclusion: “Neuromuscular Training positively impacts athletes’ physical fitness (balance, agility, speed, muscular power, muscular endurance) and improves the performance of motor muscles, which speeds up the subcortical control system.”

A Physiotherapist can support and educate you, so you will learn how to improve your Neuromuscular control and avoid injuries. 

7. Relieves and Eliminates Pain 

If you have chronic pain or an injury, going for Physiotherapy can be one of the best choices you can make. 

During the injury recovery phase, the body undergoes stages of healing, such as inflammation, tissue repair, and remodelling. 

Physiotherapy and rehabilitation are vital, as they help reduce inflammation and facilitate tissue repair and normal movement patterns.

Physiotherapists use pain relief exercises, stretching and massage therapy to relieve and eliminate pain. 

8. Improve Sport-Specific Technique

Your technique is vital to correct as an athlete. Poor technique leads to higher injury rates and, worst of all recurring injuries. 

A Sports Physiotherapist is crucial for improving your technique, they will teach you how to protect yourself against possible injuries. An added bonus – you will increase your power and accuracy too. 

9. Enhance Mental Health

Exercise can lead to an increase in endorphins, the feel-good hormones. Regular release of endorphins through exercise can improve your mental state and well-being.

But when you’re in physical pain, it can harm your mental health. 

In some cases, athletes struggle with anxiety, mood swings and other mental health issues. 

If you have an injury or are in rehabilitation you may feel frustrated or emotional sometimes also fueled by being unable to participate in an event or activity. 

While Physiotherapy is related to pain relief and recovery, a side effect of physical therapy is that it can boost your mood and improve your overall mental state.

As a result, patients learn to manage or prevent their pain, which is why Sports Physiotherapy may be crucial in their athletic journey.  

Every athlete has unique goals, strengths, weaknesses and injury risks. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Physiotherapy.
Instead, Physiotherapists develop personalised treatment plans tailored to their client’s specific needs. 

Here at Physio On The Move, we use the following modalities for athletes: 

  • Exercise
  • Manual therapy 
  • Cupping
  • Massage

Contact us to book an appointment. We can help you get started and improve your performance so you can enjoy your athletic journey. 

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