August 2007

Chiropractic boosts triathlete's performance

Athletic performance and chiropractic go hand in hand. With the 2007 triathlon season beginning, many triathletes include chiropractic care as part of their regular training program.

Top age‑group triathlete Lisa Marshall is just one of those athletes. An All‑American in the women's 40‑44 age group, Marshall also ranked first in the Southeast region in 2006. At the USA Triathlon National Championship, Marshall placed third. At local races in the Atlanta, Georgia area, she consistently places top in her age group, if not first overall.

"I'm starting my sixth season of racing triathlons," says Marshall. "I was a middle of the pack racer the first two seasons when I was kind of training and hurting myself in the process. I then became obsessed and started adding on the training hours and miles and that's when I really hurt myself."

After the end of her third season of racing triathlons, Marshall decided to run a half marathon on Thanksgiving Day, and increased her running mileage. As the miles poured on, pain came with it, and Marshall began having trouble with her Iliotibial Band, a common injury for runners.

Ice, rest and physical therapy for three months resulted in her feeling great. "I was stretching, doing some heat therapy, and basically resting," said Marshall. "However, as soon as I started running a couple of miles again the pain returned."

Soon after that, Marshall met up with Pamela Stone, DC, of Kennesaw, Ga. Also a triathlete, Dr. Stone talked with Marshall during a meeting of Tri‑Atlanta, the local triathlon club. After a chiropractic examination, X‑rays, and a surface EMG revealed an unleveling of her pelvis, subluxation and nerve interference. Marshall began chiropractic care and has been under regular chiropractic care ever since.

"Dr. Pam explained about my spine being out of alignment, and why my hip was hurting and it all made sense so I started getting adjusted," said Marshall. "Since I started getting adjusted, I haven't had any problems with my ITB."

"Lisa is one of the hardest working athletes I know," said Stone. "The adjustments have helped her tremendously during the past three years. She always gets adjusted the day before a race so she is ready to compete, and has been able to train and run faster, as well as run pain free."

Also a triathlete, Stone takes care of many triathletes and runners and has a good understanding of common injuries that runners and triathletes experience. "I have been a competitive athlete myself for more than 20 years and know that regular chiropractic adjustments have helped keep me injury free and able to train at the level that is required of triathletes. This makes it easier to work with athletes."

Since athletes count on their bodies functioning optimally to help them perform at peak levels, chiropractic care is a very important component of any training program. Since the nervous system is the master control system of the entire body, with any spinal imbalances and subluxations, the nervous system will have problems controlling the end organs or in this case muscles that are innervated by those affected nerves. Chiropractic helps athletes perform at the top of their game. In this case, Lisa Marshall is at the top of her game, and looking to continue that trend in 2007.