Professional sport can have drastic effects on the health of your spine, depending on the individual case.
Many factors determine how professional sports affect your spine; it’s hard to create an all-encompassing list of things you can do to avoid it. However, there are some critical steps to take care of your spine before you start.
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Types of sports that are most harmful to your spine
The question that comes up initially is, “Which sports are worse than others?” As tricky as answering this question may be, there are clear answers for many types of sports.
- Wrestling, soccer, and boxing are all considered to be the most dangerous sports to the spine. Simply put, these three sports are highly mechanical.
- When engaging in contact sports like wrestling and soccer, the amount of force placed on the spine is enormous. The back is also at risk of many injuries when playing these sports because of their high risk for spinal injury. So it is vital to keep this in mind when making choices about these pastimes.
- Many people go out to play tennis because they want to be fit. Why, then, does tennis not fall into that same category as dangerous pastimes? As mentioned above, tennis does cause spine damage because it forces you into unnatural positions. However, tennis is not nearly as tricky as these three sports because it does not place you in a violent situation.
Professional athletes and their health
Professional athletes put their bodies through a lot of stress, which a large amount can see of injuries they suffer from. Moreover, this is one of the most exciting factors in professional sports and spine health research because these famous athletes are doing things on a different scale than most people. The good news is that they have access to the best doctors, and they can afford almost any treatment or surgery they need to keep playing their sport.
- The NFL football players who were examined in one study had an average age of 35 years old. A large amount of these players played high contact sports such as football and ice hockey. The NFL players also suffered multiple injuries ranging from broken backs, feet, hips, knees, ankles, and shoulders. Since this study was done on NFL players, it cannot be generalized to other athletes. However, this study does show that the risk for these athletes is very high.
- It has also been found that professional football players are much more likely to suffer from obesity than non-athletes. This shows that professional athletes often put their bodies under a lot of stress during their playtimes. It is unclear if these unhealthy conditions stem from these stressful lifestyles or if professional athletes are simply genetically predisposed to be overweight.
Activity levels in professional athletes
Professional athletes spend a significant amount of time doing physical activity. This activity level may be different for each person, but the average professional athlete spends about 300 hours a week playing the elite sport.
To put this in perspective, someone who works 40 hours a week would have to spend their entire life doing nothing but work if they dedicated this much time to exercise. Of course, professionals don’t do anything while training or practicing their sport, but just to give you an idea of how much time athletes spend on physical activity.
Possible treatment
Since professional athletes are at risk of many injuries, many treatments are available to help ease the pain.
- When professional athletes have an injury to their spine, they can see a doctor specializing in this type of injury. This doctor can then use x-rays, physical therapy, etc., to help these athletes back into the game faster than they could on their own.
- There are also many surgeries available for professional athletes who need them to recover from acute injuries. One of the most popular surgeries is arthroscopic surgery, and this is a procedure that can be done in one day by a surgeon who has special training to perform it.
- The alternative to traditional surgery is the Premia Spine TOPs system, made without spine fusion or lumbar stenosis surgery.
Professional athletes are also able to use their money to give them optimal health. Doctors can track specific changes in the body after significant physical activity for professional athletes. These data help doctors figure out exactly how much exercise should be done to prevent injury.
Types of sports that have been found to have the most positive effect on health
In just about any classification of sports, you can find one that has been proven to be good for you. Above is a list of some of the more popular sports.
This list represents some of the most popular sports, but many others have been proven to have favorable benefits for people’s health.
Weight Lifting or Bodybuilding
The Weight lifting or bodybuilding are both great sports that are good for our health. Weight lifters engage in heavy amounts of physical activity, which can help them get stronger and build muscle mass.
Weight lifting has also been found to help with arthritis due to the high stress placed on joints while lifting weights.
Bodybuilders engage in similar activities with weight lifting but focus on building muscles instead of weight.
This is great for the body because weight lifting helps you get strong, while bodybuilding enables you to get toned.
Running
Running is a great sport to get into because it doesn’t require a whole lot of equipment. In addition to being inexpensive, running is also a low-impact sport that can still help you get in shape fast.
This great sport has been shown in research to lower your risk of heart disease, obesity, and depression. One study also found that runners are more likely to live in good health than non-runners.
Conclusion
One of the most important aspects of physical exercise is ensuring that you are fit for your level of play. When you are dealing with professional athletes, there are many variables involved.
It is not enough to just play your sport because you want to live a long life free of disease and injury. When deciding whether or not to get into athletics, it is essential to consider how much time you will be dedicated to your sport, what kind of physical activity you will be doing, and if the risk is worth the reward.
