Imagine riding, no RACING, your bike for over 2,000 miles and climbing over some of the tallest mountains in Europe. Do you think you might get a few nagging injuries? You bet you would. And that’s why the winner of this year’s Tour de France, Vincenzo Nibali, used acupuncture almost every day during the tour. See the video below:
Athletes use acupuncture for pain relief, performance enhancement, injury recovery, relaxation and recovery from hard training and competition.
It’s not just professional cyclists who use acupuncture. Just about every top athlete in major league sports uses acupuncture now. The list is too long to recite, but here are some of the top names you might know: NBA legends Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, or Chandler Parsons. NFL players like Tiki Barber, the Jets’ Tony Richardson, James Farrior, Chad Pennington. NHL great Jaromir Jagr. Olympic Gold medalist McKayla Maroney. IronMan legend Chrissie Wellington … the list goes on and on.
This year, a Johns Hopkins study found that people with chronic tendinitis or arthritis who had 20-minute acupuncture sessions twice a week for 6 weeks had less pain and disability than people who only thought they were receiving acupuncture (the needles didn’t penetrate the skin).
Additionally, a 2008 study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that participants who received acupuncture for muscle soreness 24 and 48 hours after they exercised to exhaustion reported significantly less pain than people who didn’t receive the treatment.
Acupuncture increases blood flow, reduces inflammation, and promotes relaxation of muscles and mind, making it easier to recover from injuries and hard training. Take it from the pros, try acupuncture for YOUR best game!