Whether you’re a high school or professional athlete, or you just play in a recreational soccer league on Sundays, if you want your spine to be healthier and stronger next sports season, you have to be smart about how you approach the offseason. Offseason training is extremely helpful for developing muscles and becoming a stronger, more versatile athlete, but you need to make sure you approach the offseason correctly. In today’s blog, we share some tips for how you can come into your next sports season with an even stronger spine.
Strengthening Your Spine In The Offseason
Ensuring your spine is stronger heading into your next sports season is simple if you’re smart about how you train during the offseason. Here are some of the best ways to do just that from a spine specialist.
- Rest – The first thing you’ll want to do to help ensure your spine comes back stronger next season is to give it some much needed rest and relaxation. For at least two weeks, don’t do any sport-specific exercises and let your back heal from the rigors of the previous season. You can still be active during this period with things like walking, swimming, cycling or running, but avoid in-season workouts and let your back recover before you start testing it again.
- Crosstrain – After a couple weeks, it’s time to get back in the gym and do some sport specific workouts. However, we strongly recommend that you consider some exercises that you don’t always do during in-season training. Crosstraining with different exercises will challenge and develop different muscle groups, which is good for your spine and your whole body. Also, this helps to ensure different muscle groups are developing evenly. If you’re only building the same muscles with the same exercises, muscle imbalances can occur and put you at an increased risk for injury.
- Weight Management – Your spine helps to manage the weight of your body, so it’s under more stress if you are heavier. It’s not uncommon for people to gain weight in the offseason simply because they are eating the same amount of calories but failing to burn as many calories as they would in-season. Be cognizant of what you put in your body and strive to avoid excess weight gain that can put more pressure on your spine. Losing just one pound of weight takes four pounds of pressure off your spine, so don’t underestimate the importance of weight management for a strong spine.
- Work With A Specialist – Finally, consider syncing up with a spine specialist if you want your spine to be stronger in the offseason. Whether you’re dealing with a lingering injury or you’re fully healthy but want to be stronger, we can help. We can set you up with individualized physical therapy exercises that will target specific areas of your spine, or we can find any number of solutions to your back discomfort. Don’t assume small injuries will go away on their own, because many times they can actually get worse if you keep on doing the same actions without targeted treatment. Taking care of your spine in the offseason with medical attention is one of the best things you can do to ensure your spine is stronger coming into next year.
So if you want to put your back pain behind you, or you just want to be a healthier version of yourself this upcoming sports season, reach out to Dr. Sinicropi and the team at the Midwest Spine & Brain Institute today.
