A Formula One racing car has a specialized team of mechanics to keep it revving in peak condition. Professional athletes should also have such a team to help them maintain optimal performance all year round. This team of “body mechanics” should consist of individuals highly experienced in the treatment of soft tissue injuries and neuromuscular dysfunction – the common problems plaguing athletes that go largely unrecognized by health professionals with no experience in this field.

In the last few years, strength training and conditioning for professional athletes has morphed from rudimentary weight training and running into highly sophisticated, sport-specific training programs. The lessons learned have contributed to a new focus on performance optimization versus the traditional focus on injury treatment. This contemporary approach is now widely known as Performance Care, and has been embraced not only by professional sports but also by the military, which currently considers and treats its elite troops as “tactical athletes.”

Performance care is an integrated practice that includes training as well as nutritional and treatment interventions designed to 1. optimize immediate performance, 2. reduce the chances of developing cumulative trauma injuries and 3. increase the potential length of an athlete’s career.

In this lucrative age of professional sports, this can be a very rewarding approach. Professional hockey players such as Steve Staios of the Calgary Flames are seeing their best performances – and their best contracts – in the maturity of their careers, while other players that do not receive regular performance care are already in clear decline.

Unfortunately, most athletes in professional sports play the majority of their careers at much less than 100% of their capabilities. This is due to the development of gradual dysfunctions of the nervous system and the musculoskeletal tissues that are secondary to the constant small and big traumas suffered by the athlete.

These traumas produce insidious changes in the body that frequently go unrecognized, triggering all sorts of adaptations, leading to less-than-optimal performance, and often resulting in injuries in the long run.

This is why athletes need coaches and performance care providers to continually evaluate their technique and body mechanics, ensure the maintenance of proper form, and promptly detect any unwanted adaptations that may have developed over time.

For the professional athlete, this approach offers a distinct advantage. Mike Cammalleri of the Montreal Canadiens said, “Performance care treatments allow me to train and play at intense levels consistently. My body feels loose and fast after each treatment.”

Performance care is designed to find and predict all possible areas of limitations of performance for athletes in their specific events. The athlete’s nervous system is assessed for motor inhibition (often incorrectly seen as muscle weakness, although the two are very different), range of motion in the movement areas necessary for the sport, and any lines of tension that would limit performance during the sport.

Depending on the outcome of a performance care assessment, some athletes will require many interventions to address all the areas of the body involved in the loss of function. Others might just need a quick correction of one or two key dysfunctional elements, such as a weak muscle or a restricted joint, which can be accomplished in two or three interventions.

Each dysfunction needs to be addressed technically in an optimal manner. For example:

  • Electro-acupuncture is used primarily to address nervous system dysfunction such as muscle inhibitions and areas of poor blood supply due to abnormal regulation of the arterial system.
  • Soft tissue techniques are applied to assist connective tissues to reorganize their tension and to improve their relationship with adjacent structures, thus facilitating smooth and painless motion.
  • Joint manipulation techniques are employed to restore normal joint motion, a necessary function for optimal performance.

Based on the detailed and very specialized biomechanical assessment performed by the performance care practitioner, these techniques are combined in a single treatment session according to the needs of the athlete. Some sessions are as short as one hour but usually take several hours to address the multiple dimensions of the problem.

Performance care is the way of the future, not only for professional athletes who wish to have longer and healthier careers, but also for health-conscious individuals who wish to minimize the risk of undesirable musculoskeletal adaptations as they age. Quality of life in the last third of our lives depends greatly on the state of our musculoskeletal system. Performance care is not just about optimal sports performance but soon will be about productive and enjoyable “golden years” for all of us.