Do you love the sensation of your sweat cascading down your spine, while pushing the limits of your
body to reach new heights? You may be the next ninja warrior sculpting your abs for tv, a power
lifter hitting the iron after work, or even a runner who just bought a new Nike for weight loss. Maybe
you are new to exercise and it takes all you have to keep up with a class of yin yoga. Whoever you
are, if you love exercise, there is one thing that we all feel: wanting to perform better, and recover
faster.
This demands the question: is there a way to increase my sports performance, or the recovery from
training? (The answer is not drugs).
In this blog, we want to introduce two non-surgical, non-pharmacological methods: acupuncture and
cupping. There will be a few of you hitting your forehead and saying ‘of course!’. Most of you will
think this is so random, and have no idea where this is coming from.
We are still in the early stages of understanding the role of acupuncture and cupping in sports
performance and recovery, and future research is needed to better understand the potential
benefits. However, the research that we have is promising. Some preliminary studies suggest that
acupuncture may potentially improve quadriceps strength, explosive power at the knee joint,
explosive power at the shoulder joint, endurance at the shoulder joint, explosive power at the
forearm joint, endurance in runners, jumping height, and drop jump among other sports
performance measures. In animal models, acupuncture has also been suggested to benefit recovery
by reducing inflammation, having less damaged muscle fibres and accelerating regeneration.
Additionally, cupping therapy has been suggested to reduce delayed muscle soreness.
As previously mentioned, the research is still early. But what most studies agree on are that both
acupuncture and cupping are very safe. So next time you are looking for that extra zzing before your
soccer game, or you want to help your body make the best recovery after an intense workout, come
by and try acupuncture and cupping with us at Health Space!
