A Performance-Enhancing Partnership

Practitioners work onsite with athletes and coaches.

Getting you back in the game faster,” Dynamic Sports Therapy’s catchphrase, reflects a unique setting where chiropractors work with athletes in each phase of their development – from injury to rehabilitation and training, on through to competition and recovery. Established by Phil Lamont, a certified athletic therapist, Dynamic Sports Therapy (DST) has expanded to include clinics in Burlington, Hamilton, and Oakville, Ontario. It comprises a staff of four athletic therapists, one massage therapist, a certified pedorthist, and two chiropractors. 

The Burlington and Hamilton locations enjoy an integrated athletic environment, each being situated inside Sports Specific Training (SST) centres. Owned, operated, and originally developed by former Canadian Football League quarterback Larry Jusdanis, SST applies the four-step approach of strength, speed, nutrition, and functional training to produce measurable results quickly and effectively.

The SST program involves an initial athletic assessment and nutrition evaluation by an educated and knowledgeable performance coach, followed by the design of an individualized training program, which is updated every four weeks. SST utilizes a focused 5:1 athlete:performance coach ratio, thereby ensuring that exercises are performed correctly by the predominantly youthful athlete clients. The 4,500-square-foot SST centres provide three distinct training areas to challenge and improve overall performance: the “Will House,” with its 30-yard field turf, plyometric boxes, agility ladders, and cones: the “Weight Room,” with its Olympic lifting power platforms, double-sided power racks, pulleys, and dumbbells; and the demanding  “Dawg Pound,” with its oversized tractor tires, sledgehammers, power sleds, logs, and sand bags.

HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITY
Whether a performance coach notices an abnormality or deficiency, or an athlete complains of pain or decreased function, the doctors of chiropractic are within close proximity to assess the problem and make appropriate recommendations. As DST practitioners, we are often called onto the training floor to analyze an athlete’s biomechanics.  Examination of an athlete’s movement and training patterns alongside  the coach facilitates finding a solution.

A clinical assessment involves func-tional testing of an athlete’s kinetic chain, factoring in movement patterns characteristic of their sporting discipline. For example, in the case of shoulder pain in a football quarterback, scapular motion is analyzed by several methods such as the lateral scapular slide test, Push-up Plus testing, and scapulohumeral rhythm. The athlete’s kinetic chain is then traced beyond the initial injury site, thereby taking the biomechanics of other joints and soft tissues into consideration. For example, hip range of motion, SI dysfunction, or low back restrictions may well be contributing factors. The initial athlete intake operates from a functional kinetic chain perspective in order to identify any weaknesses and muscular imbalance from the outset.       

The sports-based environment attracts a decidedly active patient population. Athletes who suffer an injury will be referred to the DST clinic for a range of treatment including chiropractic, Active Release Techniques®, medical acupuncture, massage therapy, athletic therapy and pedorthic services.

Practitioners are able to implement an onsite sport-specific rehabilitation that can be tracked on a daily basis.

The partnership between DST and SST offers athletes an enriched all-round approach to reaching their athletic potential, while presenting the attending chiropractors with the rewarding opportunity to be there when it happens.•