Whether you’re a top athlete or an active person who exercises regularly, you can reap the benefits of physio.

As a martial artist, there’s no doubt that training is important to you and that you’d always want to perform at your best. However, this can sometimes be hindered by insufficient recovery and muscle stiffness.

As it can be counterproductive to push your limits while your body isn’t functioning at its best, why not include physio as part of your recovery?

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t only go for physio after getting injured. In fact, it is a great idea to do so while your body is in good condition – so you can continue to make the most out of every training session.

Read on to discover 5 benefits that you can get from physio.

1. It enables you to maximise your performance in the gym

It’s no secret that martial arts can cause high levels of physical stress to the body. Being a full body workout, training requires you to engage all your muscles constantly.

Hence, it is crucial to work on strengthening your joints, muscles and ligaments so as to increase your body’s overall toughness.

A great way to achieve this is physio because it helps to improve your body’s ability to cope with the physical stress that comes from training.

Seeing a physiotherapist should be treated like seeing a GP. Whether you have concerns that might not be serious or even if you don’t have anything going on but wish to get checked out, it’s definitely a good idea to go for physio.

2. It boosts tissue resilience and motor control for sports

As there are different risks that come with different sports, your physiotherapist would include specific exercises that are designed to condition and strengthen your body according to your activity.

When your body gets strengthened, it would have better tissue resilience and increased motor control for sport specific function.

If you have existing injuries, the exercises would be modified accordingly as part of a recovery program so that you can heal and return safely to the gym.

3. It helps you to relax and regain energy

It can be challenging to unwind after an intense workout. After all, you might be psyched up to keep going and your body would be in fight or flight mode. 

If relaxing doesn’t come easily to you, it can be difficult to recoup the energy you need to sustain an active lifestyle.

Fortunately, physio can help your body to be at ease and heal effectively, so that you regain the energy you need. To take things a step further and release tension in your muscles, you can also opt for a sports massage, which some physio clinics offer.

4. It increases your mobility and flexibility

If your movement is affected by stiff muscle or joints, physio can help. Through strengthening exercises and proper stretches, your mobility would slowly but surely be restored.

Apart from that, physio can help you to work on your flexibility for the goals you’re working towards – be it training for an upcoming tournament or executing your techniques better.

Once your mobility and flexibility improve, you can take your training to the next level.

Want to start taking better care of your body?

We’ve collaborated with Nicola Ying, a fellow practitioner at Neue Fit and a physiotherapist at leading physio clinic Physio Focus, to put together a video which shows some simple stretches that you can incorporate into your daily life. Watch it to learn more!