Throughout the course of sports history, there have been more than a few professional athletes that have turned to illegal substances to enhance their performances. Just about every pro sport has endured its fair share of steroid-related scandals.
As a result, many athletes—both at the professional level and other levels—are skeptical about trying anything that promises to “enhance performance.” But you should know that there are some alternative options for those who want to be able to put forth better performances without getting themselves into any trouble.
Today, we’re going to run through some of the alternative treatments that you may want to consider if you’re an athlete looking to give your performance a big boost. It should help you find the alternative treatment that will be right for you.
Here are five alternative treatment options that you can try.
Table of Contents
1. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Did you know that the air that you breathe in every day is only made up of about 21% oxygen? It has way more nitrogen in it than oxygen.
As an athlete, you need to provide your body with as much oxygen as you possibly can to help it recover after a hard workout or a game. It’s why so many athletes have started to use hyperbaric oxygen therapy to their advantage.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber that provides your body with 100% oxygen. It can make recovery so much easier on you and help your body to heal way faster than it would otherwise.
There are some athletes that will spend about 30 minutes at a time in a hyperbaric chamber to reap the rewards of doing it. There are others who will literally sleep in a hyperbaric chamber at night. Either way, you can benefit from using a hyperbaric chamber in a big way.
2. Stem Cell Therapy
The stem cells in a person’s body are the cells that are in charge of helping any damaged tissues in the body to heal. They play a vital role in a person’s ability to recover from an injury as quickly as possible.
Some athletes have turned to what is known as stem cell therapy to heal in the aftermath of injuries. Stem cells can be injected into an injured part of a person’s body in an attempt to speed up the healing process in it.
Some of the best athletes in the world have given stem cell therapy a try in the past. Kobe Bryant was a big believer in it towards the end of his NBA career when his knees started to give him problems.
The verdict is still out on whether or not stem cell therapy will work for everyone. It’s also pretty expensive to get stem cell treatments done. But if it’s an option for you, it could be one of your best alternative options for working your way through injuries.
3. Regenokine Therapy
Do you have a lot of pain in your joints that prevents you from performing to your full potential in your preferred sport? You might be able to use something called Regenokine therapy to make this pain go away.
Regenokine is designed to increase the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein levels in a person’s body. Your body already produces plenty of this anti-inflammatory protein. But Regenokine makes it possible for you to flood an injured part of your body with it by drawing some of your blood, centrifuging it, and pulling the IRAP serum from it.
This IRAP serum can then be injected back into your body in the area where you sustained an injury. The thought is that it can help promote healing and reduce the pain that you feel in your joints.
4. Cupping Therapy
A few years back, Michael Phelps and a bunch of other Olympic athletes were spotted walking around with big, circular marks all over their bodies. It caused quite the stir as people couldn’t figure out what these marks were.
As it turned out, Phelps and the other Olympic athletes were taking part in an ancient form of alternative medicine called cupping therapy. It works like this:
- Special cups are placed over the sore muscles of an athlete
- These cups create a vacuum over the top of a person’s skin and pull the skin up, thus stimulating blood flow to this part of the body
- The increased blood flow to this part of an athlete’s body is then thought to help their sore muscles to heal
Years later, the jury is still out on how effective that cupping really is. But Phelps and many other Olympic athletes swore by it. It’s one of the more outlandish alternative options, but it could work wonders for you if you try it.
5. CBD Therapy
When CBD first showed up on the scene several years ago, many athletes were scared to use it. Since CBD originates from cannabis plants, they were under the impression that it could contain banned substances that could get them into trouble.
But more recently, many athletes have discovered that, unlike some of the other cannabinoids found in cannabis plants, CBD does not get you high. Instead, some studies have suggested that it might help to ease your sore body and promote healing within it when used properly.
Visit impactsports.uk to see some of the best CBD products for athletes that have been developed.
Put These Alternative Options to the Test to See How Well They Work for You
Athletes are always looking for innovative new ways to get a leg up on their competition. They’ll try almost anything—within reason—to ensure that they’re able to stand out in the crowd.
If you’re trying to find ways to give your athlete performance a boost, you should try out some of the alternative options listed here. They might end up being the key to you taking your game to the next level.
Want to get your hands on some more health and wellness tips that will help you become a better athlete? Find them by browsing through our other blog articles.
