Acupuncture Can Enhance Performance
January 5, 2021
Henry Ford Health System
In the ancient Chinese medicine of acupuncture, thin needles are gently inserted into specific areas of the body, stimulating blood flow to speed the recovery of certain ailments.
It can be used as a treatment for everything from headaches and unbalanced hormones to joint pain and weakened immune systems. Acupuncture is also popular among athletes, as many of them incorporate it into their wellness regimens to stay in peak physical condition.
“Back in the day, athletes ate steak, smoked cigars and drank whiskey during the week and then played football on Sunday,” says Thomas Betts, a sports medicine acupuncturist with Henry Ford Health System. “But today, to improve their performance, athletes are attacking the body from every angle possible with diet, lifestyle and exercise. NBA players, for example, have talked about how acupuncture keeps them feeling their best.”
But you don’t have to be an NBA star to reap the benefits of acupuncture. Whether you’re a professional or student athlete, or you exercise and play sports for fun or to challenge yourself, here are ways acupuncture can boost your game:
- Acupuncture can help you recover more quickly from an injury. “If a muscle is torn, acupuncture won’t put it back together, but for sprains and strains, muscle soreness and tendonitis, acupuncture can decrease inflammation and speed the healing process,” says Betts.
- Acupuncture can reduce the need for “rest days.” If you just had an intense workout and your muscles are sore, getting acupuncture afterward can loosen the muscles and decrease soreness so you don’t have to take a day off to recuperate before training again.
- Acupuncture can improve flexibility, decrease muscle tension and increase muscle activation. “This is done with motor point acupuncture,” says Betts. “The motor point is where the brain attaches to the muscle via the motor nerve. By using needles to stimulate a motor point, it is like rebooting a phone or computer that isn’t working well: Motor point acupuncture is autoregulating, in that it can deactivate a tight muscle or reactivate an inhibited or weak muscle.”
- Acupuncture can provide immediate pain relief. “Some studies show that acupuncture can provide as much as, if not more pain relief than medication,” Betts says. “It differs for everyone, and it depends on what is being treated, but some people say they feel a difference right after a session, and others say they feel better about 20 to 30 minutes later.” Pain relief can last from a few hours to a few days.
- Acupuncture can help prevent injury. Because acupuncture can reactivate weak muscles and decrease muscle tension, it can also be used as a preventative measure against injury, Betts says. But you should always still stretch before and after exercising!
Learn more about acupuncture and other integrative medicine services at Henry Ford. To make an appointment, you can request one online or by calling 1-833-246-4347.
Thomas Betts, DOAM, RAc, is a certified sports acupuncturist with Henry Ford Health System. He sees patients at the Henry Ford Center for Athletic Medicine in Detroit.
Century of School Sports: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 3, 2024
One of the most common misconceptions about the MHSAA over its 100-year history is that all decisions regarding school sports in Michigan are made by the staff in the East Lansing office.
The MHSAA truly is an organization built upon its membership, with its Representative Council the legislative body that has produced the rules and tournament schedules currently in place to provide structure in athletics for more than 750 high schools and hundreds more middle schools across the state.
The Representative Council is the 19-member legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
The Council considers all proposals brought before it from MHSAA sport and other appointed committees that meet throughout the year, and also makes decisions on a variety of eligibility rules, postseason tournament and operational issues. The Council regularly considers 30 committee proposals during its Spring meeting alone, along with a handful of others during Fall and Winter meetings which otherwise are primarily opportunities for discussion of topics that may come up for action at a later date.
Eight representatives are elected across four regions – two apiece from the Northern Lower Peninsula, Southeastern Michigan, Southwestern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula – and also based on school enrollment, with one representative from each of those regions from the larger Class A and B-sized schools and one representative from each region from the smaller Class C and D-sized schools. There are also two statewide at-large positions, two representing junior high/middle schools, and elected representatives from Detroit Public Schools and private and parochial schools.
All Representative Council members must be representatives of a member school, as faculty or board of education members. Every Council candidate must have superintendent or principal approval in writing and be qualified for the position for which that person is running.
Elections take place every fall after names of candidates are submitted and published to the MHSAA Website by April 15 the preceding spring. Ballots are mailed to schools in September and must be postmarked no later than two weeks after they were sent by the MHSAA office. A Board of Canvassers appointed annually counts the ballots, which must be signed by the principal and superintendent of that member school (except for private and parochial schools, which require signature by the principal only).
Council members are selected by majority vote.
Terms for elected Council representatives are two years long. Appointed members also serve two-year terms and may not serve longer than two successive terms.
The Council meets three times annually. Council officers – president, vice president and secretary-treasurer – are elected during the Fall meeting for the full Council.
Five members of the Council also convene monthly during the school year to form the MHSAA’s Executive Committee, which reviews appeals of Handbook regulations by member schools. Those five include the three elected officers.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
PHOTO The MHSAA Representative Council and Executive Director Mark Uyl (front row, far right) take a group photo during its Spring Meeting in May. (Photo by Jon Ross.)