A Professional Athlete’s Career Longevity Secret

I recently heard from a dance friend of mine, Stephanie Smith. She wanted to know more about ELDOA and how it could help extend her dance career. Steph and I go way back. We competed against each other as young girls (she was the stunning ballet star and I was the jazz/tap girl) and later we were classmates in the Ryerson Dance Program.  She is still dancing professionally in Las Vegas.

Steph is not alone in being a professional athlete that wants to squeak out a few more years. 

For athletes lucky to be healthy enough to be considering career extension beyond the expected age limit, a few extra years could mean the difference of an additional, in some cases, few million dollars to invest in the future.  That’s a big deal.

ELDOA comes into play beautifully here.

As we age, if not cared for properly, our bodies become less able to combat the compressive effects of gravity.  The older an athlete gets, the more injuries s/he sustains, the more stress they endure (both personally and professionally- it all takes its toll on the body), the more they become susceptible to this. And this begins a cycle of chronic pain, less body durability and the intuitive sense that your body “just can’t do it anymore.” ELDOA can be the antidote to this vicious cycle.

ELDOA refers to a number of different “poses” that decompress and open up nearly every joint in your body.  There is a different and specific ELDOA pose for every level of your spine. Once your body is capable of getting into the full position, you hold the pose for 60 seconds.  

Be warned that it can feel intense as hell, but feels incredible afterwards. What you’ve actually done in 60 seconds is given yourself more joint space. It is like traction, only more powerful because you are teaching your own body to do it, and therefore you are training your own body to maintain it.   

And if we are talking about a spinal ELDOA, you’ve given the intervertebral disc at that particular level the chance to fill with a fluid that provides better shock absorption and better nerve communication.

Meaning that an athlete will have LESS PAIN and a body that WORKS BETTER.

This is powerful.  Although many professional athletes have access to the best of the best therapists (even more do not), ELDOA can becomes a self therapy tool.  A tool they can take on the road and do anywhere and know will work.

As younger players/dancers (whatever the industry) enter the field and threaten their livelihood, it's a tool that contributes to a competitive advantage- they have the experience younger players don't AND the physical chops to back it up.