{"id":11197,"date":"2023-03-28T18:03:28","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T16:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogsolutions.co.za\/biokinetic-k9\/?p=11197"},"modified":"2026-01-19T20:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:20:17","slug":"more-than-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogsolutions.co.za\/biokinetic-k9\/more-than-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Sporting dogs need to be more than \u201cfit\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5>We\u2019ve heard it time and again:<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">My dog is fit<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">I do cross training<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">I swim my dog<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">We go on regular hikes of over 10kms&nbsp;<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">I run my dog all the time,<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5 style=\"\">I use a slat mill (insert any treadmill here).<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong, all these are excellent activities! &nbsp;They do a super job of cardio fitness.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Helper and GSD \" data-id=\"8445\" width=\"500\" data-init-width=\"550\" height=\"472\" data-init-height=\"472\" title=\"GSD and Helper\" src=\"https:\/\/dogsolutions.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2774873_german-shepherd-in-attack-e1683037525211.jpg\" data-width=\"500\" style=\"aspect-ratio: auto 550 \/ 472;\" data-lazy-loaded=\"1\" mt-d=\"0\" ml-d=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-lazy-fallback=\"1\" alt=\"GSD Protection Sport\" data-id=\"8445\" width=\"500\" data-init-width=\"1600\" height=\"1373\" data-init-height=\"1373\" title=\"Protection Sport GSD\" src=\"https:\/\/dogsolutions.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/2774873_german-shepherd-in-attack.jpg\" data-width=\"500\" style=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But if your dog competes in a sport (AS, IGP, PSA, agility, flyball, conformation ring, etc.), cardio fitness alone is not hitting the mark when it comes to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Targeting weaker muscles (in fact, many times these weaker muscles become even worse if they are not targeted specifically).<\/li>\n<li>Sports-specific exercise \u2013 specialised exercise that exactly and precisely enhances the sport you are competing in with your dog<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most sports (if not all) by default involve repetitive actions, which create muscle imbalances, leading to weaker, shorter, tighter, or overstretched muscles, which increase the risk of injury and limit power on the competition field.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: rgb(220, 55, 127) !important; --tcb-applied-color:rgb(220, 55, 127)  !important;\">Being cardio-fit is not enough to reduce injury risk in sport dogs.<\/h3>\n<p>Every sport has them &#8211; repetitive activities and actions.<\/p>\n<p>Injuries can occur by accident (even at home), or they can occur as a result of the sport you participate in due to the speed or power required to compete, or the equipment used during trials.<\/p>\n<p>Various factors increase the injury risk of our dogs and may include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>external factors such as weather, environment, and running surfaces, among others;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>training factors such as repetition, equipment used and so on<\/li>\n<li>even the high drive dog itself that has no idea of self-preservation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With these thoughts in mind, can we really say that general hiking or swimming is enough &#8220;fitness&#8221; to make our dogs more resilient to these injury risk factors?<\/p>\n<p>So, what should our approach be?<\/p>\n<p>In professional human athletes, we know that stronger athletes perform better and have a lower risk of injury.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">It is well known and researched in the field of human sports medicine that to add strength\u2014and subsequently generate muscle growth\u2014muscles and tendons need to be gradually loaded with progressive resistance. For example, when you go to the gym, you don\u2019t work on increasing your strength by using the treadmill, even if you adjust the incline level or adjust the speed. You do so with progressive loads by lifting weights or using your body weight for resistance (e.g., pull-ups, push-ups, etc.).The same concept of strength building applies to canines.<\/p>\n<h4>Dr. Francisco Maia, PT, DPT, CCRT<\/h4>\n<p style=\"\">The K9 PT<\/p>\n<h4><strong>When you make your dog\u2019s body physically stronger:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>By strengthening your dog\u2019s body through proper strength training exercises and protocols, <strong>you help prevent injuries <\/strong>by:<\/p>\n<h5>Improving Joint Stability<\/h5>\n<p>Strengthening the muscles and tendons that surround the joint helps reduce the risk of joint injuries, such as strains and tears, particularly in ligaments such as the CCL, which is a common injury among sporting dogs. By strengthening the muscles that surround the joint, the likelihood of ligament injuries within the joint (e.g., CCL) is reduced, as stronger muscles provide increased joint stabilisation.<\/p>\n<h5>Increasing Flexibility<\/h5>\n<p>Yes, strength training, when performed with proper form, technique, and posture, does a very good job of increasing muscle flexibility and improving the range of motion of muscles and joints. Injuries are prevented because flexible muscles can absorb not only the forces and stresses of sport but also unexpected environmental factors, such as slipping on wet grass, more easily as the body moves more freely and recovers quickly. Joints withstand less stress when strong muscles help support and stabilise them during impact and unexpected movements.<\/p>\n<h5>Improving Balance and Coordination<\/h5>\n<p>The risk of slips, sliding and falling on damp fields while taking tight turns at high speed, and other types of injuries is reduced by strength training exercises, which improve proprioception, balance and coordination by training the body to move in a controlled and coordinated manner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5>Strengthening Bones&nbsp;<\/h5>\n<p>When training for strength and overloading muscles, we apply controlled stress and compression to bones and joints, which stimulates the body to increase bone density and cartilage strength. In this way, the incidence of bone fractures and joint damage is lowered, allowing for more robust sporting execution.<\/p>\n<h5>Improving Injury Recovery Time&nbsp;<\/h5>\n<p>With a stronger baseline in muscle strength and flexibility, stronger dogs experience less downtime from training due to lower injury risk, but they also experience a far quicker rehabilitation period and recovery from injury, which translates into lower veterinary costs.<\/p>\n<h5>Boosting Endurance and Stamina<\/h5>\n<p><span bgcolor=\"#EDFAFF\"><span data-testid=\"output-sentence-0\"><span data-testid=\"output-word-0-0-0\">Strength training lowers the risk of fatigue-related injuries. Physically stronger muscles can perform better, contracting and stabilising the entire body. This allows canine athletes to engage in demanding physical activities for longer periods without tiring, thereby increasing their stamina. Pushing through muscle fatigue is one of the easiest ways to increase the risk of injury, because a tired muscle cannot contract properly to protect the body, leading to loss of balance, control, and coordination, which can be dangerous when a dog is moving at high speed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<h3>Strength Training Protects the Spine<\/h3>\n<p>To a far greater extent than with other forms of joint protection, strength training can help keep the spine healthy by increasing the flexibility and strength of the ligaments, muscles, and tendons that surround and support it. Joint and spinal health can be improved by strength training.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some ways in which strength training can protect the spine:<\/p>\n<h5><em>Strengthening the Core Muscles:<\/em><\/h5>\n<p>Core muscles include the muscles of the abdomen, lumbar (lower) back, thoracic back, and hips. All these muscles, along with the muscles surrounding the thoracic and cervical spine, work together and play a critical role in supporting the spine as a whole. When we strengthen these muscles in these areas, we help improve spinal stability and support, reduce the risk of injury, and help prevent wear-and-tear injuries that plague the spine when it is not well supported by muscle.<\/p>\n<h5><em>Improving Posture:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/h5>\n<p>All strength-training exercises should be performed with proper posture, form, and technique to target muscles effectively. This automatically improves posture, reducing strain on the spine. Poor posture places excessive stress on the spine, which inevitably leads to pain, compensations and injury.<\/p>\n<h5><em>Building Spinal Endurance and Stamina:<\/em><\/h5>\n<p>Similar to how strength training increases stamina and endurance, building stronger core muscles and muscles surrounding the spine allows dogs to operate more efficiently and for longer periods without becoming fatigued early. This allows us to train and compete with our dogs for longer and with superior spinal support.<\/p>\n<h5><em>Supporting Spinal Health:<\/em><\/h5>\n<p>By improving bone density and strength, strength training can help protect the spine and other bones from injury. It improves overall spinal health by increasing blood flow and nutrient delivery to the spine. This can help reduce inflammation, enhance healing, and lower the risk of degenerative diseases such as arthritis.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, strength training can be an effective strategy to protect the spine and an excellent way to prevent injuries and improve fitness and performance on the competition fields, providing your dog with a competitive edge.<\/p>\n<p>Strength training benefits, such as reduced injury risk, are only available when it is performed effectively, with proper form and technique that target the correct muscles.<\/p>\n<p>It is essential to start your strength training journey gradually, with proper technique. Progress and overload the body gradually to reduce the risk of injury during strength training. Increase the intensity and frequency of strength-training exercises gradually to avoid overuse injuries.<\/p>\n<p>A qualified fitness professional can help develop a safe and effective strength-training program tailored to your dog&#8217;s sporting needs. It is best to ensure that your strength training coach is knowledgeable about the sport you and your dog participate in, so that exercises can be tailored to the types of injuries or weak areas each sport is known for. <\/p>\n<p>Not all sports result in the same muscle imbalances, weak areas, or injuries. Injuries in each sport may result from different training demands, and these demands should be addressed accordingly.<\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\">Happy Training with a Dog that is not only Fit, but Strong too!<\/h6>\n<h3>Make your dog more resilient to injury while improving their competitive performance.<\/h3>\n<p style=\"\"><span style=\"--tcb-applied-color: rgb(66, 65, 65)  !important; color: rgb(66, 65, 65);\">It is all possible with our<\/span> Foundation Strength Program! <span style=\"--tcb-applied-color: rgb(222, 2, 123)  !important; color: rgb(66, 65, 65);\">Click below to discover more today<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve heard it time and again: My dog is fit I do cross training I swim my dog We go on regular hikes of over 10kms&nbsp; I run my dog all the time, I use a slat mill (insert any treadmill here). Don\u2019t get me wrong, all these are excellent activities! &nbsp;They do a super [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[324],"tags":[516,225,517],"hf_cat_post":[],"class_list":["post-11197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biokinetic-k-9","tag-fit","tag-injury","tag-sports","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sporting dogs need to be more than \u201cfit\u201d - The Biokinetic K-9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dogs in IGP, PSA, agility, flyball, etc, need to be more than &quot;fit&quot;. 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