“Wielding thighs of steel and a thirst for competition, the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (B.A.D.) are a full contact, all female, flat-track roller derby league consisting of three teams: The San Francisco ShEvil Dead, The Oakland Outlaws, and The Richmond Wrecking Belles. “ www.bayareaderbygirls.com

The Bay Area Derby Girls are bad ass athletes. They train hard and play harder. I got to watch the ShEvil Dead defeat the Santa Cruz Derby Girls this past Saturday.  If you have never been to a roller derby, you are missing out! Roller derby is a fast paced adrenaline filled sport that requires a lot of strategy, skill, guts, and endurance.  The games are called bouts and are played in two 30 minute periods.  Each team plays both offense and defense at the same time. The jammer wears a star on her helmet and scores points for the team. The blockers block the opposing team's jammer and help their own jammer to move forward. The pivot wears a stripe on her helmet. She sets the pace for the pack, calls team plays and plays defense.

Here's a great animated video on how roller derby is played:

As a new sponsor for the B.A.D. Girls, I not only watched the bout but treated some of the team prior to their game. While I did treat a few injuries, the focus of the acupuncture was primarily for energy and endurance.  The derby girls  reported feeling less nervous, more focused and energetic after the acupuncture. It was an exciting and action packed night. ShEvil Dead  absolutely hammered their opponent.

Acupuncture can be used before an event or competition to enhance sports performance.  It is all natural with no side effects. Individualized sports acupuncture treatments can help the athlete to improve performance, increase stamina and speed recovery.  Acupuncture can also help to strengthen muscles, balance the body while training, promote overall health and well being and help to prevent injuries.  It works by improving the circulation of qi in the body to nourish muscles, ligaments and bones. Acupuncture helps your body to heal itself. It works very well with other modalities.

Recent research has  shown that “the use of acupuncture in resistance and endurance sports activities demonstrated the association of traditional acupuncture protocol with increase of muscular strength and power.”   Ahmedov, S., “Ergogenic Effect of Acupuncture in Sport and Exercise: A Brief Review”, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research,  Vol. 24, Issue 5, May 2010, pp 1421-1427.

Another study shows how acupuncture point stimulation helped a modern pentathalon athlete to improve his sports performance. The athlete noted several factors that limited his performance including epigastric pain, weakness in the knees, stiffness in the shoulders and wrist fatigue. Not only did the acupuncture stimulation alleviate his symptoms but he improved his time in a cross country running event.  Usichenko, Tara I., Vasyl Gizho and Michael Wendt, “Goal Directed Acupuncture in Sports- Placebo or Doping?”, Oxford Journal, Oxford University Press, 2009.