Athletic Performance Mouhwear

The hitter stands in the batter’s box, waiting for the pitcher to unleash a 95mph fastball. The stay-at-home mom jogs on the treadmill, trying to do another five minutes at speed. The point guard coils, beginning his jump shot for a three-pointer. The bank executive darts to the back of the squash court, ready to return serve.

All of these athletes, both professional and amateur, have something in common –they are all clenching their jaws. When you train, compete or put yourself under any excessive stress, the body’s natural reaction is to clench the jaws and teeth. You’ve heard of “fight or flight”? Well, clenching is part of the body’s natural “fight or flight” mechanism. You can’t control it because it’s wired to your brain. (Try swallowing without your teeth coming together.)

Think about the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the joint that hinges your lower jaw to the skull. There are nerves that pass from the brain through the TMJ on their way to the jaws and teeth. When you clench your jaws, the TMJ is compressed, putting pressure on these nerves. The pressure triggers your brain to release an excess amount of performance-sapping hormones (like cortisol) that produce stress, fatigue and distraction.

Athletes have long been wearing mouth guards to protect their teeth during contact sports. Today, athletic mouthwear has been taken to the next level, where we can improve athletic performance in addition to satisfying the necessary protection needs of the individual athlete. This proprietary mouthwear technology is now available as UnderArmour Performance Mouthwear. Recent research and development has shown that performance mouthwear can increase strength, increase endurance, speed up reaction time, reduce athletic stress and reduce the impact of blows to the jaw.