Chiropractic is unique.
People tell me sometimes that they don’t need Chiropractic because they exercise or do yoga, or some other kind of physical activity that does the same thing. Here’s the deal: nothing does the same thing as Chiropractic. In fact, Chiropractic works with all of those other disciplines to help them work even better!Exercise is not Chiropractic. Exercise is immensely valuable, don’t get me wrong. I workout very hard five days a week because I love exercise, but it’s not the same thing, and I still choose to get adjusted every single week. Do you know why? Because exercise works to help the tissues of the body adapt, in ways that we think are physiologically beneficial. It does this by adding stress on the system, which is sufficient to create a breakdown in the body that is perceived by the body as a weakness, requiring adaptation. If you do strength training, the resulting adaptation is increased muscle mass, contractility, perhaps size, and vascularization. If the training is more cardiovascular in nature, then the adaptations focus more on lung size, the transfer of oxygen, VO2 max, heart contractility and size, and endurance. No where in there does that correct the subluxation. In point of fact, the stress of exercise can create subluxation if it is too much, or not the right type for that day, or for some other reason.
Yoga is a wonderful practice that many people benefit from, and not just from the physical adaptations, but from the spiritual standpoint of being present in your body and seeing each posture as a reflection of your inner self. But it’s not Chiropractic. The movements in yoga are better than most exercise at helping the body to integrate some stress, but it too can add stress into a system. And if you’re attempting yoga while subluxated, then you run the risk of injuring yourself or creating more interference in your system.
Subluxations are adaptations the body creates to manage stresses that it cannot fully integrate at the time. Storing the energy of the stress, the body distorts under the load which can result in tension in soft tissue, misalignment of bony structures and interference with nerves. Adding stress to that system in the form of exercise usually does not correct subluxation. Subluxation can interfere with the body’s ability to adapt to future stresses, including exercise! Seen in another way, getting adjusted regularly can help you make the most of your fitness regimen by ensuring that your body is coordinated as well as possible and all of your system’s functions are at their peak. Then you can perform your best, reducing your risk of injury and enhancing the adaptations that the body creates to make you healthier.
Chiropractic reduces or removes the subluxation with the adjustment. A small added force into the system that the body can then use for its own purposes. Combined with proper exercise and yoga, you have the potential to create a truly tremendous level of wellness for yourself.
There is a reason that most athletes have chiropractors in their tool box. They use them for the increased performance available by optimizing their system. If exercise did the same thing, surely elite athletes would never need an adjustment! And yet they do, to be their best, they rely on Chiropractic.