Exercise & Chiropractic
Exercise is absolutely essential to good health. Dr James Chestnut refers to exercise as a "required nutrient" for health.
Research suggests that we require 5 hours of moderate to intense exercise every week to maintain optimal health. A recent study has shown that just 2 1/2 hours of brisk walking (3 miles) per week can reduce your incidence of heart disease by 30 %. Imagine what 5 hours a week can do!
Exercise works to increase the movement of every joint in the body. Movement sends positive body signals (proprioception) to the brain, which acts to “charge” the brain. Couple this with increased blood flow, and you can see why you feel so much better when you exercise!
Chiropractic adjustments work in the same way as exercise does, but instead of working on the large joints of your hips, knees etc, chiropractic works to increase the movement of the small bones of your spine. Reduced movement in the spinal joints, not only prevents positive body signals from being sent to the brain, but actually sends negative body signals to the brain. These two factors combined, affect the functioning of the brain and nervous system reducing the body’s ability to adapt to the daily stresses of life.
The nervous system is what controls all bodily functions including muscle control, co-ordination, balance & posture, & as such it is easy to see why your physical performance can be enhanced by chiropractic adjustments or reduced by subluxations.
Due to exercise and chiropractic working together so well, it is no surprise that some of the world’s best athletes take their chiropractors on tour with them, and consider chiropractic to be an essential part of their training and competing schedule:
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Tiger Woods: "Being a Chiropractor patient has really helped me immensely. Lifting weights
and seeing a chiropractor on a regular basis has made me a better golfer. I have
been going to Chiropractors for as long as I can remember. It’s as important to
my training as practicing my swing".
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Lance
Armstrong: "If you judge the most important man on the Postal team by the
foot traffic in & out of his door, then it was Jeff (Jeff Spencer- US Postal &
Team Discovery chiropractor). Without him, we knew that we’d never make it to
Paris. According to an article on nike.com, "Jeff (Jeff Spencer, Lance
Armstrong’s chiropractor) has been working with Lance since January of 1999,
helping him to keep his body together for the harsh demands of the Tour de
France. After last year's Tour de France, Lance said that he could not have won
without Jeff's help. With Lance approaching his second victory, the same thing
might well be true."
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Evander Holyfield: " I found that going to a chiropractor helps my performance. Once I drove 20
Miles to see a Chiropractor before a fight. I must have my adjustment before I
go into the ring.
- Sean Atkings, PhD, Exercise Physiologist: "I would estimate that in excess of 90% of all world-class athletes use chiropractic care to prevent injuries and to increase their performance potential".
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