Have you ever thought about the key part of your body that controls your muscle strength? Imagine building a car and investing in premium parts for all areas except the steering. If you have premium tires, a gold standard engine, superior transmission…but haven’t put any investment into the steering component itself, will you still expect the car to operate at its smoothest, most optimum level of performance? The same concept is applied to our bodies, especially when it comes to strength training for our muscles. Our brain is a bit like the steering wheel that instructs and controls our musculoskeletal frame. If we train our muscles to be in prime condition, feeding them with good nutrition, exercising them and carefully building them up, but we neglect the organ that gives them instructions, then yes our muscles will perform, but not at their absolute best. I.e. the car will move forward, but without optimum steering you’ll have to work much harder as a driver to tell it where to go.

A study on what happens between the brain and the muscles during contraction, showed that people who had chiropractic care potentially got stronger compared to people who didn’t. It was noted that a chiropractic correction produced a 45% increase in drive from the brain to the muscle, a 16% increase in absolute force measures, and an almost 60% increase in the electrical activity from specifically targeted muscles [1]. Interestingly, almost identical results were obtained by people who undertook three weeks of strength training in another study. This supports our growing understanding that regular chiropractic care assists the development of muscle strength and control due to its enhancement of mind-body communication [1, 2]. We’re now looking forward to further research being undertaken to determine how long these results last, so that we can better understand the resilience of a single chiropractic correction and how often it needs to be repeated when looking to enhance muscle strength.

While this may seem like it applies more to those interested in fitness, it also holds truths for those of us who simply want to to increase our body’s capacity to handle daily life. With strong, healthy muscles our bodies can be better prepared to handle a wide variety of activities that we may enjoy. But strength is just one important component of our body’s overall health. Everyone wants their body to be healthy, strong, and perform at its highest capabilities. We wholeheartedly believe this is best achieved by balancing the investment we put into our body with the brain that instructs and controls it. Why do we think this is so important? Because when the spine is structurally aligned, the communication between the brain and the body is optimised and any physical exercise that we do becomes enhanced that much more. Enabling us to build healthier, stronger muscles that are better equipped for the activities in our lives.

Want to know more about what chiropractic can do to enhance your strength training or have your body working at its best? Come and see us for a Complimentary Chat

1. Niazi, I., et al (2015). Changes in H-reflex and V-waves following spinal manipulation. Experimental Brain Research. 233(4), pp 1165-1173.
2. Haavik, H., Murphy, B. (2011). Subclinical neck pain and the effects of cervical manipulation on elbow joint position sense. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 34(2), pp 88-97.