When talking about functional performance, it can have multiple outlooks.
1. Physical performance
2. Mental/ emotional performance
3. Internal body performance
As the common perception of chiropractic revolves around getting out of pain, the first two aspects of functional performance can be overlooked by the grand majority of people. That’s the area I want to focus on in this blog.
Sometimes it’s not so much about pushing harder to break through boundaries and limitations, sometimes it might be a factors that you may not even think that can come into play that will determine the overall victories of your pursuit. It is so challenging because we are talking about factors that you may have not even known that you didn’t know. So consideration was never in the realm of possibilities.
Driven individuals do not want to limit their mindset of what can be achieved. As much as this is a fantastic trait to break through barriers and enter into uncharted territories, at times it could lead to problems. Problems like overexerting, overextending or taking on more than you can chew will lead to a downward spiral in health and wellness which can easily wind up in mistakes being made .. whether it is in the job, at the gym, with the family, with friends or so on.
Working with very diverse people – from executives to entrepreneurs, from competitive athletes to the guy trying to get back in shape, from mothers to business owners – I see how transformative the chiropractic adjustment can be in their pursuit.
I had a business owner who came in for a regular chiropractic check up. When asking him what’s been going on, he reveled he was working on a 1/2 million dollar project but he had not made progress for 6 months. There was some block of mental creativity he was experiencing. As he relayed what he was experiencing I felt his cranium and noticed a tremendous amount of tension patterns in various points. Well after an extensive adjustment, he said he completed that project the weekend after his adjustment. Stated that his creativity just started flowing.
On the Physical side, I was at a gym and a powerlifter asked me to spot him. He was lifting a lot of weight and I got to say, I was a bit nervous on spotting him since I was not use to being around so much weight. He completed 2 reps and with a little assistance of my spotting him, he completed his 3rd. He rested for 8 minutes and did his second set with the same exact results (me spotting him on his 3rd rep). This was a key example of improved functional performance in one adjustment.
I told him I would probably be able to help him get more if I gave him an adjustment. He was curious. I adjusted him and now, having only 2 minutes rest time, he went in for his 3rd set. He was able to pull it off all 3 repetitions much easier and without a need for help.
This is the diversity of the influence chiropractic care can have in a persons life. I have even heard patients report how much more they are able to get done when they are well adjusted verses otherwise. Or how much better the family is when they all are getting adjusted (more caring, interactive, understanding etc.)
Here is a video of a patient who had a small win but with something he really didn’t think possible. He thought because of age and certain conditions, that this was how life was going to be from now on. He had bought into that false belief system based off his experiences of trying to surpass his recent physical abilities within the past 3 years. He recognized a pattern of getting injured after starting to see small improvements in his abilities then having to rest in order to have the region fully recover before going at it again.
This is what he had to say:
There is so much to chiropractic care than simply pain relief. It really comes down to how well yo are functioning. How well you are functioning in life and how well your body is functioning for you. These small examples are only a little sample of what is possible.
Each person is different, come and find out what chiropractic can do for you!