I have wanted to make a blog post on this topic for a while even though I know I may ruffle a few feathers in the process. If you are a part of our practice or follow my professional work, then you likely know my passion for human performance and the beauty of our intelligent design, but I am going to say it. It is simply my opinion that you cannot fix injuries with just exercises alone. Let me explain.
Corrective exercise is a big part of the way I practice. There is a movement for everything! Through movement we can lengthen, strengthen, exercise speed, endurance, balance, etc. Through targeted movements we can train the body to do amazing things through repetition. It’s pretty amazing. With that being said, when we experience a physical injury there is a series of events that change versus the idea that there is a singular state as a direct result of the injury itself. Nope, it is the integration of various body systems that work together to allow these movements and postures to occur. This is because of what we call the Human Movement System.
The Human Movement System (HMS) is a concept used in fitness and healthcare fields to understand and address the integrated functions of the musculoskeletal, nervous, and biomechanical systems. The National Academy of Sports Medicine emphasizes the importance of assessing and enhancing the efficiency of the human movement system to optimize performance and prevent injuries. This is a more modern, integrated approach to exercise that you will start to see more and more in sports from the recreational setting to high performance training programs.
In our office, when you experience an injury or pain, we are going to do an assessment that looks at the body as a whole. This gives us the most information about the integrated functions of the musculoskeletal, nervous, and biomechanical systems. What I always find are the current state of the tissues and the effect of how the injury has changed the body. In other words, compensation. This means that to truly fix it you will need to address the injury and the effects of the injury. This requires interventions that restore balance to your body in a way that allows you to move and exercise properly. An outside eye is essential. Once healing has occurred and function has returned we know you are not only truly recovered but less likely to injure yourself again. This good news is that we can help you will the assessment, necessary interventions like chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue work and other supportive therapy to get you back to exercising in no time!
