If you suspect you’re dealing with subluxation, and you regularly exercise, you may begin to wonder whether a good workout could just take the place of a chiropractic adjustment. After all, both require the movement of your body, and both make you feel good in the end. Unfortunately, they are not the same thing and if you require an adjustment, a good workout simply won’t do. The following goes into more depth about the issue.

Understanding Specific Movements

When you complete a specific movement during exercise, you are voluntarily moving a certain part of your body. If you’re doing pushups, your elbows and shoulders will be doing a lot of the work as you strengthen your triceps and pectoral muscles. If you’re doing lunges, your knees, shoulders and ankles will move as you strengthen your hamstrings and quadriceps. Do you know what movements you need to make so you can strengthen the muscles surrounding your spine? You could do knee raises, using the lower back muscles and vertebrae, but does that target one specific vertebra? You could give your neck a side stretch, but that will include all the vertebrae in your neck, rather than just one.

When a chiropractor takes a look at your spine, he or she can determine the specific movements that need to be made so you can feel the relief you seek. One vertebra can move sixteen different ways, and you can’t control that simply by thinking about it the same way you’d think about doing a lunge and then doing it. It takes a chiropractor to make that tiny movement in your spine.

Why It Feels Similar

When you complete a good workout, you might be sore, but unless you get injured in some way, it’s a good sore feeling. The same is true for chiropractic care. There’s a possibility you’ll be sore immediately or for the next 24 hours, but it’s a good sore that gives you the satisfaction of taking care of yourself.

When you exercise, endorphins are released that give you a natural high. They trigger a feeling in the body that reduces pain and increases positivity. The same thing happens when an adjustment is made. Those endorphins are released and you feel great on the spot. If you cracked your own back, that great feeling would only last 20 minutes or so, but if you get the adjustment handled by a professional, it can last indefinitely.

Getting an Appointment Scheduled

You might take great care of yourself by heading to the gym every morning, but that shouldn’t take the place of a chiropractic adjustment. Contact a chiropractor, like from AmeriWell Clinics, today to get an appointment scheduled.

Scroll to Top