A fit 40ish age woman came in with some lower back and hip pain. The main part of my examination is the detailed analysis and testing of muscles.
In this particular case I found the Gluteus Maximus Sacral division was not firing appropriately. There are actually three different parts (divisions) of the Gluteus Maximus.
I corrected the problematic muscle that office visit by doing specific chiropractic adjustments to the spine, cranial adjustments, ligament work, and scar tissue release.
At her next visit I asked her how her workouts were going. She looked at me all excited and said she couldn’t believe it. She would normally do around 135 pounds on the Hip Thrust exercise (where you lay your shoulders on a bench and use your glutes to push a bar on your lap upward).
She said it was now EASY to do 245 pounds…..and for more reps. That is over a 110 pound increase if you count adding more reps as well.
And to top it off she said she ran 8 miles later that day with ease.
I would say that was a successful treatment. Her body had shut that muscle off, not allowing her to use it to her full capacity. I found all of the factors involved, corrected them, and verified the muscle was now working appropriately.
We have to think in terms of circuit breakers, like in a house. When there is a problem, the circuit will trip to protect the electrical appliances that are plugged in.
Your body does this as well. Although, in the human body the brain doesn’t trip the breaker completely. It isn’t on or off. It’s more similar to a dimmer switch. You are still able to use that muscle, just not to its fullest capacity.
If you don’t have full capacity, you will have decreased performance and function of your body at best, and injury at worst. And those injuries will turn chronic until somebody comes along and understands how to test muscles and figure out WHY they are turned off (dimmer switch).