About 3 weeks ago, I was having a meeting with a popular personal trainer in Royal Palm Beach. With shows like the Biggest Loser showing such dramatic transformations in people’s lives, it has inspired millions of people throughout the country to take control of their health, particularly their weight.
I read through some of his testimonials and saw some of the incredible changes that his clients went through. It was really very impressive, and they conveyed a great sense for how this particular trainer had inspired them achieve their goals through fitness and nutrition.
As we sat down to have our meeting, I got to explain what we do here at Keystone with our focus on Structural Correction. One of the most common concerns in my field is that many people go to chiropractors who focus mostly on pain relief. While they do a great job of getting rid of pain in that moment in time, many people often have their symptoms return later on and feel that they never get lasting relief. My trainer friend was one of those people. As it turns out, he had been having shoulder pain for many years. He would feel great for several weeks from seeing a traditional chiropractor, but had the pain come back and would need more treatment.
I asked him what kind of recommendations did the chiropractor have to help you reach your goal? Apparently he rejected the chiropractor’s recommendations because the goal was just to get out of pain immediately and feel good. Therefore he believed that chiropractic can’t deliver long lasting results.
How Do We Define Results?
As I share this same story with you that I shared with the trainer, let’s think about how we each define results.
I once sought out the services of a personal trainer. He was really enthusiastic and really pushed my limits of fitness at the time. I stopped the training after a few sessions because I felt fantastic. I felt accomplished about how much work I did, I had a nice pump in my muscles, and I felt stronger. It was great! However, my body didn’t change at all, so obviously personal training didn’t work for me in changing my body.
Of course the trainer said that was ridiculous. How could anyone change years and years of a body type in just a couple sessions. In his works, that was just trying Personal Training, and not truly experiencing Personal Training. Personal Training is about setting goals and doing whatever it takes to reach the goal, and then maintain it.
Results Come From Committing to a Goal
Take a look at the x-rays below. The image on the left is a Structurally Sound spine and someone with a vibrant and healthy nervous system. The x-ray on the right is someone with 50+ years of displacement and arthritis. Now the person on the right has degeneration that is so bad, most of it is going to remain for the remainder of their life. If it goes uncorrected, the rest of his spine will continue to grow more arthritis and degenerate further. However, it doesn’t mean that it can’t change for the better, or at least get CLOSER towards normal. In fact, I expect this spine to improve under care, otherwise, I’m not doing my job.
Now this person had some secondary conditions like severe arm pain and headaches because the brain and nervous system were being damaged. Within a few corrections, his symptoms dropped dramatically and he was feeling better than he had in years.
In a pain-based practice, that’s a huge win and would likely be dismissed from care. Yet, what kind of doctor would I be if I released this patient when his pain went away but the Primary Condition that CAUSED these issues continued to get worse.
I’ve had many people come to my office after they tried traditional, pain-based chiropractic after a Groupon or some other giveaway service. It’s interesting because I often have to turn some of these people away as patients. As a Structural Chiropractor, my job and my reputation are built on setting measurable goals and guiding the people on the path to achieving them. Once they’ve achieved the goal, then I can teach them all the necessary tools to maintain their corrections so they can rely less on me, and more on themselves. However, that takes a level of self-discipline and commitment to follow through. I don’t work with people that TRY. I only want people who are willing to follow through for themselves.
Because in the end, it is COMMITMENT to your self that drives all results in achieving health.
