According to a brand new study published at the National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health Taekwondo athletes saw a significant increase in muscle strength and cortical drive in a single spinal manipulation session. The increased muscle strength within the ankles lasted for 30 minutes while the cortical drive increased lasted 60 minutes.

The study is fascinating because it implies that other athletes can benefit at optimal performance after a single adjustment. The study also implies that “athletes have reported improvement in athletic performance and reduction in pain following spinal manipulation. Thus, emphasizing that spinal manipulation could be used to enhance athletic performance, with the advantage of it being drug-free, safe and cost-effective.”

Hopefully we will see more studies like this where they utilize the body’s mechanics in motion before and after an adjustment. The study also calls for investigation in “different athletic populations, especially various types of power and endurance athletes, as these are known to respond differently neurophysiologically . Moreover, it would be relevant to consider gender and age of athletes, as physiological factors differ within these categories as well.”