Is Muscle Fatigue Keeping You Down?

Have you ever felt like your muscles are tired? Maybe you’ve had some back pains and strains and, while on the mend, you simply felt like you weren’t able to keep up with your regular gardening, hobbies, or activities around the house. Muscle fatigue can be caused from a variety of reasons, including inadequate communication, inadequate motion, and inadequate hydration and nutrition.

Inadequate Communication

The nervous system is the body’s communication system. The brain communicates with every cell, system, and structure by sending electrical impulses down the spinal cord and out miles of nerves to the destination. These same cells, systems and structures send information back through the nerves, up the spinal cord and to the brain.

To function at their best and remain engaged for long periods of time, muscles need the baseline of optimal communication. When the communication system is providing less than optimal information, at some level the muscles will be hindered in function. The brain never sleeps; it’s constantly working and processing exorbitant amounts of information. By the time you actually feel fatigue in the muscles it’s likely that communication has been hindered for some time. It’s not possible for us to be acutely aware of the shifts in the communication system because of the sheer volume that the brain processes; however, at some point we will feel it in function.

Inadequate Motion

The spine houses and protects the nervous system. Proper spinal function and motion is imperative for optimal communication. When the spine is restricted in its range of motion and segments of the spine have excessive wear and tear from prolonged improper function, interference with the communication system is a common side effect.

When the spine isn’t moving properly, it can also irritate and require more from the surrounding musculature than normal, thereby causing fatigue. Sometimes this is in the form of muscles being stretched too far for too long, causing them to become weak and leading to fatigue. Other times this fatigue can cause muscles to be contracted or shortened for a prolonged period of time and are then called on to do more work than normal. This too can lead to fatigue quite easily. Proper spinal joint motion is essential to decrease muscle fatigue.

Inadequate Hydration and Nutrition

Most people are dehydrated. Others are, more often than not, significantly dehydrated. Every single cell in your body requires water. The rule of thumb is half your body weight in ounces of water (75 ounces of water for a 150-pound individual). Dehydration causes a myriad of problems, including muscle fatigue.

Optimal nutrition is required for optimal functioning. There are foods that promote health and growth and foods that don’t. Muscles need vitamins and minerals to function optimally. Muscles that don’t have this will fatigue easily. Stick as closely as you can to foods from the earth. You’ll find these foods in the outside ring of the grocery stores – fruits, vegetables, nuts, some grains, nearly anything without packaging and processing.

Chiropractic adjustments facilitate adequate communication through restoring proper spinal joint range of motion and function. The improvement in your communication system can lead to improved absorption of proper vitamins and nutrients. Chiropractic adjustments can also relieve improper stress on musculature when proper spinal motion is restored. If your muscles are fatiguing easily, call us at 8910.246.0606 to schedule and adjustment!!!