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Think of it this way… When your car has a problem, you call a mechanic and they fix it. That’s cool, but there are some mechanics that can take a well-running car and make it accelerate faster and handle better. That’s really cool.
If you could call a muscle mechanic when your body isn’t working, would you? Well, you can call me.
And what if your body is working well, but you want better acceleration and handling from your muscles? Call the Muscle Mechanic.
Honestly, who else will you call? Because there is no medical specialist that focuses on muscles, even though muscles make up around 40% of human’s body mass! Why is that organ ignored? Why is there no myology speciality, no myologist you can go to? Seems like a glaring oversight. That said, there are some physical therapists and acupuncturists who specialize in that kind of thing. I am one of those.
Do you have any muscles or motions that you know aren’t quite right? You know, that left shoulder motion that doesn’t really hurt, but it’s more restricted than your right shoulder… 
Maybe your right calf is tighter, it catches a little bit when you squat or sprint. Stretching doesn’t really help. Yeah, I know all about that. I can open that shoulder up and loosen that calf. It might take some gentle bodywork, or some slightly intense dry needling. Or both. But working together we can get things moving the way you want.

 Sounds too good to be true. I don’t have magic, and things don’t always work out perfectly. But needling and bodywork can increase muscle elasticity, contractility, and excitability. All things that increase performance.

Athletes can tell when things are not optimal, moreso than the average person. A 5% increase in contractility, elasticity, and excitability is a very noticeable improvement for high performers.  Sounds too good to be true. I don’t have magic. But needling and bodywork can increase muscle elasticity, contractility, and excitability.

 Maybe you’re skeptical. Here’s an explanation from the perspective of the stretch-shortening cycle. The quicker and deeper you can drop into the stretching part of the cycle, the more power you get out of the shortening (contracting) part of the cycle. Muscle contractility, elasticity, and excitability all play a part in that process.

For example, what if your lats and pecs are just a little bit tighter and shorter than optimal? When you jump for the ball, reach back for a volleyball spike, or wind up for a pitch you are losing power and reach.
Treatment when you don’t even have injuries can increase bloodflow and increase recovery ability by inducing a para-sympathetic response (rest and relax).  

For performance improvement, generally I will do length-testing and range of motion testing of muscle groups and movement patterns.
At the end of treatment I always include integrating techniques that help the nervous system evaluate and accept the changes that happened during treatment.

I’m kind of obsessed with movement patterns and how to perform better. I also do performance coaching that deals with the psychological aspects of athletic performance as well as the physical aspects.
Another benefit from performance-focused treatment is injury prevention. Another benefit from performance-focused treatment is injury prevention. In the words of the late great Stan Lee, ‘Nuff said.

Don’t get me wrong. Treating and resolving pain and injuries is important. I do that, for sure. But there is a whole lot more to sports acupuncture than just dealing with pain and dysfunction.

Here’s one crazy-sounding example of performance improvement that I didn’t even expect. I did some motor points and trigger points on a patient’s neck and trapezius muscles. Afterwards they found that their gaze was steadier. They could read easier and visually track objects better. Do you think that made a difference in their sport performance? You better believe it.

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