Acupuncture is an incredible tool that can help anyone do what they love, better and for longer – especially when it’s paired with pliability. Our expert Body Coaches use acupuncture together with hands-on manual body work to help our clients feel better, recover faster, and get back to performing their best. There are a number of common misconceptions about acupuncture, and we often find that most don’t fully understand what it is and what the benefits are. Thanks to TB12 Body Coach and Licensed Acupuncturist Spencer Greene, we’re here to help you understand how acupuncture can help you feel and perform your best.
At TB12, Acupuncture is used hand-in-hand with our deep force manual therapy every day. In many instances, the acupuncture needles are used as an extension of the clinician’s hands. Acupuncture needles help our Body Coaches reach areas of the body that would otherwise be out-of-reach – helping promote muscle pliability with a degree of precision and depth that would be impossible with hands or devices only. This helps to create tangible & sustainable results for our clients that allow them to keep going.
There are four key benefits of acupuncture that we focus on especially here at TB12: (1) Acupuncture helps to reduce inflammation. (2) Acupuncture helps to relieve pain. (3) Acupuncture increases local blood flow and promotes the relaxation of musculature. (4) Acupuncture facilitates systemic recovery after a workout and/or during rehab.
01 Reduces Inflammation
Acupuncture is an immunomodulator, meaning it supports the immune response. The process of receiving acupuncture releases adenosine (a powerful natural anti-inflammatory agent and the “A” in ATP — our body’s primary energy source) which can contribute to cartilage repair.
“Post-workout inflammation is an unavoidable part of any athletic activity,” says Greene. “That’s why acupuncture works well with all sports or forms of exercise. Regardless of the sport or activity that is being done, acupuncture can help it be done at its best.”
02 Helps Relieve Pain
Acupuncture is excellent for managing pain and injury, as it can reduce swelling, pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion. It can also slow the rate of degeneration or damage to joints and surrounding tissue.
03 Softens Tissue
Acupuncture is effective in relaxing chronically tight muscles. This will help to increase the supply of oxygenated blood to the local joints to promote healing and improve muscle pliability.
04 Promotes Recovery
Acupuncture promotes recovery by helping to restore tissue pliability throughout the body.
Restoring pliability means optimizing the brain-body connection, and improving muscle health and muscle function to undo body imbalances that can lead to chronic injury. At TB12, we use acupuncture to neurologically prime muscles to support improved pliability. In other words, to help the brain create new connections that improve its ability to activate muscles.
“It fits like a key in a lock,” Greene says. “There is a vast amount of research regarding the neurological component of acupuncture. One of the proposed mechanisms of acupuncture is through neuromodulation — how acupuncture changes the how, when, and why certain nerves will fire.”
When you work with a TB12 Body Coach, you’ll experience personalized care designed specifically to help you feel and perform your best. Along with nutrition, hydration, deep-force muscle pliability work, functional strength & conditioning and cognitive health, acupuncture is an incredible tool that can help anyone and everyone do what they love, better and for longer.
