Jordan Shallow, aka The Muscle Doc, breaks down the realities behind chiropractors and their place for bodybuilders.
Dr. Jordan Shallow is probably best known in media as The Muscle Doc. He’s a Chiropractor, Strength and Conditioning Coach, and hosts the RX’D RADIO podcast. He’s a vastly knowledgable person when it comes to fitness, bodybuilding, and strength sports. Which is why we connected with him to discuss a wide range of topics. In our latest GI Exclusive, Jordan Shallow debunks myths about chiropractors and evaluates their relationship with pro bodybuilding.
The world seems to have a love/hate relationship with Chiropractors. Some people believe they are a total scam, while others swear by them. And even those in the middle seem to be disappointed if a chiropractor can’t accomplish the healing that a patient is looking for. Dr. Jordan Shallow is a chiropractor himself – and spent some time during our GI Exclusive interview detailing the realities behind the profession. He also explains why the public has such a complicated relationship to it.
During our discussion about Chiropractors, Jordan Shallow was hesitant to give any blanket advice. The reason for this, is that every patient’s body is different. There is no general rule of how, when, or why to use a chiropractor. In fact, he wouldn’t want to trust any chiropractor that did provide black and white general advice.
This is because chiropractors are a form of manual therapy vs traditional medicine. Traditional medicine is often consistent. You know what you will get when you go to a typical doctor’s visit. But a chiropractor visit can be vastly different depending on who is your doctor and what your specific needs are.
“Say what you want about conventional medicine – I know what I’m going to get when I got to a doctor’s office,” Jordan Shallow states in our interview. He continues:
“For better or worse, at least it’s consistent. Which I think is one thing people are always hesitant with when approaching manual therapies of any kind. Is the relative inconsistency, especially at the level of chiropractor, of wha the treatment is going to look like.”
Jordan Shallow points out that the consistency of a traditional doctor can be a blessing and a curse. It means both successes and failures for your ailment will be relatively consistent. Whereas manual therapies like a chiropractor can open your options and provide relief where a traditional doctor might otherwise not be able to.
That being said, there is such a wide variety of approaches a chiropractor can take – which can lead to trial and error for a patient’s experience. This can often lead to frustration for the patient. On top of this, there are pop culture references that often depict chiropractors a certain way – which might flavor the opinion of a potential patient before ever even visiting a chiropractor.
On top of this, the advent of social media has also allowed for viral videos to mislead people on chiropractors as well. Jordan Shallow mentions Tik Tok chiropractors that “Jean Claude Van Damme people’s heads off” that are more stunt than they are realistic therapies that should be used in a professional environment.
So where do chiropractors come in for bodybuilding? We’ve seen across many pro bodybuilders’ socials and also many time in our very own films that top pros often go to chiropractors. Jordan Shallow had some words on that as well. Most specifically the instrument assist soft tissue mobilization (aka the metal bar you see make pro bodybuilders scream like babies).
Jordan Shallow thinks this is a case where it’s become over-popular. That many bodybuilders believe that it’s breaking up scar tissue – which in Shallow’s opinion is impossible. If it were breaking up scar tissue, the pressure needed would also break the person’s bones. So what he’s seeing here with this popular chiropractic tactic is that a little of this bar probably helps somehow on a neurological or vascular level.
The reason it has become so popular seems to be tied into something called “dose dependent relationships.” It’s a concept that Jordan Shallow believes bodybuilders are predisposed to getting tied up into. He explains in our interview –
“Bodybuilders get tied into what’s called a dose dependent relationship. If some is good, more is better. And we’ve seen this play out to the detriment over the last six months it seems but we all fall victim to it man. When I first started training I was like, ‘Wait creatine can make me bigger? So if 20 grams is good, 40 grams must be better – you’re an idiot.”
Jordan Shallow doesn’t see this as a problem unless it gets out of hand. In fact, as is mentioned in the quote above, he thinks it’s a part of what everyone goes through as they learn more about strength and fitness.
So it would see that chiropractors, like most things, is far more complicated than can be explained in pop culture or in broad media profiling. Ultimately, it depends on each individual to decide what is right for them. And as with any medical profession – doing your own personal due diligence to ensure the person you are working with is an actual professional.
You can watch Jordan Shallow’s full comments in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above. And make sure to stick around in the coming weeks for more excerpts from our in-depth conversation with The Muscle Doc!
