Which Type of Chiropractic Care is Best for Athletes? Are They All the Same? The answer: absolutely not. Watch the video below for an honest conversation with one of America’s strength legends, Nick Best—a World Record holder in Powerlifting and Strongman, featured on the History Channel. If you’re ready for some hard-hitting truths about Sports Chiropractic and what sets the best apart, here’s your inside look:
Today, we’re witnessing a troubling rise in children developing conditions once reserved for adults—a trend that exposes gaps in the conventional healthcare approach. In the traditional medical model, treatments are often dictated by insurance-driven protocols that prioritize profits over patient-centered care. Many providers, including some chiropractors, sincerely believe they’re delivering optimal care but may feel constrained by these rigid guidelines. As a result, parents are increasingly uncertain about where to turn for trustworthy, effective care for their children.
The challenges in healthcare extend into sports medicine, where many young athletes face preventable injuries that can disrupt their careers. Collegiate athletes, for example, often suffer chronic issues like back pain soon after entering competitive sports, only to be sidelined, “redshirted,” and, in some cases, stripped of scholarships. With the right foundational care, many of these injuries could have been avoided, yet traditional sports medicine often falls short of this preventative focus.
Dr. Todd McDougle, known as the StrongmanDoc, brings an unmatched level of skill honed over nearly 30 years in both chiropractic care and strength sports, offering a higher standard of care rooted in real-world experience. His expertise in chiropractic is uniquely enhanced by his own background in amateur and professional strength sports, where precision, injury prevention, and resilience are essential. With these insights, Dr. McDougle has developed chiropractic techniques that proactively address the structural needs of athletes and patients alike, supporting longevity and peak performance in ways that conventional approaches may overlook.
By integrating chiropractic science with his hands-on sports experience, Dr. McDougle has pioneered techniques that give athletes a genuine advantage in maintaining long, successful careers. For sports medicine to truly support athletes, a shift is needed—one that prioritizes injury prevention, functional resilience, and whole-body wellness.
Experience a proactive, results-focused approach with Dr. McDougle and discover how chiropractic care can be a game-changer in reaching your peak health potential.
Current Process for Athlete Care: A Reactive, Self-Serving System
In today’s athletic care model, long-term health and optimal performance can sometimes take a back seat. Here’s how the typical process unfolds:
This reactive approach, focused solely on treating the immediate injury, overlooks the full-body biomechanics critical to an athlete’s long-term health and performance. Essential, preventative care often falls by the wayside. Here, Dr. McDougle’s extensive experience in chiropractic care and strength sports provides a powerful alternative.
With nearly three decades of hands-on experience working with athletes—from amateurs to world-class professionals—Dr. McDougle brings a unique, biomechanics-centered approach to support injury prevention, recovery, and optimized performance. His method addresses the root causes of injury, aligning the entire body for improved resilience and reduced injury recurrence. By focusing on comprehensive, personalized care, he empowers athletes to achieve their full potential without compromising their health.
Isn’t it time to prioritize the well-being of our athletes? With Dr. McDougle’s expertise, there’s a path forward that puts the athlete’s long-term health first—delivering results that a profit-driven, symptom-focused system often cannot.
One of the most effective approaches to injury prevention begins with a thorough, chiropractic-based evaluation process. In our office, this starts with a detailed examination that includes the use of radiographs, or x-rays—an essential diagnostic tool that has unfortunately seen decreased use in recent years. Many insurance companies cite studies that discourage x-rays due to an alleged “lack of correlation” between patient symptoms and diagnosis. As a result, the utilization of radiographs has declined in chiropractic care, often based on generalized risk-benefit ratios embraced by large institutions such as the USOC Medical Center.
At IN Chiropractic & Wellness, however, we follow the PCCRP (Practicing Chiropractors’ Committee on Radiology Protocols) guidelines established by the International Chiropractors Association. These evidence-based protocols ensure the clinical appropriateness of x-rays, focusing on the health and safety of each patient. We believe that the diminished use of radiographs is not due to a lack of clinical relevance but rather reflects a need for greater diagnostic skill and critical thinking among practitioners. Following the PCCRP guidelines allows us to conduct precise biomechanical assessments that can reveal essential insights for injury prevention, effective treatment, and long-term patient wellness.
Proper biomechanical evaluation, especially when performed by practitioners trained in advanced analysis, can be pivotal in both preventing and healing athletic injuries. Even the American College of Sports Medicine acknowledges the importance of appropriate biomechanical assessments and notes that they are severely underutilized in sports medicine today. Despite the rising number of professionals in biomechanics, physical therapy, orthopedics, and chiropractic, athletes continue to suffer preventable injuries due to a lack of cohesive clinical assessment and effective solutions.
The future of sports medicine and sports chiropractic hinges on practitioners who can connect biomechanical insights with targeted care. Dr. McDougle’s methods at IN Chiropractic & Wellness offer a proactive solution—or at the very least, a strong foundation—toward patient-centered, results-driven sports chiropractic care.
The McDougle Chiropractic Method: Expertise Built from Decades of Athletic and Clinical Excellence
With nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Todd McDougle has developed a groundbreaking chiropractic approach that sets a new standard in sports performance and injury prevention. Known as the StrongmanDoc, Dr. McDougle combines his background in professional and amateur strength sports with deep clinical expertise to create a highly effective, customized care model. His method, rooted in biomechanics and refined through thousands of real-world applications, has helped athletes and patients alike achieve results where conventional treatments fall short.
Dr. McDougle’s journey began when USA Pro Strongman Chad Coy asked for an adjustment method that wouldn’t leave him feeling “sprung,” a common side effect of traditional techniques. Drawing from sports science, including Hoffman’s Reflex studies on neuromuscular recruitment, Dr. McDougle recognized that standard chiropractic adjustments could disrupt stability, strength, and power for high-performance athletes. He responded by developing a technique that supports neuromuscular function, helping athletes achieve greater resilience and control.
In partnership with inventor Vince Rizzo, Dr. McDougle validated his method using innovative technology to measure foot pressure, balance, and post-adjustment performance. The results were clear: 94.4% of athletes showed immediate positive changes within 30 seconds of movement, supporting an average 20% power increase. High jump improvements of up to five inches, faster swim and run times, and enhanced flexibility—all without sacrificing power—are just a few of the benefits reported, even by athletes with complex conditions like scoliosis.
Dr. McDougle’s approach represents a breakthrough in sports chiropractic, offering personalized, neuromuscular-friendly care that empowers patients to achieve peak performance and maintain long-term wellness. With a lifetime dedicated to overcoming challenges, Dr. McDougle brings unparalleled insight and commitment to every patient’s journey.
Discover how Dr. McDougle’s expertise can elevate your health and athletic potential—experience chiropractic care that’s designed to support your success.
IN Chiropractic & Wellness is now serving Sports Chiropractic athletes / patients from all across the state of Indiana including: Anderson, Arlington Heights, Avon, Bloomington, Brownsburg, Carmel, Clear Creek, Columbus, Crawfordsville, Crown Pointe, Elkhart, Evansville, Fishers, Fort Wayne, Greenfield, Greenwood, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lawrence, Lafayette, Marion, Merrillville, Muncie, Noblesville, Pendleton, Plainfield, South Bend, Terre Haute, Vincennes, Westfield, Zionsville
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Personalized chiropractic care to optimize athletic performance, prevent injuries, and accelerate recovery for competitors, strength athletes, and active individuals in Fishers, Noblesville, Carmel, and Hamilton County, Indiana.
