Foundations Series
The Two Systems That Control Your Spine
Tuesday, Feb 24 2026 @ 7:00 PM GMT
Understand Why Some Patients Hold Their Adjustments—
And Others Don't
Your spine is controlled by two fundamentally different muscle systems—one built for stability, one built for movement. They have different neurological wiring, different responses to injury, and different roles in keeping your patients upright and functional. Most practitioners treat these systems as if they're the same. That's the first major error—and it explains why so many patients don't hold their adjustments.
In this webinar, you'll learn to distinguish stabilizing muscles from movement muscles, understand how they're supposed to work together, and start asking a different question about every patient you see: Are you assessing the stabilizers or the movers? And when you find tension, is it primary dysfunction—or compensation for a stability failure you haven't identified yet?
What You'll Master
✓ The Tonic System: Gravity-Sensitive Stabilizers
Discover the deep stabilizing muscles that maintain joint position continuously against gravity. Learn how they receive critical information from otolith organs to make smooth, precisely graded responses and keep joints in their optimal closed-pack position.
✓ The Phasic System: Movement and Power
Understand the superficial muscles designed for acceleration and movement—not sustained stability. Learn why they sense differently, respond to stretch rather than load, and cannot replace tonic function despite appearing stronger.
✓ The Critical Coordination Between Systems
See how these two systems are supposed to hand off to each other: tonic muscles establish and maintain position while phasic muscles generate movement from that stable base. When this coordination fails, your adjustments won't hold.
✓ The Question That Changes Everything
Stop asking "what's tight?" and start asking "which system is failing?" Learn why treating tight phasic muscles often fails when the underlying problem is tonic system dysfunction—you're treating the compensation, not the cause.
Who Should Attend
Chiropractors frustrated by patients who improve temporarily but don't stabilize
Clinicians seeking clarity about why some cases resolve quickly while others plateau
Practitioners who value neurology-based approaches over motion-only assessments
Students and recent graduates wanting a deeper foundation in spinal control systems
Experienced doctors looking to refine their clinical reasoning and patient outcomes
What Makes This Different
Most assessment approaches only evaluate the phasic system—what's tight, what's restricted, what hurts. But when tight muscles are compensating for tonic failure, treating them is like turning down a smoke alarm instead of putting out the fire.
This webinar gives you the framework to identify which system is failing, why the body compensates the way it does, and why restoring tonic function must come before chasing phasic symptoms. This is the foundation that changes how you assess every patient.
About the Presenter
Dr. Russ Hornstein, DC has been a chiropractic neurologist for 30 years and holds his Diplomate in Functional Neurology from the Carrick Institute. He developed Adjusting to Neutral to address the root cause of persistent musculoskeletal and sensorimotor problems through tonic system recalibration.
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Reserve Your Spot
Registering will give you access to the live event and a replay available for 7 days. Spaces in the live event are first come, first served and limited to 50. There will be time for question and answer with Dr. Russ at the end of the webinar.
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