The Peak Performance Podcast

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

In today’s episode, I am excited to bring you our featured guest; He is the Founder and Clinic Director of Portland Chiropractic Neurology in Portland Maine, in addition to being a doctor of Chiropractic, he has a diplomate in Neurology, is a fellow in Vestibular Rehabilitation and is a Fellow in Concussion and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury; He is Dr. Aaron MacArthur

What follows is the outline used for the discussion which you are about to hear.  We hope you enjoy this interview!

Dr. Mac, can you tell our listeners a little more about yourself and especially what led you to become a chiropractic physician?  

There is an abundance of research that has recently come out that has really changed not only our understanding of what a concussion is but perhaps more importantly, how to best manage a patient that has suffered a concussion.  When you look at everything that we now know about concussions it is quite clear to me that your field of chiropractic neurology has taken the lead applying this critical information with regards to patent management.

What are some of the key things we now know about concussions that perhaps we didn’t know until recently?

Can you give our listeners an overview of the Chiropractic Neurology approach to treating concussions?

How is this different from conventional medical treatment?

Why is conventional medicine behind or why are they slow to adapt these new principles/techniques & research?  It seems that despite mainstream media coverage of the remarkable recovery that NHL superstar Sidney Crosby made following treatment from chiropractic neurologists, things have not changed much from a conventional medical approach?  

Where can people go that want to learn more about the breakthroughs in concussion research as well as learn more about chiropractic neurology?  Are there any books or internet resources that they should check out?

Portland Chiropractic Neurology Website: www.portchiro.com

Email to reach Dr. Aaron MacArthur: [email protected]

Portland Chiropractic Neurology Facebook page: https://facebook.com/portlandchiropracticneurology

Dr. MacArthur’s Blog: https://www.portchiro.com/blog/1/1

Frontiers in Neurology Journal: http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/neuroscience#

We Hope you enjoyed today’s Bonus Episode from our sister podcast; Back to Health Chiropractic Podcast. With such an abundance of new research regarding what actually happens during a concussion injury and what we now know we should be doing to help our athletes recover completely it is imperative that we all share this knowledge with as many people as we can.  Therefore, I am asking you to PLEASE SHARE this podcast with ANYONE you feel may benefit from what we covered today.  Also, SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so that you never miss a future episode.

The post PPP 007: Bonus Episode from our sister podcast, The Back to Health Chiropractic Podcast: Breakthroughs in Concussion Management: Interview with the founder & clinic director of Portland Chiropractic Neurology, Dr. Aaron MacArthur appeared first on .

Professional Triathlete & Doctor of Physical Therapy Amber Ferreira with host Dr. Marc Dupuis

Today’s episode is a recording from our recent live event titled “Achieving Peak Performance in Endurance & Multisport Competition”.  What you are about to hear is the Q & A portion of that seminar with our featured guest, Amber Ferreira.  For those of you who do not know Amber, she is one amazing athlete and inspiring human being.  She is a professional triathlete, Ironman champion, national snowshoe champion, doctor of physical therapy and is a multisport coach.

The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

Links for following & connecting with Amber

http://amberferreira.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AmberFerreiraProTriathlete

Twitter@AmberTri

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The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

As a general concept, barefoot running makes complete sense for a number of reasons.

Three major factors that improve a barefoot runner’s efficiency:

A simple exercise that demonstrates the benefits of barefoot running is: The Parking lot jog

Now These Shoes have their OWN Problems!  (This added heel height, originally designed to help propel you forward, actually ends up encouraging runners to heel strike.

By having additional cushion to protect the heel, most people will then try to increase speed by INCREASING their stride length, as that is typically EASIER to do compared to trying to INCREASE turnover now this only FURTHER accentuates the  heel strike) If you video tape a runner that heel strikes and review the tape frame by frame you will notice that when the foot contacts the ground, their foot is ahead of their body, therefore they are actually breaking at the initial point of ground contact, when in reality, their body should be above foot as it contacts the ground.

This breaking action drives significantly more force through the entire ankle, knee, hip, pelvis and spine with each step (well OVER 7X our body weight ) and greatly reduces forward momentum, thus requiring much more force during the toe push off phase.  This explains the significant increase in ankle, knee, hip and spine injuries that have been occurring ever since the launch of the modern running shoe, years ago

For the majority of runners who have been using these standard shoes for years, these non-efficient movement patterns that coincide with heel striking are HARD wired and can takes MONTHS of training to reverse.

Nevertheless too many people have try to jump right in to either barefoot running or switching from their usual highly cushioned shoes to minimalistic shoes with little to now break-in or transition period.  Here in lies the BIG problem and  explains the significant rise in stress fractures that have been seen since the barefoot running craze has taken off.  While these runners may begin each run a bit more efficient, it does not take much fatigue before their run form breaks down and the old movement patterns return.  Before they know it, they are running more like they would if they were still in their heavily cushioned shoes WITHOUT ANY Protective Cushioning.

Other common injuries that are being seen in the barefoot running community are Achilles tendonitis and calf strains.

Achilles tendonitis is commonly a result of the bowstring effect:  90% of us are excessive pronators/flat feet.  Pronation creates lateral to medial stress forces in the Achilles.  These forces can be mitigated with the use of orthotics or the correct motion control shoes, however when running without any such support, if the intrinsic foot musculature is not properly built up to handle this strain Achilles tendonitis can set in.

Calve strains are the by product of switching from 12mm drop down shoe down to a lower drop or no drop in the case of barefoot running too quickly.  With each mm of drop removed from your shoe, there is an increased amount of stretch applied to the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles (the muscles of the calf).  It takes time to slowly stretch these muscles and their associated tendons to the point where they can handle the added stress of lower drop or barefoot running.

You CAN strengthen the intrinsic musculature of the foot which can help many people transition to a more minimal type of foot wear but it takes TIME and CONSISTANT work.  Weight training barefoot with a knowledgeable coach/trainer who can make sure you are properly activating the muscles of your feet is one step you can take to help speed that process.

SO, ARE there any Practical Applications for the typical runner in regards to barefoot running??

Absolutely.  Here are some General Recommendations:

As part of your Dynamic Warm up, find a level grass/turf surface such as the infield of a HS/College track and do the following;  perform 3-5 50m strides BAREFOOT where you work on landing light and on your mid/foot, focus on gliding forward without any bouncing or bounding.  Then, get back into your shoes AND run as if you are STILL barefoot. This can help you gain some of the efficiencies of running barefoot yet keeping the protection to your feet/knees/hips/spine

Other general tips that all runners should try to work on regardless of if you are wearing minimalistic shoes or not;

When possible work towards an ideal run cadence 170-180 step/min, doing so will allow shorter ground contact time per foot strike which is how you lessen the overall force be transmitted into the body and over time acclimating to a lower drop shoe, yet maintaining the degree of cushion that protects the individual’s body. A running metronome can be a useful tool in making sure you are doing this correctly.

If you are absolutely dead set on barefoot running or on using minimalistic shoes, carve out no less than 6 months to SLOWLY build up the time needed to build up the integrity of your intrinsic foot muscles and related soft tissues to be able to handle the increased forces that you previously relied on the shoe cushioning to absorb.

So there you have it folks, the overview on barefoot running.  I hope you found this information useful.   You can find the highlights of this talk on our show notes page at www.peakperformancepodcast.com.  Please take a moment to subscribe to this podcast, please share it with anyone you feel it may benefit and finally:  Thank you for listening and have a Great DAY!

Links

https://www.amazon.com/Seiko-DM51SE-DM51S-Clip-On-Metronome-Silver/dp/B009Q1B2CY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490130501&sr=8-1&keywords=running+metronome

https://www.amazon.com/ChiRunning-Revolutionary-Approach-Effortless-Injury-Free/dp/1416549447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490130528&sr=8-1&keywords=chi+running

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The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

What you will learn in this podcast

Research Review:

Whole Body Periodic Acceleration Improves Muscle Recovery after Eccentric Exercise

This is a very interesting study and is useful for most athletes, since virtually all athletes utilize some degree of eccentric movements (from  power lifter lifters, gymnasts, Cross-fitters, obstacle racers, runners or team sports players).

To begin, let’s just briefly review what is meant by eccentric exercise.

Eccentric Exercises involve movements that require muscles to produce a contraction force while lengthening.  Best example is doing a negative, where one lays on a flat bench, grabs a weighted bar off the rack and slowly lowers the weight to their chest.  The pectoral muscles and anterior deltoids and triceps are firing or producing a contraction force while the muscle fibers themselves are lengthening.  These types of movements have long been shown to produce more muscle damage as compared to concentric exercises which involve movements that require muscles to produce contraction forces while shortening.  Any of you who have done negative workouts will attest to this, how much more sore you after such a workout compared to a typical more concentric based workout.

Because Eccentric exercise creates more damage compared to concentric exercises they are often better choices for those looking to make the most strength gains because the added damage induces the body to rebuild the worked muscles a greater degree than what occurs after concentric exercise (greater supercompensation).  The only catch is, and it is a significant one, is that recovery from eccentric exercises is longer.

The majority of athletes that that strength train will utilize eccentric exercise at some point to maximize their gains, often done in the off-season when the focus is on building overall strength & power.

Many sports require eccentric movements throughout each training session or competition.  Rapid deceleration, is probably the most commonly seen eccentric movement in all of sports.  The examples are really endless.  Pitchers eccentrically fire muscles to slow down their arm after they immediately release the ball, as do tennis players the moment they strike every ball.  Football, basketball and soccer players need to eccentrically fire leg muscles when quickly breaking to change direction and so on.

THE Essence of Study;

Took mice, had them run on a downhill simulating treadmill which produced the additional muscle damage as expected compared to standard running.  The underwent 1 training session of 45min to produce the muscle damage.

Control group: received no recover tx.

Results: Whole body periodic acceleration group showed statistically significant improvements in recovery as compared to the control group.  What is particularly interesting is how many different aspects of physiology where positively affected.

Mechanisms of action, the headward-footward (vertical displacement) direction of the repetitive motion caused by the motion platform is responsible for a number of positive physiological effects in the muscle cells.

Application:

For Athletes that undergo eccentric exercise muscle damage (planned or unplanned) incorporating whole body periodic acceleration, beginning on the day of exercise may significantly speed the recovery process.

How:

Whole body vibration plate.  They have exploded in popularity over the last 10 or so years and can now be found in many sports medicine centers, athletic training facilities and even individual homes as smaller more cost effective units are now available.

Looking for a low tech solution: Try a rebounder 10-15min.  Although the frequency and amplitude will be significantly different than any motor driven vibration plate, one would think that there should be some gains to be had in terms of recovery since the body will be moving in a headward-footward motion with a relatively even period…outside the box but cheap, easy to implement and already proven to improve lymphatic system flow….that’s my final cent or two on that.

I hope you found this study as interesting as I did, again it can be found in

Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise

LINKS

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Whole+Body+Periodic+Acceleration+Improves+Muscle+Recovery+after+Eccentric+Exercise+Jose+Rafael+Lopez%2C+Alfredo+Mijares

http://www.fitnesssuperstore.com/Power-Plate-Pro5-Vibration-Platform-p/61ngg3100.htm?gclid=CJnMxrKjjtICFcKEswodJqcIqQ

https://jet.com/product/detail/d271c52ae0b142ffaaff74b6502d1595?jcmp=pla:ggl:gen_sporting_goods_a1:exercise_fitness_vibration_exercise_machines_a1_other:na:PLA_345660300_23686986420_pla-163576760700:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&gclid=CPDkzr-jjtICFVhYDQodqJQBTw

https://www.amazon.com/Stamina-35-1625-36-Inch-Folding-Trampoline/dp/B000JC2ZHA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487030331&sr=8-3&keywords=rebounder

That is it for now folks!  Please take a moment to subscribe to our podcast so that you will never miss a new episode, also please review & rate us on iTunes.  We love feedback, if there are any topics you would like our team to cover, let us know and we will do our best to address them!

Lastly, thank you very much for listening and until next time work hard, train hard and play hard!

.

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The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

It’s that time of year up here in New England, WINTER!  So what the heck do we do to keep our bike fitness throughout our LONG Winter…

Lucky for us, there are quite a few things we CAN do, not only keep from losing what we worked so hard to build but to ACTUALLY …get into even better fitness!!!

#1: Put the road & TT bikes away and dust off the Mt bike!!  Fun way to change things up, so different after months of road, constantly changing terrain and rapid accelerations/decelerations… great for building strength! In terms of temperature, it is much warmer in woods & trails due to a significant drop in wind compared to the open roads and your speed is much slower when on the mountain biker.  Less wind and slower speeds both play huge roles in making you feel warmer!  Just remember, comparing  mileage between road and mountain bike workouts is fruitless, apples to oranges folks.  For example; my last 3hr road equaled about 54mi, compared to my first 3hr technical mountain bike ride which equaled only 12mi!

#2: Once snow HITS…..get out the fat bikes!  They have huge tires which roll right over snow and ice!!

#3: Spin Classes: Most provide a variety of simulated terrain and speeds, they can be tremendously useful to keep up cardio/motor memory.  Many are limited to just 50-60min, however, often you may find you have the option of staying in back to back classes which can then make it easy to get 2hr of training in.

#4: Home Trainer Based Workouts – Main Focus today

One Major Benefit for trainer based workouts is that you get more bang for the buck in the TIME spent department.  In general 45 minutes on the trainer equals about 60 minutes on the road.  How:  Think about it, there are no stops for traffic lights, stop signs, intersections, no stopping to eat, fuel etc, and no coasting!

ALSO SAFER!! I love riding outdoors but really it is a ZOO out there, especially with the added dangers of distracted drivers courtesy of smart phones.  Sadly you do not have to look far, to find many reports of terrible accidents where cyclists have been hit by cars.

Some professional athletes, perhaps the most famous, Andy Potts, is known for doing virtually ALL his bike training indoors.

Types of Indoor trainers:

Rollers:  Great for keeping balance intact, but are easy to crash off of (see Youtube for numerous examples)

Smart trainers:  These are GAME CHANGERS!  Smart trainers use computers to modulate resistance levels, therefore, giving you the ability to dial in exactly the level of resistance desired.  They often sync with numerous programs that allow you to ride pre-programmed rides or in many cases you can plug in a bike workout from your coach or training plan!

Popular programs include; Zwift, Cycleops Virtual Training, and Trainer Road.  These programs let you pick actual courses and the computer will create the nearly identical resistance at each point along the road, want to ride that 13 mi stretch of climbs on the back of the IMLP course, no problem, you can do it from home!!

Guess What?  It’s even better, many of these programs allow you to virtually race people from all over the world!!!

I hear they are AWESOME, I haven’t yet tried them because frankly, I am having a blast using Trainer Road to program my coaches workouts into my trainer and then I will stream Netflix!  Currently I am biking through The Walking Dead…

Tips on Setting up your own training space aka Pain cave

USE IT, WORK HARD!!!

So there you have it, despite the inevitable fact that winter is here in the Northeast, we do have many different options to use to not only keep up our bike fitness, but if we plan smart, we should come out of winter both stronger and faster!!

Links

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The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

In this podcast you will learn:

Summary

Nonsurgical spinal decompression therapy is a revolutionary, life changing technology used primarily to treat disc injuries in the neck and lower back. Clinical research has also shown spinal decompression therapy to be effective in treating facet syndrome, radiating arm pain, leg pain, degenerative disc disease and more.

This effective treatment option consists of decreasing pressure within the spinal discs through distracting and positioning the vertebra to create negative intra-discal pressure, In other words, it creates a vacuum inside the discs that are being targeted in treatment in order to alleviate pressure.

In nonsurgical spinal decompression, the vertebrae are gently separated while the patient lies comfortably on the decompression table. In addition to decreasing the intra-discal pressure, it may also induce the retraction of the herniated or bulging disc to the inside of the disc, which then can take pressure off the nearby nerve root, thecal sac, or both.

There are numerous benefits of spinal decompression which is why this treatment has grown in demand. The cycles of decompression and partial relaxation that occur microscopically in this treatment can cause results that are quite dramatic. Over a series of visits to the clinic, the torn and degenerated disc fibers under consideration can begin to heal as water, oxygen, and nutrient-rich fluids outside the discs are diffused within.

The issue with the majority of conventional treatments offered is that not only do they not promote the healing process, typical treatments such as steroid injections and oral anti-inflammatory drugs actually hinder the body’s innate healing process.  Injections and drugs do limit swelling which can significantly decrease pain, but the cost comes with a lowered ability to actually heal.  When tissues are swollen and inflamed your body is trying to send key nutrients and specific cells such as fibroblasts to the damaged area in order to begin the repair process.  The swelling itself is often painful, which does have an important function of telling us to rest and to not continue to use the damaged tissue in stressful ways.

The better injections and anti-inflammatory drugs do in limiting the pain, the greater their side effect is in terms of shutting down the healing response.  Because spinal decompression promotes your body’s healing process, the latest research has shown it to be 80% EFFECTIVE, no matter how badly the disc is damaged.  Compare this to the fact that back surgery has a greater than 50% failure rate!

It is important to keep in mind that although spinal decompression is highly successful, 80% is not perfect.  Therefore research has shown that around 20% of people with significant damage to their discs will need surgical intervention.  However, it only makes sense to have the proper evaluation to see if one is a candidate for decompression therapy and to try that FIRST before resorting to drugs and or surgery.

To find out more about the benefits of nonsurgical spinal decompression, contact us Back to Health Chiropractic, 207-324-7098, www.bthconline.com. Due to the tremendous results we have seen with numerous patients, we are pleased to report that we have added a second decompression unit to our state of the art facility. #injureddiscsCANheal #chiropractic#drugfreepainrelief

Contra-indications

Pregnancy

Previous surgery with implanted hardware

Spinal injuries that resulted in instability

Related Links

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Spine.+2006+Jul+1%3B31(15)%3A1658-65

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8720408

https://youtu.be/hj_WuzXpYhg

www.mainedisc.com

www.bthconline.com

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/39658423/ns/health-pain_center/t/back-surgery-may-backfire-patients-pain/#.WHuqb1MrK00

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The information you are about to hear is for education purposes only.  Please consult your doctor before attempting to implement anything covered in the following episode.

Is your Wearable Physical Activity Monitor Feeding You a Line of BS?

In this podcast you will learn:

Summary

What started out as tools to count our daily steps, the next generation of wearable activity monitors are doing much more.  The big trend in today’s monitors is calorie counting.  With more and more people relying on these devices to monitor their daily fitness, one needs to ask, “Just how accurate are these devices?”.

This is the question that the researchers wanted to know in today’s featured study:

Results:

Step counting was accurate in all models tested, however, the estimated calorie burn was not good at all.  They were okay at estimating calories at rest, however, when the people wearing these monitors were doing virtually any activity, all units significantly OVERESTIMATED the calories burned by a whopping 16%-40%

This can get us into serious trouble if we are relying on this data when determining how much we should eat, especially after activities!  The main issue is with the mathematical formulas or algorithms that are used to make the calculation.  They are not sophisticated enough to allow for individual variables such as health, fitness level etc.

The answer for those that really want to track their calorie burn is to purchase a unit that can actually measure ones heart rate.  Measuring heart rate to determine calorie burn is a much more reliable way to see what we are actually burning vs relying on an algorithm.

Related Links

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Validity+of+Consumer-Based+Physical+Activity+Monitors+for+Specific+Activity+Types.

https://www.fitbit.com/surge

https://jawbone.com/

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/fenix/

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I am your host Dr. Marc Dupuis.  Today’s goal is to introduce myself, describe why I have decided to launch this podcast, what you will learn, topics we will cover, the format we will use, and lastly, the frequency at which you can expect new episodes to be released!

I am a Board Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician and an Internationally Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician.  I have had the privilege of studying elite sports science at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY and at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. I provide the chiropractic services for the Sanford Mainers Baseball Team which is a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.  I see athletes of all ages in my clinic from middle/high school and college ranks up to professional athletes and pretty much everyone in between.

I founded my clinic, Back to Health Chiropractic in 2004 in my hometown of Sanford, Maine, where our mission is two-fold.  #1: To help as many athletes as we can perform at their best! 2#: To become the leader of the lifetime family wellness movement.  In my free time you will likely find me outside swimming, biking, running, hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, there are not many outdoor activities that I do not like to do.  I am an avid triathlete, I am a 2X Ironman Lake Placid Finisher, a 5X Half Ironman Finisher and 2X Sea to Summit Extreme Triathlon Finisher.  

Originally from Southern CT, my family relocated to Sanford, Maine in 1987 where I completed grades 6-12, before moving on to college at the University of Maine, Orono & then graduate school at New York Chiropractic College.  I now reside in Saco Maine with my wonderful wife and our two fur children.

Why did I start this podcast?  The answer is simple, I have been so fortunate to learn from many of our nation’s best sports medicine doctors and combined with what I have learned studying functional based nutritional therapies I have more and more information to share with the athletes I work with in my practice but can only see so many practice members in one day.  For a long time I have been trying to figure out how to share this critical information with more and more athletes.  Naturally, doing it through a podcast seemed like the perfect answer, since anyone with an internet connection would be able to gain access.  So here we are!

My hope is to make this podcast your go to source for tips and strategies on improving your peak athletic performance.  This podcast will cover information for team sport athletes, Crossfit athletes, triathletes (short course, 1/2 Ironman & Ironman athletes) runners, swimmers and more.  Interview episodes will feature professional athletes as well as experts in the world of sports medicine, rehabilitation, strength training and athletic coaching.  As we embark on this journey, please subscribe to the podcast so that you will never miss a new episode and PLEASE, give me feedback, if there are topics you would like me to cover, let me know and I will do my best to address them!

Frequency:  We launched this podcast with a special 3 pack of episodes to kick things off.  Future episodes will be released on a bi-weekly basis.  

So THAT is it for now folks, for each episode you can go to our website;  www.thepeakperformancepodcast.com where you will find a clickable link for each episode.  There you will find the show notes for that episode.  In the show notes you will find a list of what you will learn, a summary of the show itself and links to related information.  Stay tuned, I hope you enjoy future episodes and lastly, thank you very much for listening. Have a great day!

http://www.bthconline.com

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