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eGel – Electrolyte Energy Gel Cranks Sports Product Review

April 6, 2011 by drburt

Readers who followed my posts from the early days know that I am an avid mountain biker. I am very fortunate to live in San Francisco Bay Area where climate allows us to ride pretty much all year long. We never ever have a snow in a winter and it never rains from mid spring to mid autumn. Love it :). My house is about five minutes away from East Bay Regional Park – Lake Chabot. The trail can take a mountain biker all the way to Oakland and this trail connects all the way to Berkeley. I have never personally ridden to Berkeley due to the time limitations. A ride from a Ranger Station at Lake Chabot to Oakland is about 31 miles long with quite a bit of elevation gain. It takes about three and a half hours to complete with few small brakes on a way.

These long rides require proper fuel for your musculature. One of the products that I have been using since 2009 is eGel which is short for Electrolyte Energy Gel from Crank Sports.

Energy gels should be consumed with water and NOT a sports drink. The result is energy and hydration, but insufficient electrolyte replacement. This particular product has sufficient amount of energy, hydration and electrolyte replacement. With 4 to 5 times the electrolyte levels of traditional energy gels, e-Gel’s Electrolyte Energy formulation is designed to provide complete and balanced electrolyte replacement in addition to sustained energy and hydration when taken with water as recommended. And with 150 carbohydrate calories, e-Gel packs 50% more energy than most energy gels.

In the last couple of years that I have been racing Cross Country and I have never cramped or bonked during those rides. This product is one of the best on a market. I have tried many other products in a past but nothing would come even close to eGel. The following are the links that compare eGel to other products that are available on a market.

>> e-Gel vs. GU

>> e-Gel vs. Powerbar Gel

>> e-Gel vs. Hammer Gel

>> e-Gel vs. GU Roctane

>> e-Gel vs. Clif SHOT Bloks (must read!)

These are the reviews from other riders that I was able to find on www.MTBR.com

Best gel for me. I have used them training and racing, for mountain biking, triathlons, and running marathons. I keep them well stocked and have had a lot of my buddies get hooked on them as well. Crank Sports also has a good, free, on-line workout log that is set-up for multi-sports and is customizable. No, I don’t work for Crank Sports.

This product works and has never upset my stomach. The pre-mix drink packets are also great. If you use the gel and drink there is no Bonk.

Awesome product. Try their sports drink mix as well. The combination of the two cannot be beat. Reasonable pricing and seems to be an item that is wel stocked at many cycling stores – nice for a change to be able to find the product you like!

I highly recommend trying it. I always dreaded eating those Gu and Cliff shots because they made me choke. Great for long road and mtb rides. has more electrolytes so it keeps you from cramping.

Injury Prevention Tehcniques During Exercises

February 25, 2011 by drburt

We all want to lower our chances of getting injured whether we are athletes or ordinary people who don’t exercise often. If we suffer from an injury, it can hamper our performance and lower our fitness. If it goes untreated, arthritis could be the end result. By knowing the causes of injuries we could prevent ourselves from suffering from these injuries. Not only that, but if we change our diet we could also lessen our chances of getting an injury.
Training, once done properly, could help in reducing the injury development. Studies showed that an intense training could cause muscle’s wear and tear and if this is not given enough time to rest then it could lead to an injury. What happens is the muscles don’t work as well anymore and can’t protect the tissues that it connects to which in turn could increase the chances of damage to our bones, tendons, cartilages as well as ligaments. That is why if you do a regular activity or exercise you should not forget to do them moderately and properly to avoid any injury or ailments.
If you over-train, you could suffer from several physical effects such as high blood pressure, lower performance, muscle pain, weight loss and many others. By over-training, your muscles would be weaker than it normally would and if you push it to work too hard, let’s say with a sport that has a high demand for the muscles, it could lead to an injury. Health specialists usually advise that people who do such intense sports or training should also have resistance training aside from their regular training. This will help in increasing the muscle strength and power as well as endurance. You don’t even need to use any resistance training objects as you can use your own body weight. This is done through pushups or situps, chin-ups and other exercises that utilize your own body weight.
Before you start with any exercise or activity, never forget to warm-up. Warm-up exercises together with stretching exercises greatly reduce your risks for injuries. Warm-up exercises should last between 15 to 30 minutes. It can help in lengthening the muscles and increasing blood flow and making you feel warm as the muscles prepare for the hard training ahead. If your muscle gets shocked by the training because you didn’t perform a warm-up exercise, it could cause muscle stiffness and pain.
There are other ways that you could prevent injury and many injuries can actually be prevented with your common sense. When you feel really tired you should avoid training. If you increase your time of training you should also increase your resting time for your body to recuperate. Keep yourself hydrated. This is very important as your body needs water so it won’t get too hot and you won’t be dehydrated. Use proper footwear and gears, increase carbohydrates consumption, monitor your signs of fatigue and make sure you get immediate treatment when you noticed signs of injury.
Preventing injury would help your training in the long run. If you suffer from injury you would need to rest and get treatment which means you’d be spending more time to let your injury get better and not have the exercise or training you should be having simply because you didn’t follow the right techniques and didn’t listen to your body. Prevention is indeed better than cure so it’s best to seek advice from health specialists before engaging in the training or activity you want.

If you have anything to add to this post, please feel free to Post a comment or share your thoughts through Facebook, Twitter or comment section below to join the conversation.

Chiropractic Care, Golf and Back Injury

January 21, 2011 by drburt

Most everyone who plays golf has a greater chance of low back injury. Recent study shows that about 35% of amateur and 22-24% of professional golfers susceptible to lumbar spine injuries. Collectively, the incidence of lower back pain in the male golfer is 25% to 36% and 22% to 27% in the female golfer. Many just want to learn how to hit the ball as far as possible and forgetting the basics of soft tissue trauma prevention. Below is the list of the risk factors that could cause lower back pain:

Arthritis, disc injuries or stress fractures
Weak abdominal musculature
Poor muscle trunk stabilization and strength
Poor warm up and flexibility
Overuse or repetitive stress from technique
Improper swing or technique
Poor posture or scoliosis
Age
Overweight and general poor health
Previous history of back pain or injury

What Is the Mechanism Injury of Lower Back While Playing Golf

Lumbar Spine consists of the following structures: vertebral bodies, IVD – Inter Vertebral Disc, Ligaments, Muscles and Tendons. Lower back injuries are the most common golf related injuries followed by, elbow, wrist and shoulder injuries. Occasionally golfers suffer from hip and knee pain as well. The most common mechanism of injury is the twisting and pulling that takes place during the golf swing against a spine that is not moving through its full range of motion. During golf swing the spine is exposed to extra load and tensile movement. It is estimated that during the swing phase the soft tissue of the lumbar spine is exposed to a force eight times of the body weight. Prolonger standing, twisting, and bending are the contributing factors for stress accumulation on the supporting structures of the lumbar spine. When the force dissipates through the vertebral body, muscles, discs and ligaments can be damaged and be the cause of low back injury.

Preventing Low Back Injuries from Golfing

Less than 5% of amateur golfers fail to adequately stretch or warm up before the game. A proper warm up will provide the following benefits to the spine:
Increasing circulation
Increasing the range of motion
Preparing for increased loading and stress
Below is an example of good warm up activities:
light jog or brisk walk, stretching the larger muscles or major muscle groups, swinging a club in both directions to mobilize the trunk muscles and increase circulation, Fluid, gentle practice swings preparing the relevant structures of the spine and muscles groups for the activity.

Improve Muscle Strength and Tone and Flexibility

Strengthening the abdominal and lower back muscles will help to stabilize the spine during the swing phase and in turn produce more powerful, longer shots. Strong quadriceps, buttock and hamstring muscles are another important key factor that should not be neglected. Here is link to a “Two Stretching Exercises for Golf Back Pain.” Pilates for Golfers (affiliate link) has been a very popular technique in preventing back injuries and elbow injuries while golfing. Pilates for Golfers is a step-by-step guide to identify and correct golf swing faults using the Pilates Method.

Consult Your Personal Chiropractor or Medical Professional

If you injured yourself while golfing, you must do the following in order to prevent farther injury:

Discontinue any activities that aggravates the pain
Apply ice to injured area ASAP – 15 minutes on and 45 minutes off
After 72 hours you can switch to heating moist pads for increased blood flow
Do not lye in bed for a prolonged period of time
Force yourself for light activity
Avoid Heavy Lifting
Avoid Prolonged Sitting
Avoid Prolonged Bending
Suspend Golfing Activities

A visit to your local chiropractor would be a great benefit to your lower back pain. Make sure that your local chiropractor has physical therapy modalities such as, electric stimulation, moist heat, ultrasound, cold laser and certified massage therapist as a staff member. Spinal Chiropractic Adjustment can do wonders to your spine and overall well being.

Runners, NSAIDs, Pain Medications and Misery at the Hospital

December 3, 2010 by drburt

This is a recap story written by Christie Aschwanden in Runner’s World. I will try to use a lighter language for a better reading digestion.

Stephanie Ehret won a 24-hours track run with an excellent timing. However, she was celebrating her victory in Phoenix E.R., constantly vomiting unknown substance. Stephanie was nauseous, had fever and she had feeling at that moment that these were the last moments of her life. Doctors have diagnosed her with – rhabdomylysis, which is a potentially deadly precursor to kidney failure. Part of this diagnosis was severe dehydration after the race. After all, it was not 2 or 3 hours race it was 24 hours. In addition to the strenuous demand on a system, Stephanie has taken 12 ibuprofen pills, which were the result of her being in E.R.

Proper dosage of OTC (over-the-counter) pain medication can be helpful to a runner who had fresh sprain/strain of an ankle. Tylenol can reduce the pain and NSAIDs like ibuprofen, aspirin, and naproxen can reduce swelling during acute stage of healing. Stephanie Ehret treated this Ibuprofen like ”vitamin I”, not realizing the side effects of its usage during intense competitive run. Experts confirmed that taking ibuprofen even during 10K run could be extremely dangerous. NSAIDs inhibit prostaglandins; it is a hormone that helps normalize blood flow to the kidneys. When you combine the effect of NSAIDs, competitive run and dehydration, kidneys would be the first organ to feel the overload.

NSAIDs will raise a blood pressure, and when we combine it with usual increase of blood pressure during cardiovascular exercise, all of sudden a person has two things that increase blood pressure. An individual with already increased blood pressure can have a risk of a heart attack. The reason for this heart attack is that NSAIDs inhibit the function of an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX) that protects the heart. COX also protects the stomach lining from digestive acids. Individuals whose COX is blocked could experience nausea, diarrhea, intestinal bleeding and cramps. COX inhibition could also be the cause of electrolyte imbalance during marathon. Study proves that increased dosage of ibuprofen during race does not reduce inflammation or pain tolerance. In a contrary, runners who use this ibuprofen had more inflammation at the end of the race. Also takers and none takers of ibuprofen did not notice increase or reduction in amount of pain during the race.

Pain and inflammation is a warning sign that our body communicates to us that there is something wrong the part of the body that is hurting. Pain and inflammation are just the symptoms. An individual must find the cause of this problem. Taking NSAIDs or OTC pain medications is not a solution to a problem. One must address the total biomechanical and musculoskeletal component of the body before competing on races of such level. Body is just like a vehicle, it needs a constant maintenance. However, many fail to maintain their bodies. Two good posts come to mind that I have written in the past: Chiropractic Rehabilitation and 4 Stages of Soft Tissue Healing and 13 Facts of Chiropractic and Wellness Care. Every serious athlete must treat their bodies with respect.

Since her last misery, Stepahnie Ehret shares her experience with other racers. If she sees them downing vitamin I, she tells them about her ER visit. “That’s usually enough to change their habits,” she says.

Image provided by Sheffield Tiger

Have you had a similar experience or known somebody who has? Will this article make you reconsider your own health choices? Post a comment below or share your thoughts through Facebook, Twitter or comment section below to join the conversation.