Sports - Top Chiropractor in San Leandro, CA

Granite Bay Race at Folsom Lake by TBF racing

November 3, 2010 by drburt

MTB 50 miler Race Granite Bay at Folsom Lake — My 2nd Lap @ 50 miles Race

I was debating for a while if I should publish this event on my blog. Suddenly I have come to realization that Doctor should show his patients what he is recommending to his patients, which is exercises on regular bases. Previous post was about chiropractic adjustments that I get regularly, and this post is about sport activities that I can not live without. Many of my patients already know that I am an avid Mountain Biker. I really enjoy riding my bike 3 times a week for couple of hours. This sport activity provides my body a great cardiovascular exercise and for my mind a necessary energy for my activities of daily living.

Most of my training is done on a 29er bike, which is a bike with slightly larger wheels than a traditional bike that most people ride and see in the department stores. Also this bike has only one gear, which is called Single Speed. Single Speed rides provides a better workout than a geared bike. A rider simply does not have an option to shift gears when climbing steep hills. This combination provides building blocks for longer endurance rides which at times go as long as 30 miles and take about 4 hours to complete. It is not an easy task to accomplish and everyone feels how the gravity fights against the muscle strength and oxygen capacity of each rider.

On 10/24/2010 was my third race of the season which was organized by TBF Racing. My friend Malvin and myself were doing 50 mile relay between the two of us. Four laps total, twelve and a half miles each. We were a team of two riders, who were the only team among 17 teams in our category with single speed bikes. Yes, we were racing against geared bikes and were ready to test our limits on this race.

The forecast was not favorable at the time of the race. It was going to rain but we did not know how hard it was going to rain.

Race began sharp at nine o’clock in the morning. We strategically planned that I will begin the race and Malvin will finish it as he is a stronger and faster rider than I am.

This strategy would provide us a better finishing time.

As soon as I began the race I have realized that this will be a real challenge racing bike in these harsh conditions. The most difficult part was to slow the bike down while going down the hill. The terrain on this trail is very sandy and water with sand gets into the brakes pads and rotors. This created sand paper effect. Basically on a ninth mile of this race my brake pads were gone, and I had to use my left foot to slow the bike down and finish my first lap. We were concentrating our efforts on strong climbs and tried avoiding the crashes as much as possible.

After my first lap, I had a little over an hour to find new brake pads for my Shimano XT calipers. I knew if I failed to find these pads Malvin would have to ride his bike for 37.5 miles in these conditions, which I didn’t think he would have enjoyed.

After twenty minutes of search one of the racers informed me that he has two sets of pads that I was looking for and he was willing to sell it to me. I could not have been any happier when he told me that. It took me about twenty minutes to install front and rear. When I took out old pads there was nothing left on them. I actually burned them all the way to the metal base plate.

By the time Malvin finished his first lap the rain began coming down even harder and the wind speed has increased. When I began my second lap the trail was not saturated with the riders as it was when I began my first lap. It was open and no one could slow me down at that point, except deep waters and strong head wind. It felt like I was moving much faster on my second lap, occasionally passing other riders.

When I was done with my second lap Malvin was ready to for his final run. The rain and the wind has not slowed down throughout the entire race. Many riders had flat tires, broken chains, shifting problems, crashes and some other mechanical problems. The most common problem was the problem with the brake pads as everyone burned them really fast.

We finished this 50 miler challenge on our Single Speed Bikes in five hours and six minutes (Look under Male Relay Under 80 – Team Tropa). Out of seventeen teams we have arrive to a finishing line as team number six. We were both shocked by these results. If we had geared bikes we had a chance to be on a podium and get a prize, or never get to a finishing line because of the mechanical problems. Overall our Finishing Place was #22.

This was the most exciting, exhausting, endurance challenging, mind blowing and harsh weather conditions race. Both of us have never experienced this kind of riding before. And yes, if opportunity arrives we will do it again. Happy trails everyone.

Question: What was yours the most challenging riding experience? Do you ride bikes on regular bases as an exercise?

Social Media, Chiropractic, Twitter and Lewis Howes Experience.

October 11, 2010 by drburt

This is a story about my personal experience in a blogosphere world. It is a true and amazing live event that opened my eyes on possibilities with Social Media and how one can integrate it into his or her business.

I found out about Twitter existence on April 15^th, 2010. Some of you might laugh, and wonder why I was missing out on this wonderful platform for such a long period of time. Some of you are probably still wondering what Twitter is all about. Now I don’t feel so bad.

The official opening date for my blog was on August 1^st, 2010. That was the time where I took things to a different level with Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, and YouTube Channel. I personally think that these four channels are the most important channels in Social media, and your blog is the center of it. But this story is not about my blog. This story is about my Social Media experience using Twitter, meeting Lewis Howes and providing Chiropractic service to a legendary American Football Player and coauthor of LinkedWorking book.

I found out about Lewis Howes via Jeff Bullas’s blog who is a huge Social Media expert, based in Australia. His entire blog is dedicated to Social Media evolution, research and news. In one of the posts, “10 Simple Steps To Increase Your Digital Influence” he mentioned that Lewis is the master of LinkedIn – which is the largest professional Social network in the world. I clicked on the www.LewisHowes.com and read his entire blog, followed him on Twitter and ordered his book.

On September 24^th, of this year I got up around 5am to have a drink of water and automatically checked my Twitter updates on my Iphone. Lewis was letting all of his followers know that he is heading to San Francisco. I replied back by saying: “It is 5am here.” Lewis replied by asking if I have any openings. I was thinking to myself: “Am I actually going to meet this guy.” To make a long story short Lewis made an appointment. The last time he saw a chiropractor was about three years ago and his spine and old wrist injury were way overdue for some good Chiropractic Rehabilitation.

A little bit of History about Lewis’s injury. This comes directly from his book “LinkedWorking”.

In the spring of 2007, I had an opportunity to fulfill a childhood dream. After a highly successful career in high school and college football, I earned a spot on an arena football team. This is simply football played indoors during the spring and summer months and serves as a training or proving ground for those vying to play in the National Football League.

During the second game of the season, I dove to catch the football. Unfortunately, however, I slammed into the walls that surround the playing surface in arena football and severely broke my wrist.

I finished out the season with my hand taped, at the end of the season I took the team doctor’s advice and had surgery. The surgery turned out to be more complicated than anyone imagined. They literally had to take a piece of bone from my hip and fuse it to my wrist bone.

What was only supposed to be a few weeks in a cast turned into over six month in a cast, and then another six months of rehabilitation.

After initial spine and wrist examination, I have set up Lewis for Electric Stimulation and Moist heat. These two procedures would allow me to reduce the tension in his paraspinal musculature and therefore perform a deeper chiropractic adjustment. I have also added deep tissue massage that was performed by my CMT who is one of my staff members. During Chiropractic adjustment his 6’6” frame made some really laud sounds. Right after adjustment I worked on his injured wrist. Lewis had really bad case of postsurgical fibrosis (scar tissue) in his injured wrist. The ROM (Range of Motion) was very minimal and extremely painful at the end range. I used special tools to break down the adhesions in his wrist. I don’t think he really enjoyed that part – very painful procedure. After five minutes of breaking down postsurgical fibrosis, I have asked him to move the wrist and both of us saw immediate improvement in ROM with less pain. The side effect was redness and swelling which is what I wanted to achieve – breaking down calcification will cause an inflammation process which will activate Macrophage and will facilitate the destruction of Calcified particles. Next procedure was Erchonia Pl 5000 Cold Laser for about 5 minutes on his injured wrist.

After therapy we had lunch at Top Thai Restaurant – Lewis is big fan of Thai Cuisine. My three and half year old son, who calls himself Dr. George every time someone asks his name, joined us as well. During lunch we both talked about Social Media experience. My guest has informed me that he has met many interesting people via Twitter, who he would not get a chance to meet otherwise. This story is a primary example, not so much for Lewis, but for me. It was a pleasure to make a new friend.

Next morning I have asked Lewis via Twitter How he was doing. Here is a small script of our conversation.

Cycling – Lower Back and Neck Pain

October 6, 2010 by drburt

Your body contacts the bicycle in three areas; your hands, your seat, and your feet. The relative positions of feet, seat and hands determine your comfort and efficiency on the bike. There are several variables that determine these positions; crank length, distance from crank center or bottom bracket to saddle, saddle angle, seat tube angle and saddle offset, distance from saddle to handlebar, relative height of saddle and handlebar width, and handlebar drop on road style handlebars. When these measurements are not taken seriously into consideration, pain and fatigue is inevitable during the ride.

Lumbar and Cervical spine pain is experienced very frequently by cyclists, and it can have numerous different causes. The most common cause of any type of biking ache is owing to an improper bike fit. After having your bike professionally fit which can be completed at professional bike shops and some chiropractic offices, use the following guidelines to create any essential adjustments:

1.Moving your saddle backwards could aid to reduce lumbar spine and knee pain but might increase neck and shoulder tension.

2.Handlebar height reduction could improve lower back and hamstring muscle stress nevertheless may trigger increased neck and shoulder stress, and hand numbness.

3.When the saddle is set too high, cyclist becomes unstable and the hips might rock slightly from side to side, placing a strain on the muscles that stabilize rider’s lower back. A leg length difference could produce a comparable kind of dilemma, which can be detected during a chiropractic exam.

Another cause of lower back pain is the tension placed on your spinal discs, joints, and muscles because of the continuous forward Position of cyclist. To neutralize these postural stressors, appropriate stretching prior, throughout, and following riding is very important. Standing up during prolonged riding, as well as alternately bending forward and arching backwards, will help to relieve lower back stress. Tilting your head from side to side will aid to stretch out your neck muscles while riding, but keep your eyes on the road at all times!

The 3rd major cause of neck and lower back pain in cycling is due to the “Multiple Micro Whiplash” syndrome trigerred by the ROAD SHOCK of the constant jarring forces experienced during riding. The following recommendations will assist to reduce these potentially injurious forces:

•Increase your cycling work out slowly to appropriately condition your body.

•Use a wider tire with less of inflation to decrease road shock.

•Change your hand positions regularly and unlock your elbows.

•Use padded gloves and a light helmet.