PRESENTATION ABSTRACT: Walk and Run For Life! Through Lever Mechanisms Or Spring Mechanisms? To Be Presented At The 6th Annual A5M Conference, Melbourne, Australia, August 18-19, 2012
Presentation Abstract
Title: Walk and Run For Life! Through Lever Mechanisms Or Spring Mechanisms?
To be presented at The 6th Annual A5M Conference In Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine
Melbourne, Australia, A5M, Website click here
August 18-19, 2012
By Dr. James Stoxen DC President, Team Doctors, Treatment and Training Center
Dr. James Stoxen DC at The Academy of Anti-aging Medicine conference
Abstract
Running, as decades of studies have shown, is one of the best ways for your patients to put distance between themselves and the aging process. The medical quandary, though, has been determining for mature patients when the physical demands of running – the wear and tear on bone and joints — outweigh the enormous anti-aging benefits. Many physicians err on the side of caution, supportive footwear, orthotics and even prematurely advising patients to stop running.
The Benefits:
Firstly, let’s quickly review the enormity of the evidence helping to define regular running as a key anti-aging tool.
In short, it reduces the risks of fatal diseases in elderly people by 50 percent and increases quality of life by 16 years, according to research at Stanford University Medical Center. A a 1984 study at the Stanford University School of Medicine, led by James Fries, MD and his team of research colleagues enlisted 538 runners, all at the age of 50 and above, and a similar group of non-runners. The study found running reduces the risk not only of heart disease, but also delays cancer and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Reference; Standford School of Medicine, August 11, 2008
Running strengthens bones to prevent osteoporosis in women and strengthens muscles to prevent muscle and bone loss, a common issue for aging men and women. Running has been proven to burn calories – strengthen the heart and to lower blood pressure – increases mental sharpness and makes you more alert. It makes you feel happier and the release of endorphins provides a feeling of euphoria. It can also decrease memory loss in elderly people.
Unfortunately, these astonishing benefits are enjoyed by only a relatively handful of patients with so many more that could be receiving them. Why? Because many adult patients cannot run because of arthritic conditions that are contraindicated for running.
Why can’t as many adults run as they did in their youth? Why can children run barefoot and many adults can’t? Is the inability to run barefoot the first sign of aging?
In this presentation I will discuss the barefoot to bedridden approach which involves doctor’s prescribing more supports causing reverse adaptation. The approach I am presenting, bedridden to barefoot or the Human Spring approach promotes healthy adaptation with the goal of restoring the body’s ability to support itself.
Dr. James Stoxen DC will review and interpret the results and conclusions from the most current research on barefoot vs shod running including The Harvard Barefoot vs Shod study published in Nature Magazine in 2010 (Lieberman et al., 2010 which started the debate.
Are running shoes healthy for us? Are any binding or motion-altering device healthy for us while exercising and specifically running?
We can initiate a change in this situation immediately by reevaluating the current standard of care.
Consider this:
Progressive regenerative medicine and anti-aging medicine is defined as the earliest detection, intervention and prevention of age-related diseases. The current standard of care only requires doctors to do evaluations of the musculoskeletal systems when patients present with signs and symptoms of anti-aging related diseases. Anti-aging medicine exceeds this standard by practicing a form of medicine aimed at improving patients’ performance to the Olympic level for their age group before the pain even starts.
Now, let’s breakdown what is addressed when assessing running as a medical tool, from an anti-aging perspective.
Allow me to discuss a new, innovative way to approach the dynamics of human motion. The current medical model used for for evaluating, treating and maintaining the human body is the lever model. I plan on providing a mountain of evidence from scientific studies that the human spring model provides a more accurate model for the understanding of how the human body moves, recycles energy and protects itself from an estimated 250,000,000 impacts with the earth in a lifetime.
I will also provide evidence that this model offers doctors, trainers and patient athletes a more thorough and precise examination treatment as well as training options that will allow the the runner the best chance to run for life. I will also provide rationale that footwear is a brace that may interfere with the proper functioning of the human spring mechanism.
If footwear binds or alters the natural spring movement pattern of the human foot this could cause weakness in the ability of the body to spring back from impacts. By the age of 30, the average human has stepped over 100,000,000 steps with a brace on their feet. My clinical findings suggest that in those years the incidence of reduced joint play or locking of key joints in the foot and kinematic chain that do not allow the mass to be absorbed safely into the human foot results in higher impacts to the body.
In my presentation I will outline the differences in the human lever model and the human spring model and how this new model offers more advanced and thorough examination, treatment, rehab and training approach to release the human spring mechanism so it can function as it did in our youth absorbing the impact forces in running.
Take A Leap Forward With This New Approach To Training For Running Barefoot Or Shod That I Am About To Expose You To:
Performance running demands the combination of two types of strength defined as ‘absolute’ and ‘spring’ strength. A loss of either, makes running more risky, more stressful and damaging to the joints rather than more healthy. In short, without both training regimes, running becomes another tool to accelerate aging by way of a breakdown of the spring mechanism leading to abnormal movement patterns, the stress and strain, wear and tear, inflammation and every disease linked with inflammation aside from the pain.
Absolute strength has been addressed in studies and in clinical practice. We educate and coach our patients in the practice of resistance exercises to increase absolute strength of the weight bearing joints, thus improving general running ability. The development of spring strength is of paramount concern for athletes and their coaches to improve performance in running as it impacts speed, quickness, balance, agility and coordination, and is essential for safe directional changes, stopping and starting.
Spring strength training is called plyometrics and it’s required for safe and effective running bio mechanics.
However few physicians understand the concepts of spring strength and plyometric training. In fact physicians commonly advise against this form of exercise as they feel it creates too much shock to the skeleton. Some fear it may even contribute to premature aging through the wear and tear theory. But running and spring training performed with a properly prepared spring mechanism and sound bio-mechanics do not damage joints. (Note: research shows that people who run regularly and those who don’t run at all have the same risks of developing osteoarthritis).
Spring strength improves the efficiency of walking and running. Having a finely-tuned spring mechanism acts as a shock absorber to better protect the skeleton from stress and strain and potential wear and tear, inflammation and pain. A healthy spring mechanism can recycle more natural energy back into the walking and running effort.
In assessing patients, it is essential for physicians to employ specific testing to determine the exact level of absolute AND spring strength. This is pivotal in evaluating when it is safe for a patient to go from walking to jogging, running to sprinting and even jump training. After all, as speeds increase from walking to running, forces increase from one times body weight to five times body weight. Stepping up to advanced plyometric jump training increases the force to ten times body weight.
In this presentation I will clearly define absolute and spring strength, outline the differences between them and review what causes decreases in strength. Crucially, I’ll demonstrate new and innovative orthopedic testing methods I have developed for physicians to more accurately determine patients’ levels of absolute and spring strength through the incremental increased forces of standing (1x body weight), walking (1 – 2x body weight), running (3 – 5x body weight), sprinting (4 – 5x body weight), and jumping (estimated up to 10x body weight).
From that base, I’ll present new and innovative treatment, rehabilitation and training approaches to prepare your patients for running. Via video demonstrations, you’ll learn how to release the spring mechanism back into the gait courtesy of a new approach developed at Team Doctors and you will witness new exercise methods, which are performed barefoot to increase absolute strength and spring strength safely. We will also discuss lightening the load on the spring mechanism through proper diet and counseling.
Some people live to run. We all should be running – to live, for life.
