The Fitness Adviser

I’ve always been a fan of cross training for a few reasons. For one, I like the idea of being able to do multiple things and not just one and two, it always seemed more natural to do various activities instead of just doing one. It turns out that my like of cross training is well grounded, with this study on cyclists now coming out.

[Cycling is a great activity...but should be done in conjunction with other things as well.]

Basically, what the study says is that bone density in competitive cyclists is lower than a normal person. That means that the bones of these professional athletes that 100% concentrate on cycling are weaker than a normal person’s!

That means that while these guys might be amazing at racing the Tour de France, if you put a 50 pound pack on a cyclist and asked him to hike a mountain, he would, in my opinion, be at serious risk for a bone fracture. This of course, brings us to the point of this article:

Like many people, I was never really into swimming growing up besides for leisure. Sure, I knew how to swim and took a few courses here and there in different summer camps. But in general, I never had a serious interest in it and by the time I hit high school age I almost completely stopped swimming (which is sort of funny considering I made time to sail).

[One of my dreams is to take a boat out to the ocean and just watch the most graceful and beautiful creatures to be found on the planet. I also think that anyone who ever wants to take a voyage out to the ocean is safer and better off if they're a solid swimmer as well.]

For those of you who don’t already know, I was injured in the army and diagnosed with a bad case of Jumpers Knee. After that, I was possibly one of the first people in the entire Middle East to be treated with Prolotherapy for bilateral Jumpers Knee. I’ve also recently gotten Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy or PRP, and I’ve come a long way from being in constant chronic pain and while I’m not 100% yet, I’m on the road to recovery.

[Life is too short to be bogged down by chronic pain. That's why I'm so passionate about letting people know about Prolotherapy and Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy treatments that can potentially help them live pain free again.]

In the past few days, I’ve come across a fair amount of people who in my opinion could really be helped with Prolotherapy or PRP but aren’t aware of it. Because of that, I’m writing this post as a short, convenient guide from someone who has gotten both these treatments on when you should look into getting prolo or PRP and which treatment you should get. Feel free to pass it around. Here it goes:

As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with a bad case of Jumper’s Knee for a long time now which is finally starting to heal well, after multiple treatments of prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy. One of the things that has been extremely frustrating with the injury is that not only have I been unable to run without pain, for awhile I couldn’t even walk without pain!

[This video really amazes me by showing just how much we're capable of doing without wearing shoes.]

The walking pain was becoming really frustrating, when one time while walking around barefoot, I noticed that I wasn’t in pain. I then went outside barefoot to go for a walk, and in the first time in a long time…I walked for over a mile barefoot without pain! I had already done some research on the importance of barefoot walking before this, but I couldn’t believe how true it was. I was so impressed that I have since added barefoot walking to my daily routine of physical therapy.

Get the mp3 audio version here – Dr. Hauser Interview Part 3

Note: You can also check out Part I and Part II.

Rafi: This is Rafi from thefitnessadviser.com. I just wanted to say before we rap up this last part of the interview with Dr. Hauser, that one of the reasons I asked Dr. Hauser to do this interview about prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy is that I’ve gotten both of these treatments for a really bad case of Jumpers Knee and they’ve helped me when nothing else would. You can checkout My Story to see more about that.

The point is that these treatments aren’t yet fully accepted as mainstream, even though thousands of people are seeking out platelet rich plasma therapy and prolotherapy and getting them, and healing. I really respect what Dr. Hauser is doing, in allowing himself to be out there, on the internet, getting interviewed and trying to spread the word about these amazing treatments that can potentially cure a lot of chronic pain problems and injuries. I’m also happy to be able to be a part of getting the word out about these amazing medical treatments to the general public and to the fitness community.

Tennis star Rafael Nadal and I have more in common than just having an awesome sounding name. We both were afflicted with possibly the most annoying sports injury known to man, Jumpers Knee. Now, you may be wondering why I say Rafael Nadal has Jumpers Knee when the media claims that he has “patellar tendinitis.”

[Notice how he wears tape on both knees to help ease the pressure. I used to do something similar while in the army but quickly realized that it wasn't a good long term solution in healing the injury. Besides, unlike Nadal I have hair on my legs and having to pull off my leg hair every time I took the thing off was not pleasant!]

First, let me give you the excerpt from the A.P. where they quote Nadal as well as a physician who says he has tendinitis:

Get the mp3 audio version here – Dr. Hauser Interview Part I

Note: You can also check out Part II and Part III.

Dr. Ross Hauser is one of the medical world’s pioneers when it comes to revolutionary treatment for curing chronic pain and soft tissue injuries. He is most well known for his expertise in prolotherapy, having been trained by Dr. Gustav Hemwall, the grandfather of prolotherapy. He is the medical director and co-founder of the Natural Medicine Clinic, Caring Medical and Rehabilitation Services in Oak Park, Illinois, which can also be found at http://www.caringmedical.com.

[Dr. Hauser is a fitness enthusiast. Here he is competing in an Ironman.]

He has also written multiple books, including the national best seller “Prolo Your Pain Away! Curing Chronic Pain with Prolotherapy” and more recently “Prolotherapy: An Alternative to Knee Surgery”, I managed to land an interview with Dr. Hauser, and ask him about soft tissue injuries, prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy or prp. It’s an in-depth three part interview, and this is part one. Here’s what Dr. Hauser had to say:

For better or for worse, the world is becoming computerized. That means that more and more people now have full time jobs that require typing on a keyboard. It also means that more than ever, people are complaining about chronic wrist pain. The good news is that most of the time, wrist pain is completely curable.

[The lure of success in your profession may tempt you to ignore your wrist pain. Remember that true success is doing great with your career while keeping your body strong and pain free to enjoy life. That's what this blog is all about.]

The bad news is that your doctor might not properly understand wrist pain and how to cure it, and will then target the symptoms of your pain rather than the underlying problem. Fortunately, by virtue of reading this article, you’ll be one step closer to understanding wrist pain and getting your pain cured.

The Causes of Wrist Pain

When I was injured with a severe case of Jumpers Knee in both legs, I told the orthopedist that my injury was not healing or improving at all. His answer was that it just needed more time. Later on, when talking to a friend of mine about my problem, he suggested that I get a blood test to make sure I’m not missing something in my blood.

I took the blood test and low and behold, I was low on iron! Should it have been obvious to the doctor to check my blood, like it was to my friend? Yes. Did he do it? No, and in not doing the blood test he missed a valuable piece of information as to why I wasn’t healing properly. To prevent the same thing from happening to you, here’s list of 3 things that can stunt your injury recovery that your doctor might miss.

Your Body Lacks Important Vitamins and Nutrients Vital To Healing

If you read How To Get Through a Bad Injury Part I, you know about the need to be motivated and mentally determined to get through a bad injury. So now you’re motivated, you’re doing the physical therapy you need to be doing, maybe you tried some prolotherapy and you’re slowly but surely getting better. But what about the interim? Your injury is healing, but it will take months, and in the meantime your body is falling a part and overall you feel weaker than ever. Luckily, you have come to the right place. Here are 3 easy ways to stay strong while your injury heals.

[I've never been into snowboarding, but I love hiking and sailing and my desire to do them again helps motivate me to keep doing physical therapy and stay in shape. What motivates you?]

Use the Bicycle

Let me start off by saying that I wish that squatting had been a part of my integral workout routine before I joined the military. Why? Because I sincerely believe that squatting is the single most important exercise in preventing knee injuries, and that I would never have been injured in training had I been doing squats beforehand.

That’s right.

Squats are the single most important exercise in preventing knee injuries.

The fitness community has improved a great deal when it comes to understanding how great the squat exercise really is. We’ve come a long way since the days that the U.S. Army thought that squats were bad for the knees and banned it from training in certain units. In fact, today, the National Strength and Conditioning Association states “Squats, when performed correctly and with appropriate supervision, are not only safe, but may be a significant deterrent to knee injuries.”  (http://www.exrx.net/ExInfo/Squats.html)