By Dr. Mark Lucas, D.C. "theMotoDoc"
Dr. Lucas is a chiropractor and motocrosser who practices out of San Jose and specializes in Sports Therapy and Performance Nutrition.
For info:
TheMotodoc.com
Welcome to the inaugural health & training column. I would like to thank Joey for inviting me to provide health and training input for the nor-cal motocross community. Motocross and off-road riding in general are demanding sports. Physical conditioning is important not only for being competitive, but for protecting ourselves from injury and insuring that we live a long and healthy life while enjoying the motorcycling lifestyle. With that said my goal is to help racers achieve their best in health and performance. In the big picture of things I want to see more nor-cal riders making a dent on the national circuit. Whether it is in motocross or off-road, we as a community need to show the rest of the country that we have what it takes to compete with the best.
My credentials for providing health information to you are as such: I am a chiropractor, clinical nutritionist and strength & conditioning coach. I am also an active motorcyclist and in the early 80's I was a top District 36 racer. Because I love the sport I have incorporated motorcycling into my business. Over the past several years I have trained, managed the injuries or consulted with several top level pro motocross and off-road racers. Riders like motocrossers Jeff Northrop, Nick Wey, Eric Nye, Eric McCrummen, Ryan Mills, Augie Rodriguez, Chris Laredo, Dennis Stapleton even former 500cc Natl. champ Chuck Sun. GNCC, ISDE and National Hare Scrambles racers Nathan Kanney, Patrick and Brian Garrahan, Rodney Smith, Cole Calkins and women's champ Heather Wilson. Top 5 National Enduro racer Billy Russell, Mexican national champ Homero Diaz, former District 36 Champs Steve Silvestri, Brian Sperle and dozens of other local
racers, including top mx novice racers Matt Williams, Cameron Camera and Yobi Jacobsen.
I have shared this list of racers with you not to impress you, but to impress upon you that people who are committed to racing at their best seek out help to assist them in keeping the highest level of health and conditioning. Health and conditioning go hand in hand, but being in good condition does not necessarily mean that you are in good health. In addition, being in good health does not mean that you are in good condition!
From a doctor's perspective, the number one reason any of you should care about conditioning is from a risk management perspective. The better shape you are in the better chance you have of avoiding or overcoming a major injury. Avoiding or overcoming major injuries gives you the best chance of sustaining a career or leading a normal life when you get older. In addition, taking proper care of injuries is important. Our bodies have the remarkable ability to heal and repair and if we do the correct things
we should be able to make a full recovery from just about any injury. There are some injuries that we can never make a full recovery from, typically things that involve the nervous system, but for the most part if we work hard enough we should be able to restore strength, function and flexibility to the same level as before the injury.
Here is a quick example of the psychological part of injury management that I deal with every day. Let's say your racing and you fall and injure your shoulder. You would get up, ice it, take some ibuprofen and deal with it. Beyond that you might not do much more, it all depends on how much it hurts and nags you. If it hurt bad enough you would go to a doctor, they would take x-rays to make sure nothing was broken or dislocated.
Depending on the extent of the injury they would give you pain meds and anti-inflammatories, splint or cast it and/or maybe send you to physical therapy. After the prescribed therapy if there was still pain most people would do nothing further, because mentally when you race motorcycles it's a given that you are going to get hurt, so most people just deal with it (next time you are out at the track take notice to how many people
walk around with a limp). If never given the chance to properly heal, the injury will slowly regress in a multitude of ways. 10 years from now you will have an arthritic shoulder or may need to have some kind of surgery to clean up scar tissue and/or repair the secondary damage (micro trauma, faciitis) that slowly accumulates over time.
As an analogy let's compare that injured shoulder to a bent handle bar. If your handle bar was bent you would replace it because you can't ride very well with a bent bar and you would only settle for having your handle bar be perfect. But, since it's your shoulder and because injuries are expected you will settle for it being just ok. Most people won't spend the extra time or money to get it right, because a) most people (including doctor's
& therapists) don't know how or care to actually get it back to 100%, b) most people are not thinking about 10 years from now.
Now let's change the parameters a little. Let's say that same injury happened while you were on the job. Would you settle for it just being ok? ......Probably not. Why should you, because that injury is your employer's responsibility and you will want your shoulder to be as good as new. You won't settle for anything less. I know this because I deal with this scenario everyday. When in the work comp system people demand to be as good as they were before. Why not, it's somebody else's fault and they are paying.
So here's the question of the week. Why is there a difference between where and how an injury happens? Is it the financial aspect? Personally I think it is. We have no problem spending $100 on a graphic kit, $200 on a steering stabilizer, or $500 on a set of talon hubs and anodized rims. But when it comes to our health, our most important asset, we leave it up to what ever our insurance will pay for. People usually won't pay for anything
extra out of their pocket, and if we don't have insurance, well...fah-get aboud it!!!!
Most of you readers out there are probably too young to even know who this guy is, but back in the 70's there was a European by the name of Lars Larsson. When he came with the other Euros to America to race he became famous for making great quotes. One quote that has always stuck in my mind is this one, "It's not the bike, it's the pilot". He made this quote in reference to a question about why the Europeans at the time ( Gerrit
Wolsink, Roger Decoster, Hiekki Mikkola, etc.) were so much better than the Americans. The question was pointed towards their factory based equipment being better than the Americans. He said that the equipment really didn't matter, because the rider was a bigger limiting factor than the machine. A couple of years later, Bob Hannah backed that comment up, before the production rule came into effect, when he rode a box stock
Yamaha to the top of the podium at a national race.
Now don't get me wrong here, I am not saying that good suspension and a good motor are not important. What I am saying is that spending time and money to improve your self is just as important. And not just from a performance aspect, but from the longevity aspect as well.
So over the next few months I will be providing some foundational information on training, nutrition, injury management, mental and strategic aspects that pertain to human performance as it relates to the sport of motorcycle racing. My objective is to give you some tools that will help you make better decisions about your health and conditioning on and off the track. Motorcycling is a dangerous sport, but personally, I can't think of anything that is as much fun and as exciting. Well there is one other thing, but let's not go there right now!
See ya out at the track!!
Themotodoc
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