WITH A WILL OF IRON AND INTENSE STUDY CHIROPRACTOR OVERCOMES OSTEOPOROSIS

This August, the eyes of the world turned to Beijing, China, where we were treated to marvelous performances by the crème de la crème of the athletically trained world. We marveled at their skill, were reminded frequently of their sacrifices and were totally impressed with their high level of conditioning.

Yet it is just this fashion of training regimen that lead to some severe health difficulties for one past Olympic-quality athlete. His name is Keith McCormick and he is a chiropractor, a member of the 1976 Olympic team and most recently a competitor in the 2005 Iron Man competition in Hawaii. In retrospect, it is his continued ability to be able to compete in Iron Man events that is most remarkable.

The reason is that 53-year-old Dr. McCormick suffers from osteoporosis. A number of years ago this world-class athlete became aware of his condition. “I was an Iron Man competitor, Olympic athlete, a young male with no risk factors – not your typical osteoporosis patient. I was 45 and had the skeleton of a 100-year-old woman.”

A typical road to follow for anyone with this type of a diagnosis would be to take a drug for the problem.
However, this avenue did not sit well with a man trained as a chiropractor with a much higher wellness approach to healing. “Anything I do, I go all out,” he said. “I’m not going to rely on someone else. They just wanted to give me medicine. I wanted to find out why this happened and fix it the right way.” Basically, he followed the age-old advice of “physician health thyself” and decided to do something positive about his condition.

What Dr. McCormick found through his extensive research that went on for some 2 years is that he was overtraining. For a 1982 Iron Man competition he averaged 35 hours per week of working out, which included 450 miles per week on his bicycle. It turned out that this was just too much work for his skeletal system to handle.

The result of his study was a new training schedule and just as importantly, a new diet. Armed with his new knowledge, he ate better and cut down on his workout time. “I rested more, and I had an impeccable diet – no sweets, lots of fruits and vegetables and nothing too high in protein which can lead to calcium loss. My whole way of attacking dietary nutrition was an aspect I paid more attention to. I realized it's important that if I train I need to fill my cup afterward.”

This portrait of Dr. McCormick’s success in looking at his health situation and doing something about it is a scenario that all can benefit from – world class athlete or not. Whether you want to find out more for yourself or simply consult a chiropractor to put you onto a healthy lifestyle, the choice is yours.

Source: Chiropractic Research. “Iron Man Chiropractor Beats Osteoporosis.” January 2006. http://www.chiropracticresearch.org

Speak up and educate others,

Dr. Craig

P.S. September 30th is the deadline for Family Wellness and Prevention Month. All family members and significant others receive a complimentary wellness evaluation and screening, at no charge. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to go the extra mile when it comes to the health of your loved ones!