Winning Ways

Triathlon is a numbers game. You’ve spent the big bucks on a bike, got your swim stroke count below 40 and logged the fast run kilometres. But, your training buddies have the same tactics and are right on your wheel. How can you get that extra one per cent to have the edge on race day? We go in search of the edge and find some experts to share their tactics.

Corrective Chiropractor – Dr Anthony Golle

After four attempts to qualify, in 2009 I finished the Kona Ironman World Champs. Ten years earlier, I lay in hospital not knowing if I was going to live or die. 

I had meningococcal meningitis – a condition that saw two people die that week. Between having a massive needle inserted in my lower back vertebrae and spending a week flat on my back, my back was cactus. I decided to visit a chiropractor.

It was a crucial turning point in my life. On X-ray, my spine looked like a 40-year-old’s – I was only 21. My usual neck curve had reversed and my pelvis was out of balance by 11 millimetres, placing choking pressure on my spinal cord and nerves. 

The chiropractor explained any misalignment to the spine places dangerous pressure on the central nervous system and reduces the body’s inborn healing ability. 

It explained the headaches, mood swings, fatigue and poor concentration I had been suffering for six years. Corrective Chiropractic had an incredible impact on my life. As the curve in my neck was restored through specific chiropractic adjustments and mirror image exercises, it felt like the power was being turned back on in my body. My clarity of mind, focus, energy and aliveness was unprecedented. 

My experience with chiropractic is certainly not unique. The greatest sports people on the planet have a chiropractor on their team. Lance Armstrong writes in his book, It’s not about the bike: “The team wasn’t just riders. It was mechanics, masseurs, chefs, soigneurs and doctors. But the most important man on the team may have been the chiropractor.”  After the 2000 Tour de France he writes he could not have won without his chiropractor’s help.

Research today is now proving what thousands of happy chiropractic athletes have been enjoying for decades. In a study of 50 athletes, chiropractic athletes improved 16.7 per cent, including a more than 30 per cent improvement in reaction time, after 12 weeks. The study concluded, “the [chiropractic] athlete reacts faster, coordinates better, executes fine movements with improved accuracy, and precision, amounting to an overall better athlete.”1

After eight years study and three university degrees, I finally qualified as a corrective chiropractor. I helped thousands of people reach their optimum health and I wanted to see what was possible for myself. What could I achieve with this new lease on life? Then I discovered Ironman triathlon. Throughout my preparation I had zero injuries, which is largely a result of having great chiropractic care and a well-aligned spine setting the foundation of health for the whole body.

In a sport like triathlon where efficient coordination of movement is paramount, a chiropractic checkup is vital to see if you are getting the most out of your efforts in both training and racing. Specific, gentle, safe chiropractic adjustments to the spine can unleash vital nerve energy to your muscles, glands and organs, helping your body to naturally function at its optimum. I recommend a chiropractor who uses X-rays to accurately assess pelvic alignment and leg-length difference, which are both extremely important when it comes to riding and running at your peak potential and avoiding unnecessary injury.

Contact Dr Anthony Golle at Suite 3-166 Gooding Dr, Carrara QLD, www.bodybrilliantchiropractic.com, (07) 5522 7422

 1Lauro BM. Chiropractic effects on athletic ability. Chiropractic: The Journal of Chiropractic Research and Clinical Investigations.1991;6(4):84-87.