Hello everyone,
I am excited to announce I will be a guest lecturer at this month’s “Excel Sports Showroom Clinic Series”. This lecture will cover techniques, tips and tools for off-season active recovery and year-round health and fitness. I will be introducing my practice and explaining how I use acupuncture to treat cyclists and athletes for pain management, sports performance, and stress and anxiety.
If you can not make the lecture, it will be recorded and posted to my blog at www.bouldersportsacupuncture.com under the file named “video”.
Thank you,
Steven “Rizzo” Rizzolo
Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested.
Date: Wednesday, November 11th , 2009
Time: 6:30-8:30
Location: Excel Sports
2045 32nd St
Boulder, CO 80301-2501
(303) 444-6737
Please RSVP to james@excelsports.com if you would like to attend.
Seats Fill Fast!
The following is the monthly showroom news letter from Excel Sports Boulder:
Excel Sports Showroom Clinic Series
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
6:30-8:30 pm
Techniques, Tips and Tools for Off-Season Active Recovery
& Year-Round Health and Fitness
Please join us for a clinic focused on helping you be a well rounded, healthy, and pro-active athlete. Living in the Boulder area means we have tremendous exposure to many athletic and healthy lifestyle care and training options. Most coaching services provide great training programs designed to build your strength and cycling fitness, but few cover a more holistic approach to flexibility, integrative strength, active muscle recovery, massage and alternative healing options.
Many such services are readily available, but while some practitioners are readily familiar with the needs of athletes, some are not. Here at Excel we routinely field questions about off-season training, massage, and much more, but we only have our experiences to work with. While we can coherently discuss an integrative approach to life and training, these aren't our specialties.
JP and Marin will lead off the clinic with some general approaches to flexibility, core strength and active recovery. JP has raced on the road and has significant experience off road as well. Marin is more of a mountain bike specialist, but also has a background in athletics, particularly swimming. Their combined experiences and personal interests may mirror yours, and they will share the techniques and tools they have utilized and had success with.
In an effort to provide a more holistic approach we have asked two friends to join us. Stephen Salazar, is our Service Manager and one of the best wheel builders in the country, but to many people he is also known for his work in Massage Therapy. Stephen has a particularly strong background with massage for cyclists, and is an active cyclist himself. As a soigneur for the USCF and Team EDS during the 1990's, Stephen actively applied his skills to high-level amateur and professional cyclists. He will share his thoughts on Pre and Post ride/race massage techniques that you can perform yourself, and introduce you to the TriggerPoint System, a home use tool you can utilize to address flexibility, recovery, myofascial release in the care and prevention of several cycling/triathlon related issues like: IT band problems, cramping, lactic acid breakdown, etc.
Steven Rizzolo of Boulder Sports Acupuncture will introduce his practice to you and explain how he uses acupuncture to treat cyclists and athletes for pain management, sport performance, stress and anxiety, as well as related injuries. As a cyclist and athlete himself, Steven undertook and developed his training with treating athletes as his personal focus. We feel the information and perspective he will bring to this clinic will be of tremendous value, regardless of whether or not you choose such an option yourself, as he will ask you to open your mind to understanding the holistic nature of the human body and how it can be treated to improve your athletic experience while valuing your overall health and well-being.
To be sure, we will cover a substantial amount of information, and this clinic should be considered an introduction, not comprehensive coverage. We want to expose you to new or under-appreciated aspects and methods of a "training program". Each segment will offer opportunity for questions/answers. We truly hope you decide to join us for this event.
Please RSVP to: james@excelsports.com We request this so we can prepare the space and materials we will need for all attendees. We will use our weekly Showroom Specials email for reminders and updates. Thank you from the Excel Showroom Staff: JP, James, Marin
Learn Techniques, Tips and Tools for Off-Season Recovery
Don't get the Swine Flu!
Artist Luke Jerram's sculptural representation of the ovoid H1N1 Swine Flu virus
We are all concerned about the possibility of a H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. In America it is not well known that Chinese medicine actually has a very good track record with treating a wide variety of respiratory viruses. When SARS hit a few years back, it was strict precautionary measures and Chinese herbal medicine that got Asia through the crisis.
According to the CDC the week of October 4-10, 2009, influenza activity continued to increase in the United States. Flu activity is now widespread in 41 states. Nationwide, visits to doctors for influenza-like-illness continued to increase and are now about equal to or higher than what is seen at the peak of many regular flu seasons. In addition, flu-related hospitalizations and deaths are continuing to go up and are above what is expected for this time of year.
This article is ment to educate you on the facts about H1N1 and how Chinese medcine can help proetct you during flu season as well as treatment for initial expouser and fully egnaged phases of the flu.
What Are the Symptoms to Watch for?
The Centers for Disease Control has stated that the symptoms for swine flu are to be considered "similar to regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea."
What Is the Pathogenesis of Swine Flu?
Unlike the common cold, which attaches to the adenoids, the influenza virus attaches to the lung tissue itself. The lungs become inflamed and the body reacts with "flu-like symptoms." Incubation for most influenza viruses are from 1-4 days. It is not yet known for certain whether H1N1 follows the same incubation pattern.
Two reasons that make the H1N1 virus so dangerous
1) The virus directly attaches the respiratory system. As a result of lung tissue damage, the patient is much more vulnerable to bacterial growth that can lead to phenomena.
2) Young people with otherwise strong immune systems are not exempt from the virus.
What Can Chinese Medcine Do For YOU?
The answer is: Chinese Medicine can do a lot! It is best to break down treatment options into three phases. The phases are: Prevention Phase, Initial Exposure Phase, Fully Engaged Phase.
1) PREVENTION PHASE
Prior to exposure, it is recommended to support the immune system in order to prevent the virus of a future exposure from forming full attachment. In Chinese medicine a strong immune system is characterized by a firm and well-regulated exterior. This means the wei qi (defensive qi) is strengthened with herbal medicine. The wei qi is another name for immune system. The Prevention Phase formulas are only effective prior to the onset of symptoms. So do not wait to start taking herbs that defend against a viral attack!
2) INITIAL EXPOSURE PHASE
If exposure is certain or probable (one example is traveling by airplane), there is a little time to try to kill the virus before it has a chance to reach full strength replication. The incubation period of most influenza is from 1-4 days before symptoms begin. What this knowledge affords us is at least one day, possibly more, to try and kill the virus after a known or suspected exposure. Initial Exposure Phase formulas can be used effectively if symptoms are limited to a tickle in the throat, mild lethargy, slight loss of appetite, or body aches.
If symptoms do not abate within the first 24 hours of use, it is recommended to switch to a Fully Engaged Phase formula or to combine Initial Exposure Phase formulas with Fully Engaged Phase formulas. After the Initial Exposure Phase, the value of Initial Exposure Phase formulas is limited when used alone. The reason for this limitation is that the antiviral action by itself only serves to inhibit the replication of the virus once it is fully engaged with the lung organ. They do not dislodge the virus from the lung tissue, nor do they regulate the body's immune response to the pathogen. It is now time to change to Fully Engaged Phase formula.
3) FULLY ENGAGED PHASE
As stated above, what distinguishes the Fully Engaged Phase physiologically is the attachment of the virus to the lung tissue. Viral replication has reached peak production, and the body's immune response is now occupying or even consuming all available qi. The most common or characteristic symptoms are racing pulse, headache, significant loss of appetite, high fever, pronounced fatigue/weakness, chest discomfort with or without cough, and sometimes body aches. Other, less frequent symptoms can include sore throat, sinus symptoms, diarrhea, or vomiting. At this phase, the strongest formulas that relax the attachment between the lung tissue and the virus are used. Frequently the antiviral formulas in the Prevention Phase are used in conjunction.
What is most important to remember is not to wait till the Fully Engaged Phase before seeking treatment. All of these formulas can be purchased at Boulder Sports Acupuncture. I will teach you when and how to take them. Don’t let the flu season interrupt your life. Let’s get to work now to prevent the flu later.
Steven M. Rizzolo MSOM, Dipl. OM, L.Ac.
Please comment and ask questions.
The 1st Post on Boulder Sports Acupuncture's Blog
Thank you for visiting the website and blog of Boulder Sports Acupuncture. I look forward to educational discussions and sharing of opinions and ideas. Please email topic ideas for the Friday Symposium. Always feel free to comment on any of the posts you want. All comments will be reviewed by me before they are posted.
Steven “Rizzo” Rizzolo
