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Champions of Natural Fitness: Dr. Franco Columbu and Arnold Schwarzenegger

By Jason Deitch and Daniel Gardiner

(Note: The following is an excerpt from the original article which appeared in the November/December 1994 issue

"Beginning at a young age, I have always viewed the pursuit of fitness as basic to the search for individual excellence," says Arnold Schwarzenegger. "My goal is to make fitness fun for adults and kids alike and lead them toward a lifetime of good health."

Dr. Franco Columbu, a former Mr. Olympia and world record-setting powerlifting champion, is a chiropractor who now provides care for Schwarzenegger, a longtime friend and former training partner, helping him recover from shoulder, knee or elbow problems that can occur during heavy training.
"I know how good (Franco) is with his hands and how smart he is about chiropractic in analysing injuries because he was weight training for so long himself," Schwarzenegger says. "I think that each year more and more people are realizing the value of chiropractic and how important it is."

James Earl Jones: The Master Thespian

By Anthony V. Labate, D.C.

(Note: The following is an excerpt from the original article which appeared in the March/April 1993 issue of Today's Chiropractic.)

As is the case with most of my patients, Jones came to my office through a referral - the good word of another patient. He told me about his first experience with chiropractic, which occurred in 1978, after he had completed a run of the play "Paul Robeson" at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
As he was packing for the trip back to the United States, he bent forward to perform a minimal task and ended up with severe, disabling back pain. A visit to a chiropractor gave him significant relief and made a very positive impression on him.
Whenever I had seem Jones on television or in movies, he had impressed me as being a large man. It's been said that the "silver screen" makes people appear bigger than in real life. I recall seeing actress Victoria Principal at a New York City airport a number of years ago, and although she was just as beautiful off-screen, she was much more petite than she appeared on television.
This is not the case with Jones, who is an imposing figure at 6'1" and 215 pounds - a commanding presence.
Also significant in his past health history is an injury that occurred in Mexico during the filming of the 1975 movie, "The Swashbuckler." during a scene on a wagon, his leg became entangled in a wagon wheel. When the driver tried to stop the wagon, Jones' left knee was compressed between the brake and the wagon wheel, causing a chronic knee problem.
Care at my office consists of full spine and extremity adjustments, along with adjunctive measures, aimed mainly at the knee. Jones was also fitted with orthotics in an effort to affect the foot pronation. in order to maintain ongoing chiropractic care, he also visits Dr. James Hopkins for adjustments when on the West coast.

Evander Holyfield: The Man Who Would Be Champion

By James Panter
(Note: The following is an excerpt from the original article which appeared in the November/December 1988 issue of Today's Chiropractic.)

In order to maintain his body to give its peak performance in the ring, Holyfield utilizes chiropractic care.
"I do believe in chiropractic. I found that going to a chiropractor three times a week helps my performance," Holyfield said at a recent Life College event. "Once I drove 20 miles to see a chiropractor before a fight. I have to have my adjustment before I go into the ring"
Holyfield first became interested in chiropractic during the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela. the U.S. Boxing Federation had provided a chiropractor to attend the American boxers during the Games, and he went for care of a hyperextended elbow. When the adjustments helped his arm, he was convinced of its effectiveness.
"I felt good about the situation," Holyfield recalls. "So it came to the point where I wanted (an adjustment) every day. At the Olympic Games, they hired a chiropractor to follow the boxers every day. Once I got into my professional career, I knew what I needed before I would go into the ring."
"Once I got into my strengthening workout, everything would tense up," he adds. "Really, I needed more work than I did (before). So I started (getting adjusted) three times a week."
The adjustments help ease the tension and anxiety that a fighter endures in the long, hard weeks of preparation for a fight.
"If you're nervous or tense, when they (adjust) you, you can handle it better," Holyfield explains. "Your muscles sometimes play tricks on you when you get into the ring, because your nerves kick up and if your muscles tighten, they draw up, and your body itself gets tired quicker."
"You want to be nervous because you want to be sharp and get off quick," he adds. "But when you're nervous on the day of the fight, you get into the ring and you'll be so tired and your legs feel weak because you're too nervous."
"The majority of the boxers go to get that edge," says Holyfield. "Once a boxer believes in something, and he's doing well, (another fighter) is going."

Orrin Hatch: Soul of a Statesman

By Pattie Stechschulte

There was such affirmation in his voice, no matter what the subject was. I could feel an overwhelming sense of leadership coming through the phone. He was on a scratchy cell phone while travelling through New Hampshire to another debate, and he sounded like a leader wanting me to believe in his ideas and in him.
I began to wonder why would a successful, intelligent man like U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch would want to run for the presidency? Then I realized, its because he still believes. He believes in so many things, but especially that one man can still make a difference.

For The Greater Good
Senator Hatch is a firm conservative Republican, but he is mostly known for working with any member of Congress, from either party, to get the job done.
I think I would like to be remembered as a person who was honest, did his job, got things done, and was able to bring people together, ponders Hatch.
Just within the last year, Hatch has worked with several Democrats, including Senator Ted Kennedy and Senator Joseph Lieberman, to pass bills in the areas of fair pricing, dietary supplementation/health education, capital gains rate reduction and childcare.
I think it is pretty impressive that I have been able to get liberals to the center to get things done, he continues. There are dozens and dozens of bills that are making a difference in peoples lives every day.

Laying The Foundation
Born in the heart of the Great Depression in 1934, Hatch was raised by his parents, Jesse and Helen Hatch, in Pittsburgh, Pa., with very modest means.
My mother and father were very hard working, very honest, very solid people. They were poor, but they had all the values that you would admire in anybody, recalls Hatch. I was very blessed to be around really good people growing up.
Even though they had very little money, his parents tried to provide the best opportunities available to their children. Hatch learned a love of music and the arts from his mother and the value of hard work from his father.
My mother had more to do with that than anybody, plus I have always been energetic and always desire to better myself. She always encouraged me. I learned my fathers trade, but my mother talked me into going to college, he remembers. Then, I just fell in love with learning.
Another influential figure in Hatchs early years was his friend Vernon Law, a standout professional baseball pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He was a Cy Young award winner in 1960, and he set such a good example and lived such a decent life, says Hatch.
Law, also a Pittsburgh native, was two years older than Hatch, and the two met while Hatch was playing on a high school basketball team.
Vernon was 18, and I was 16. We hit it off very well together. We are friends right up till the day, recalls Hatch. During those years, he was a very fine example.
Hatch left Pittsburgh to earn a bachelors degree from Brigham Young University, then he went on to receive a Juris Doctorate with honours from the University of Pittsburgh Law School.
During the same time, he married Elaine Hansen, whom he met while attending college, and after he graduated law school, they returned to Utah, where he became a practicing attorney.

An Excellent Patient
When he returned to Utah, Hatch became a successful medical liability defense lawyer.
I hurt my back way back in the 1970s, and I didnt know what to do, recalls Hatch. I did a lot of work with orthopedists and neurosurgeons, so I spent time with some of the finest medical doctors in the world. But, I couldnt get out of bed.
He called one of his neighbours, a chiropractor, to seek help.
I could roll out of bed onto my knees, but I couldnt get up, he says. Within ten minutes, he had me back on my feet. Apparently, in addition to spraining my back, I had something out of place. I have been a firm believer in chiropractic ever since.
From that time, he has also received minor injuries from a couple of automobile accidents, from which he sought care from a chiropractor.
In the earlier 1990s, Hatch met Bruce Gunderson, D.C., a 1977 graduate from National College of Chiropractic, at a health-care conference.
The person who had arranged the meeting referred him to me that day because he had complaints. I saw him that night, says Dr. Gunderson, who practices in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has symptoms and complaints that are mostly mechanical in nature. He comes here, and he is helped by it.
We began with a typical chiropractor-patient relationship. He had complaints and we would address them as we could, on a limited basis. I did not provide for him a plan, because his lifestyle wouldnt permit that, explains Gunderson. I gave him domain as far as being able to call me whenever he needs me. I see him at his convenience. I think, because of that, our chiropractor-patient professional relationship has transcended into more of a friendship now.
At this point, when he walks into the door, he is my friend. I dont draw attention to his celebrity or his position. We treat him just like he is another patient, Gunderson says.

A Political Diplomat
In 1976, Hatch realized that his state was not being properly represented by its current senator, Frank Moss. He filed on the last day of qualifying and defeated the incumbent as a virtually unknown candidate.
That was the first time I ran for anything. I didnt think any of the other four candidates, who were already in the race, could win it. I decided I could win it, says Hatch. Nobody knew me, nobody gave me a chance  they laughed at me. I just kept plugging away, and all of a sudden I started to emerge. When the dust cleared, I was the new United States senator. It was quite an experience.
Since his election, he has served with four presidents during his four terms in the U.S. Senate, mostly as a minority member, until 1994 and the Republican Revolution.
As a committee chairman in the majority you can set the agenda, and it gives you a chance to get even more done, although I got plenty done when I was in the minority, Hatch explains.
Among his senatorial duties, Hatch is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and he serves as a majority member of the Finance Committee, the Subcommittee on International Trade, the Subcommittee on Taxation, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Subcommittee on Health Care, and the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Among his many concerns, he has given special attention to chiropractic.
I have been fighting on the Finance Committee to make sure that chiropractors are treated fairly. The committee from the Senate just reported out a package of adjustments for the Balance Budget Act of 1997, explains Hatch. One issue I raised was that under the new Medicare managed care plan, enrolees are not getting access to chiropractic care.
When originally passed, the Balanced Budget Act in 1997 explicitly stated that Medicare beneficiaries, who were enrolled in the traditional Medicare program, would have access to the same benefits if they decided to enrol in the new Medicare managed care plan. Now, it is known that some of those Medicare managed care plans, the so-called Medicare Plus Choice plans, are not offering chiropractic services.
"I was successful in having the report language included in the bill, that was reported by the finance committee, explicitly stating that any Medicare beneficiary enrolled in a Medicare managed care plan must have access to chiropractic services, as they would if they were enrolled in the traditional Medicare program part B, declares Hatch. We need to ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries have access to chiropractic services, especially as performed by chiropractors of chiropractic.
Another way he has helped chiropractors was to remove the Medicare X-ray requirement.
Prior to 1997, an X-ray was required before Medicare would reimburse the chiropractor for adjustments. As a result of my amendment on the 1997 Balance Budget act, effective January 1, 2000, beneficiaries will no longer need an X-ray in order to have the chiropractor receive Medicare reimbursement for that service, reviews Hatch. In effect, removing the X-ray requirement eliminated a major barrier that many Medicare beneficiaries face when trying to gain access to chiropractic services. I felt good about that.

Road To The White House
As in his first U.S. Senate race, Hatch does not believe that the current Republican candidates running for president are qualified.
The decision about who to vote for should not depend on who has the most money, it ought to depend on who has the best ideas, proclaims Hatch. I have the most experience of any candidate running, including the two Democrats. I have a record of bringing people together in a city that divisive as any city has ever been.
I have experience in doing the things that have helped build our economy, like cutting marginal tax rate, capital gains rates, being the prime sponsor. We can bring both sides together in the best interest of getting some of these problems solved. I have worked very hard to do that my whole Senate career, concludes Hatch.

About the author: Pattie Stechschulte is the associate editor of Todays Chiropractic and the webmaster for www.todayschiropractic.com. Inquiries should be directed to her at 1269 Barclay Circle, Marietta, GA 30066; call (800) 543-3430; or E-mail pattiest@life.edu.

On The Record
As a hobby, or perhaps a release, Senator Orrin Hatch moonlights as a songwriter.
I have probably written about 100 songs that have been published - inspirational, patriotic, country/western, love ballads. There is quite a variety, describes Hatch.
He brings his music to me before it is published. He is a tremendous poet, a great prose writer, says Bruce Gunderson, D.C. I am a professional singer myself, so I know the quality of his work  its first class. His artistic abilities are tremendous.
It is the way I relax. It is a joy to write with other songwriters and the performers. I have seven CDs out and the eighth one in the making, says Hatch.

In this study, researchers gave a survey to more than 300 college athletes attending a Division I school in Hawaii. The survey asked the athletes about their use of different types of complimentary alternative medicine (CAM) in the previous year, along with their use of traditional medical care. Fifty-six percent of the athletes reported using some type of CAM within the past 12 months, with more women using CAM than men. Chiropractic was the second most popular form of CAM, just behind massage; 29 percent of the athletes said they had used chiropractic at least once in the past year.

While considerable evidence suggests chiropractic can improve the performance of elite athletes, there's just as much evidence which shows chiropractic care is effective for a variety of everyday problems, too. Back pain, neck pain and migraine headaches are just a few of the many conditions that can be treated with an adjustment by a well-trained doctor of chiropractic. If you suffer from any of these conditions, make an appointment with us today. You'll be thankful you did.

Reference:

Nichols AW, Harrigan R. Complementary and alternative medicine usage by intercollegiate athletes. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine May 2006;16(3):232-7.