Biohacking for Health Security
FEATURE
PERFORMANCE
Jeffrey Tucker
DC, DACRB
Aging is not optional. Most of my practice deals with musculoskeletal pain, and some patients need and want the “rehab to performance” model, but the majority want the “rehab to stay healthy” concept. Personal wellbeing and maintaining it as you age is one of the top issues of the day. A new phase for this is biohacking. As my patients have aged with me, they have learned to stay ahead of health issues by preparing for the next chapters of life. We have all seen that nothing stops good intentions, a positive mindset, and a healthy training program, such as an injury or illness. If you can’t even start working out, or continue working out and training because of pain, how can you fully stay healthy? The 65-and-older set will soon outnumber children younger than five.
I talk to patients about the concept of the Wellness Wheel, concepts put together from multiple sources, such as Ben Greenfield, Dave Asprey, Dr. David Perlmutter, and others. The conversation is about diet, exercise, sleep, cardiovascular health, digestion, hormones, brain health, stress and inflammation, detoxification (lymphatics), aesthetics, and longevity. Patients get a check mark if they are doing something to provide this whole-health approach to prevent disease and injury.
I go through each main category and ask questions such as, “Do you feel like you are doing enough exercise?” I give them time to do self-discovery and selfassessment. I also like to ask them, “What are the most important factors for you personally after getting out of pain?” Common answers include weight loss, sleep, flexibility, strength, fall prevention, dementia prevention, and aesthetics. This gives us an opportunity to discuss the treatment plan and an end goal of a successful treatment. Obvious short-term goals include restoring range of motion, improved function, pain reduction, and any fear of movement they describe. Whatever is important to the patient is important to me. Preventing age-related conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, staying vibrant, and fall prevention, would be long-term goals. Getting ahead of future or predictable health issues is biohacking.
My style of talking to patients regarding care is to understand “what matters” not “What’s the matter with you?” I repeat back to them their unique health goals. My personal health goal is to prevent cardiovascular disease, which I have on my father’s side. My professional goal is to continue learning and practicing to provide evidence-based, objective, and customized advice. An overall trend that I see is no matter what type of shape patients show up with, they seem to want to build a plan that helps them achieve health security. It’s no different from creating financial security. It requires a plan, consistent deposits, not spending more than you have, and looking for good dividends.
With that any “occasion” type of injury, I can offer a treatment menu that includes mobilization, joint manipulation, osteopathic, soft-tissue/fascial techniques, exercise therapy, taping, and ergonomic and nutrition advice. Patients are intrigued by the other services I choose to provide, i.e., exercise training, magna-waving, shockwave therapy, laser, muscle stimulation devices, weight loss, and even virtual reality sessions that soothe the mind. Don’t get me wrong, the chiropractic adjustment is “serious” and everyone is checked for that application, but in my practice, everyone also gets exercise, and the exercises I teach are ever so doable. I didn’t set out to be a one-stop shop for biohacking, but I do weight loss, exercise therapy, and chiropractic care, and it has been my trend for over 30 years.
Here are some of the current trends and advice I think are important for planning future health security and biohacking thoughts while still enjoying the present:
Diet:
Help patients figure out their unique diet specific to them. Just go back two generations and see what your ancestors ate for clues.
Exercises:
Help patients discover their exercise interests and pursue them with passion.
Help patients stay well rounded in their workouts. That includes a proper balance of cardio, strength, flexibility, balance challenges, weight, stress, etc.
More is not always better. Get patients to expose their bodies to max oxygen utilization; I recommend 30 seconds to four minutes of all-out movement.
Physical inactivity is just not allowed.
Be able to move in and out of different activities. Help patients pick and choose based on their strengths and help them prioritize areas that need more attention.
Talk to patients about recovery after a workout. I recommend they eat 20 to 60 minutes after a morning workout. Talk to patients about balance training earlier in life. Don’t wait as we age to practice balance.
Sleep:
As much as I hate this one, it is healthy to sleep in a cooler environment. Help patients get a better night’s sleep.
Cardiovascular health:
Encourage vagus nerve health. Recommend breathing exercises to all of your patients.
Learn a little about heart rate variability so you can talk to patients about it.
Brain health:
Learn about nootropics from your supplement companies so you can recommend these to patients. Help patients keep their blood sugar at the right level and figure out ways to lower cortisol levels.
Talk about sleep and avoiding fatigue.
Hormone health:
Too many people are overtraining, and this may have detrimental effects on the hormones. I think men should know their testosterone levels at the young age of 30.
I want them to have a baseline for later in life.
Stress and inflammation:
Who isn’t talking about inflammation and its effects on overall health and well-being? Resolving inflammation in the gut and brain is the first issue to resolve for most healthy aging conversations.
Ask patients to reduce using vegetable oils for cooking; encourage butter or olive oil.
I recommend doses of turmeric to most of my patients.
I get my patients to write for 10 minutes every night before bed to reduce stress and sleep better. I recommend writing down everything that is bothering you—physical and mental. Just do it in a stream of thought. No one else will read what you wrote because you are going to rip up the piece of paper and throw it out. This simple exercise has helped many chronic pain patients tap into the neuroplasticity concept and reset stress levels, which decreases pain levels.
Detoxification:
Think of the lymphatic system here.
Ask patients if they are regularly sweating. Recommend heat blankets, sauna time, or just exercise for sweating. Recommend vibration plates or breath work if needed. I always ask about bowel movements and want to make sure patients are drinking enough water and getting fiber in the diet.
Aesthetics:
For me, this is all about posture and maintaining good posture as we age. I design entire exercise programs around correcting and preventing rounded shoulders, forward head posture, and anterior or posterior pelvis tilts. Ask your patients if they get Botox injections; you will be surprised how many do this. Have an opinion about that! Ask patients about skin care creams and how much they spend each month on these products. You will be shocked at the answers you get.
Longevity:
Offer the space for people to share potential fears about growing older and concerns about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Do so without contributing to unhealthy pressure and creating more anxiety.
We create longevity by not smoking and enjoying regular movement, community, and foods.
I find myself trying to save patients from themselves, reminding them that they need to find work-life balance (personal time and relaxation time). If you don’t know how to go about exercise training for patients, take some rehab courses offered by the ACA Rehab Council. Many doctors train their patients the way they work out. This may not be the best choice for that patient. Teach and explain to patients why they need to do what you recommend. For example, “Do these exercises to help maintain the adjustment that I did to keep your pelvis in alignment.” Help patients find several good exercise matches, and then within that list, they can select one to do at home on their own.
Another trend I see is that you, the doctor, has to commit to exercise and all of the healthy aging concepts I mentioned earlier. Have you seen the young student doctors in various chiropractic colleges these days? They look physically fit and are learning exercise as medicine. You need to keep up.
I tell my patients, “I get that your life will go on even if you don’t exercise.” I then remind them, “No one is getting out of this alive (meaning life itself). What kind of shape or role model do you want to be remembered being? Are you being the best version of yourself?”
Patients appreciate that I get them to think about doing things that they don’t or wouldn’t normally do when and if they go to the gym, eat, sleep, etc. A simple example is stretching the calves every day. I find 90% of my patients need to spend time stretching tight calves for overall kinetic chain improvement.
Staying healthy is going to require making good choices and known principles. It’s going to take variety too. Like what? Being coordinated, agile, fluid, graceful, and strong in different directions and maintaining good postures. Other principles and concepts for achieving health security include understanding, establishing, and creating good movement patterns.
I have my patients learn and focus on bodyweight exercises, lots of static holds, and then progress to what I call the CLX band big six movements. These include squats, pushes, pulls, chops/lifts, single leg activity, and swings.
Beyond that, I encourage patients to continue learning progressions and solid programs with free weights and kettlebells. A continuum of good movement will create flexibility and strength. The principle and constant message is that movement is used to improve everything for health security, not break you. I am clear that my job is to watch the way you move, understand a little about the way you move to locate movement faults, and help you discover if there is a better way for you to move. That translates to better neuromotor control, leading to less joint stress. In all the years I’ve been a rehab specialist, now more than ever, patients want strategies to improve their health and create health security. Biohacking is the new term. Helping patients challenge themselves without getting injured means understanding the purpose, intent, and perspective upon your training.
Let’s help patients take more ownership of their bodies and create health security.
Born in Los Angeles, CA, where he currently practices, Jeffrey Tucker, DC, DACRB is an expert in the field of posture, muscle and joint therapy, pain management, and nutrition, earning him the position of president of the ACA Rehab Council (CCPTR.org).
He is also a world-renowned speaker and author of more than 80 articles on the subjects his expertise, www. D r J eff reyTu c ke r. co m
