View From the Top

We've interviewed Jeffrey Spencer, DC, several times in the past, but do you know what he's been doing lately? The man who treated Lance Armstrong before, during and after all seven of his Tour de France victories helped Lance's former team to its eighth Tour victory in 2007. Ironically, Dr. Spencer was not with the team during the 2006 Tour, in which they placed well down in general classification and lost more riders to injury than in the seven previous races combined. In this exclusive interview with Dynamic Chiropractic, Dr. Spencer, or "Dr. Magic," as the team calls him, discusses life on the Tour and how working with cyclists and other top performers keeps him motivated and energized.

Q: What are the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of working with top athletes like Lance Armstrong?

A: The most rewarding side of working with top performers, regardless of if they're athletes, entertainers, businesspeople or just highly motivated people, is that they're compliant, seek innovative solutions to get and retain top health, and are willing to pay whatever it takes to get it. Without a doubt, the best things personally for me are that I'm around optimistic people, travel to great places, get paid extraordinarily well, and use the entire scope of my clinical skills as defined by my license. My patients/clients don't care how they become and remain top performers, as long as it gets done.

To achieve this, I use mostly nonconventional manual techniques and modalities to care for organic and musculoskeletal conditions. I love it all, from bumps and bruises to organic problems to systemic wellness. "Same ol' same ol'" doesn't work for me; it's way too slow to achieve and maintain optimal health, which isn't good enough for my clients, who demand that I employ the most innovative and effective (though often unorthodox) methodologies to get them to the top and keep them there. It's a great experience to work with the best and find the innovations that put and keep them on top.

There really aren't any negative challenges associated with what I do. There can be lengthy travel periods and often long hours, plus being on call every day. But the energy you get from being backstage with U2 or poking on Lance Armstrong makes any long hours seem like seconds. I really love what I do because I have the clinical freedom to do whatever I want. I never get tired or bored.

Q: What are the major differences between treating professional athletes as compared to private-practice patients?

A: There are no differences in what needs to happen to achieve and maintain top physical function and health. The body's the body, and what it takes to get and stay well is the same for everyone. Mindset is the biggest difference. Top performers do what it takes to get and stay at the top. They seek out and pay for the best information and care possible. Most people will only do a fraction of what it takes to be at their best, yet expect to have optimal results, which, of course, won't happen. Most aren't willing to invest financially and put in the effort to acquire and retain the health required for a prosperous life.

Health is simple. You do the right things and you've got it. It's all a matter of what you do. The big mystery is why some people are motivated and others aren't. My job with my clients is to do for them what they can't do for themselves and then give them the roadmap and tools to help themselves, so they do their part to create a highly vital and productive life. Since health is a forever-changing enterprise, I have lifetime patients who appreciate what I do and are willing to pay top dollar for it. It's the best of all worlds.

Q: What types of equipment do you take with you out on tour?

A: My toolkit is selected so I can address every potential eventuality that may occur with my clients. At the Tour de France, every item I take must be completely portable and work better than anything in its category to mend broken bones, lacerations, puncture wounds, serrations, dislocations, concussions, subluxations, tissue tears, hematomas, organic conditions, postural strain, abrasions and everything else required for the riders to recover and stay well for the 22-day death march of the Tour - even if they have no symptomatic complaint.

My toolkit consists of three 5mw dual-head, extremely low-power cold lasers, percussors, multi-colored elastic tape, my hands, biofeedback devices to find what's hidden in the body, nontraditional microcurrent, supplements and the revolutionary "earthing" technology. I also take a well-rested brain. Having a strong presence of mind that can make pivotal decisions during the incomprehensible volatility of the Tour is essential because one bad clinical choice can take the whole team down.

Q: What do you think makes your patients choose you as their chiropractor year after year? How would you describe your relationship with the athletes you treat?

A: My clients appreciate my inventiveness, my unorthodox methods, that I'm knowledgeable about the entire scope of what it takes to become and remain a top performer, and that I give them rational, personalized recommendations that are customized for their unique circumstances. Also, I remain a student of the body and mind, so my methods produce quick and lasting results, I give them tools to help themselves, stay on the leading edge of change, am always available, communicate well, don't over-administrate their care, keep changing my methods so nobody gets stale, have a great network of other professionals to collaborate with when necessary, and have a very wide scope of knowledge about the complete scope of what it takes to keep them at the top of their game. I have a great relationship with everyone I'm associated with because we all want the same thing and are fearless in our dedication to getting the job done.

Q: How has your most recent work with the Discovery Professional Cycling Team differed from prior years at the Tour de France? Were you confronted with any particularly difficult injuries or situations? What was a typical day like?

A: Every year is different because I always bring new innovations to the program so that we maintain the competitive edge. Also, every year the riders have different minds and bodies that require a unique strategy so they can perform at their best, and the riders vary each year. This year was characterized by more lacerations, puncture wounds and massive abrasions than in the past. There were fewer dislocations and head traumas. Proactive daily procedures for the riders who had no complaints played a huge role; at the end of the Tour, no one had gotten sick or suffered tendonitis, which is unheard of at the Tour. Everyone finished in top form except one rider, who broke his wrist in five places and had to have immediate surgery. No other team maintained that level of top form.

A typical day starts at six in the morning, when I get up and do some training to stay fit on the road so I can be at my best for the team. Then I work with the riders until 10:30 a.m., when we get on the team bus to head to the start. On the bus, I tape, laser, adjust and do everything else that needs to be done that I didn't get to before we left. I continue working until the race starts - between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., depending on its length. Then I head to the finish, where I meet the riders at the bus and triage care. With the injured riders, I start immediate treatment on our bus trip back to the hotel, doing laser, taping, stick, adjusting, poking; whatever needs to happen. Once back at the hotel, around 6 p.m., the riders set up their earthing recovery bags and "earth" until they come to see me, go to massage or the medical doctors. During massage, I'll set the riders up with earthing patches on their injuries or for general and injury recovery, so they get the fastest, most complete recovery possible. During massage, I'll also do biofeedback to see what's going on inside their bodies and make corrections as we go. To support recovery and injury, I'll also stretch tape them with the colored tape. I work continuously on the riders, doing therapy and recovery until dinner, around 8:30 p.m., and then finish with riders around 11:00 p.m., clean up and go to bed around 12 a.m. - 1 a.m. The Tour is the ultimate clinic.

Q: Do you have any advice for chiropractors who would like to get involved in sports medicine?

A: It's important to be an athlete yourself so you can understand and experience the subtleties of the sports world and develop the language that makes you an intimate part of the sports community. You must communicate to the athletes that you're one of them in action, thought, appearance, vocabulary and experience. You also must absolutely have complete clinical mastery of nutritional supplements to speed healing and sustain wellness, and be versatile with cutting modalities - e.g., laser, earthing, stretch taping, several adjusting techniques, manual techniques, and rehab along the lines of Craig Liebenson's model. Being an adjustor only won't cut it in today's athletic world; today's educated athletes demand the entire scope of clinical care to do what it takes to be at their best each day. The athlete isn't really interested in what's done. It's all about getting to the top and staying there.

Q: With all the work you do helping others, how do you stay healthy and energized to manage your hectic schedule?

A: I make deliberate time to exercise daily, beginning with 45 minutes of qigong before the sun comes up, followed by at least an hour of cycling during the day. I also do full-body resistive training daily, take supplements specific to my needs, get regular adjustments, do Thai/Chinese massage, eat a calorie-restrictive organic diet, infrared sauna, sleep and work using the earthing technology, live and work in green, nontoxic environments, spend time mentoring others and being with people I care about, and speak to groups and do seminars to share with others my experiences. My goal here is to help them do those things that can make them ultra-successful, so they can help others do the same. I also get regular proactive health assessments from the best professionals I can find; clinicians who use transdermal, blood, reflex, and manual testing to create a specific health prescription personalized for my needs. I'm the ultimate compliant patient and will spend and do whatever it takes to get and remain in top health. I work with other skilled professionals to assess myself and never try to be my own doctor, as I may miss something. So, I collaborate with those trusted individuals and formulate with them the best personalized program for myself possible, and do it with complete compliance.

Q: What's next on your schedule? Are there specific athletes you'd like to work with or sports that sound particularly interesting, particularly from a treatment perspective?

A: I have a book coming out next June (published by HCI Books) that details my proven methodology to become and remain a consistent top performer. As I've mentioned several times in this interview, I'm also strongly advocating and supporting the revolutionary new technology called "earthing." This is one of the revolutionary advances in health care that comes along once in a generation. When combined with the right chiropractic care kit, it's the perfect combination to get and stay well. I'm speaking at Parker Seminars in Las Vegas in 2008, which I'm looking forward to. I'll be teaching some 5mw dual-head cold-laser seminars and a couple of advanced seminars teaching my complete system of care. I've also got a couple of other books in the works. As far as working with athletes, I'll work with any top performer in any discipline who wants to get and stay at the top. Mentorship is very important for me, so I'll be doing some seminars next year that support that outreach.

Q: What is your vision of chiro-practic's role in amateur and professional athletics in the future?

A: The successful sports chiropractor of the future will be an extremely versatile practitioner who makes great clinical choices based on an intimate knowledge of biomechanics, biochemistry, bioenergetics and function of the body. The "give a collection of symptoms a name and apply a memorized algorhithm treatment to the name" care model doesn't work in sports and has no future. The new paradigm sports chiropractor will identify the key links in the functional chain that prevent the body from functioning as a well-integrated whole, and then restore function to the entire body using adjusting, manual techniques, nutrition, rehabilitation exercise and modalities. The doctor must also be a wellness expert who can identify and care for functional disturbances, hopefully before the athlete even knows there's a functional breakdown. That's what the top athletes are demanding now.

This mindshift is the opportunity of a lifetime for any chiropractor who sees it and steps up to the plate to capitalize on the creation of the new paradigm practice. There are 300 million Americans who want to see a health care provider who treats function, not symptoms, on a regular basis to guide their lives toward greater productivity and functional longevity. And these people are willing to pay cash for it. The successful chiropractor of the future will provide that service.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

A: The health care world is changing rapidly, giving each of us a tremendous opportunity to have an exceptionally successful practice and have fun doing it. Concentrate on building the wellness side of your practice by becoming an expert in the identification of functional breakdown in the body and the functional restoration of it. Seek innovation and good mentorship. You must develop yourself and your clinical skills. Both are needed to be successful. Look to the new revelations as to the organization of the body as clues to develop your care methodology. Investigate those areas you're interested in. Become great at what you're good at and leave the things you're not to others. And remember, everyone's born a winner. You've just got to connect with it and cultivate your skills to express it.