Steve Todd
Name: Steve Todd
City/State: Buellton, CA
Age at time of injury: 41,2000.
Hobbies: Running, motorcross
Platinum Fueled Since: 2000
Platinum Performance Products: Platinum Bars, Minerals and Ortho-Chon
Background: Severed an Achilles tendon while riding motorcross. Had immediate surgery to reconnect. Diagnosis for complete recovery one to two years from injury. Two weeks later reported for scheduled physical therapy, with no apparent inflammation. Over the next six weeks he graduated to physical manipulation and then to the treadmill. He had no need for painkillers. Within eight months, Todd started running again - something he previously did as part of his regular fitness program. Shortly thereafter he was surfing.
Quote: "I tell everyone about Platinum," says Todd. "It's such a phenomenal product. I couldn't tell you the mechanics of how it works. I just know it does."
Follow-Up: Platinum bars and supplements are the foundation of Todd's daily diet. He's back hitting the trails on his motorbike and feels stronger than ever. Todd says he is so convinced of Platinum's effectiveness that as soon as another member of his riding club gets injured, he's on the phone ordering Platinum for them.
"Steve Todd: Severed Achilles Drives Platinum Powered Recovery."
The notion of synergy appeals to Steve Todd. In fact, It’s one of the reason he jumped — albeit on one foot — at the opportunity to put Platinum Performance nutrition to the test in his life.
Synergy — from the Greek word sunergia — in general means “cooperation” or “working together.” It’s the combined effect of the interaction of two or more parts of a system. A synergistic outcome means the combined effect is greater than the sum of the efforts of the individual parts.
Todd knows about the power of synergy from his experience pursuing his two favorite sports.
When he rolls his bike up to the start of a motor cross time trial with his bike club, The Over The Hill Gang, he takes a deep breath and glances at his heart rate monitor. Then, everything slips away — the cacophony of the engines and riders, and even the notes he’s made to himself in his head. It’s a man and his bike, and that’s all that matters.
A similar thing happens when he plants two feet on his surfboard. His awareness is reduced to him and the board. As he surrenders to the moment, all his senses are muted. The payoff is what some call “flow” and others call being in “The Zone,” a hard-to-describe quixotic state experienced by legions of performance athletes as well as people who meditate.
In nutrition, synergy means nutrients working together to produce a greater bio-availability and retention than if taken alone as individual nutrients. Todd has observed this effect in the realm of interventional nutrition using Platinum.
One day while riding his motor bike, he inadvertently laid it down trying to mount a steep incline. Simultaneously, he heard a loud bang. At first he thought he might have been shot since it was hunting season and he was out riding in the woods. A searing pain shot up his leg when he tried to walk. After checking in with the EMTs on site, he hobbled back to his vehicle and drove several hours back home to Buellton, Calif., where he lives. X-rays revealed a severed Achilles tendon, an injury that in many ways is far more serious than a broken bone.
Ironically, the Achilles tendon is one of the strongest tendons in body. It runs from the calf muscle at the back of the lower leg and inserts in at the back of the heel. Severed Achilles sometimes occur following a history of inflammation or degeneration of the tendon, but nearly always results from a sudden event like the one Todd experienced.
The sooner an injury like this is operated on, the better a chance of a full recovery. Any longer than two days and you’re in trouble. Todd had surgery right away and began eating Platinum Wellness Formula shortly there after. He also started taking Platinum Ortho Chon and eventually Platinum Minerals, which he continues to take two times a day.
Even with surgery, recovery from such an injury is a long haul — up to a year or more, depending on age. With a regular regimen of Platinum nutrition underway, Todd, 44, arrived at physical therapy a few weeks later with a prescription for two weeks of inflammation recovery treatments. During Todd’s intake, the physical therapist was confused, as well as concerned, about a misdiagnosis. Inflammation is a common result of a severed Achilles as well as surgery, but the PT couldn’t see any. Miraculously, Todd was ready for the next stage of therapy — underwater mobilization or pool therapy. Over the next six weeks he graduated to physical manipulation and then to the treadmill, where he says he felt some pain, but nothing overwhelming. He had no need for painkillers.
Six weeks after that he was hitting the gym on a regular basis, determined to keep the blood flowing to the area to hasten healing, as well as keep himself moving. All the while he maintained a steady intake of Platinum bars and Platinum nutritional supplements.
Within eight months, Todd experienced his first milestone. He was back to running — something he previously did as part of his regular fitness program. Sure, it was only a mile at a time, but most people his age who suffer this type of injury would be lucky to be walking normally at that point.
Shortly thereafter he was back up on his surfboard. No easy feat either, considering the flexion of the ankle this sport demands.
Today, several years after the Achilles injury, Platinum remains the centerpiece of Todd’s nutrition program. He says he’s back hitting the trails stronger than ever. “The sport of motorcross requires a pretty exact combination of riding techniques, physical fitness and mental conditioning,” Todd explains. “It’s a total body sport. You use every aspect of the body when you race. But you especially need upper body muscular endurance; you need to know how to move with strength and control.”
Contrary to perception, motorcross is one of the most demanding and grueling events in the sports world. Riders must muscle and wrangle their race machines around demanding and spectacular circuits. Pros must be in peak physical condition to train and maintain their conditioning throughout a hectic schedule of races. The sport also requires considerable stamina to be as fast on the last lap as on the first.
Todd says he is so convinced of Platinum’s effectiveness that as soon as another member of his club gets injured, he’s on the phone ordering Platinum for them. “I tell everyone about Platinum,” says Todd. “It’s such a phenomenal product. I couldn’t tell you the mechanics of how it works. I just know it does.
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