May 2018 Health, Fitness and Wellness Section

H E A LT H , F I T N E S S & W E L L N E S S

Fuel ing the Fame 16-year-old HAILEY SCHALK’S meteoric rise owes in no small part to her commitment to proper food and fitness.

By JON RIZZI Photography by CHAD CHISHOLM

BODY BAR SPLIT STANCE: The lower body is responsible for stabilizing and grounding a golfer in the backswing. Using a 12-pound bar, Hailey is performing a slow split stance loaded backswing to develop a strong foundation to her swing.

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ON MAY 20, at its annual induction dinner at Sanctuary in Sedalia, the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame will present one of its two inaugural Future Famer Awards to Hailey Schalk.

Like fellow Future Famer Davis Bryant, Schalk convincingly won every Junior Golf Alliance of Colorado ( JGAC) major in which she competed and captured the Colorado State High School individual championship.

Both juniors also happen to have as a father a PGA Professional named Matt.

But unlike Bryant, who’ll be graduating this month from Eaglecrest High School

Schalk of Colorado National Golf Club, sees her dedication in the three hours a day she devotes to practice and physical training.

He coaches her and the Holy Family girls’ team, but, he explains, “With Hailey, I’m just one of her coaches. My role has been to help her understand the on-course side of things, to know the competitive game and all the different shots that come with it, to expand on her knowledge so that no situation surprises her.”

Not surprisingly, one of Hailey’s other golf coaches is Trent Wearner, owner of Trent Wearner Golf at Englewood’s

lifestyle to nutrition to sports psychology.

“Since I started coaching her when she was so young, I wanted her to focus on being a well-rounded individual,” Johnson explains. “She’s very driven, and if you don’t create guidelines to follow for a balanced life, driven people are not going to have longevity. They burn out or get injured.

The more you can create a comprehensive well-rounded athlete, the better they will develop.”

So in addition to all the planks, medicine-ball throws, plyometrics, squats, BOSU-ball balancing and strength workouts

SINGLE-LEG REACH AND ROW: Hinging properly at the hip and maintaining posterior strength and stability are key to a proper setup and keep Hailey in an ideal posture throughout her swing. To master these abilities, Hailey is performing a single-leg reach and row, alternating with her opposite arm and leg.

and heading to Colorado State University in the fall, Schalk’s accomplishments in 2017— including winning last July’s prestigious AJGA Hale Irwin Junior—all came as a 15-year-old freshman at Holy Family High School.

As a matter of fact, the morning after the Hall of Fame gala, she’ll start the defense of her 3A high school title at Elmwood Golf Course in Pueblo.

“I’m not into chasing trophies as much as I am into seeing improvement,” she said at the beginning of last year. And while it would be hard to improve this year on the historic season she had, complacency simply isn’t in her DNA. Her father, PGA General Manager Matt coloradoavidgolfer.com

Meridian Golf Club. Renowned for his work with hundreds of elite juniors, Wearner has instructed Hailey for almost four years.

“She’s a phenomenal young lady,” the teacher says. “More college coaches have contacted me about her than about any other student I’ve had—it’s not even close.”

What is surprising about Hailey is that her other coach since the age of 12 has been PGA Professional Dillon Johnson, a Level 3 Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) fitness professional and co-owner of RallySport Health and Fitness Club in Boulder. Their relationship has resulted not only in greater strength and endurance and 100 mph swing speeds, but also in a comprehensive approach to health that embraces everything from

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he puts Hailey through, Johnson also mandates planned rest and fun periods.

Perhaps most critically, he focuses on nutrition. “I’d bug her about it,” he remembers. “I still coach her on what she’s eating and when she’s eating—before, during and after she plays.”

In Johnson’s opinion, what undermines Hailey and other golfers are the lack of sound food choices at courses. “Right now, if she goes into a pro shop or grill at the turn or before her round, there’s nothing she can get that tastes good and provides the proper nutritional balance of fats, protein, carbs and sugars,” Johnson explains. “Her choices are a crappy snack, like chips, or a whole meal that just sits in her stomach—neither of May 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

A KNACK FOR SNACKS Recognizing a lack of sound on-course nutritional options available at golf courses, Boulderbased PGA Professional Dillon Johnson, a Level 3 Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) fitness professional, decided to fill the void. “I wanted to provide a product that was real food—a perfect mix of carbs, fats and proteins that would deliver a steady flow of energy.”

FROG JUMP: The lower body is responsible for a huge amount of the power produced in a golf swing. Dillon is demonstrating a frog jump for Hailey; it’s a great exercise to work on her lowerbody explosivity.

With the help of a “dream team” of golfer investors, Johnson came up with FULE (pronounced fuel, an acronym for “Fuel Up, Live Easy”) Cart Snacks, an ingenious combination of delectable flavors and performance-based nutrition delivered in utterly functional packaging.

FULE Cart Snacks come in four varieties: The Alabatross (cashews, pistachios and almonds— the “premium nuts people like”); The Ace (chewy apple cinnamon granola balls bonded by agave); The Gimme (satiating peanut butter-filled pretzel nuggets); and Country Club Jerky (easy-to chew grass-fed, grain-finished bites of lean, protein-rich beef).

He suggests buying the snacks in “performance pairings” of proteins and carbs for the perfect taste and nutritional combination. The Country Club Jerky and The Gimme go together and feature dark green labels; The Albatross and Ace cups sport light green labels.

Sourcing his ingredients from organic vendors, Johnson ensures additive-free nutrition and has put great thought into providing “real food” quality.

For example, the granola balls aren’t a crunchy, loud, crumbly mess, and the jerky isn’t leathery but tender. None of the products leave your hand greasy.

A great deal of consideration went into the packaging as well. “Ninety percent of golfers will take a golf vehicle with a cup holder,” Johnson explains. “And our product fits perfectly in one of those.” The waterproof container holds bite-sized items to promote snacking throughout a round, instead of slamming it all down on one hole, and the re-sealable plastic lids prevent spillage and keep out thieving birds.

The containers also display well on golf beverage carts and fit neatly into holderequipped pushcarts and in the pocket of a walking bag.

FULE isn’t just about nutritional noshing; it’s also about educating golfers around the country by providing them with free regular video content in all areas of golf performance.

In addition to fitness and nutrition videos, fulecartsnacks.com (right) offers Swing Fundamentals and Instruction sections featuring Matt Schalk that will be updated regularly with new videos and articles.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit fulecartsnacks.com. Readers can get 50% off retail for The Cycle, a box containing six of each product (code: avidgolfer). Courses can get 20% off wholesale for an Opening Round package of 30 of each product (code: agwholesale).

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which a premier athlete should have.”

On his advice, Hailey prepares ahead of time by packing healthy foods such as peanut butter, pretzels, jerky, bananas and granola on which she can nibble for a consistent, steady flow of energy. This summer will bring an even better option in the form of FULE—an assortment of four perfectly portioned, nutritionally sound golf-specific snacks that prevent blood sugar surges and slumps. (See Box.) “Blood sugar spikes result from hydration too,” he warns. “So I remind Hailey to avoid the sugary sports drinks.

The best setup is a pinch of pink Himalayan salt or a no-sugar electrolyte mix shaken in a bottle of water.”

She’ll likely be packing that bottle at this month’s CHSAA 3A High School Championship. The event begins a summer of tournaments across Colorado and the country, where she’ll test her game against some of the country’s best players. She could very well qualify for the U.S. Girls Junior or the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and there are the IMG, AJGA and Optimist events, plus numerous invitationals.

It’s fair to say that with the same diet, motivation, attitude, practice habits and dedication she has exhibited thus far, fame will remain squarely in Hailey Schalk’s future. coloradoavidgolfer.com

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H E A LT H , F I T N E S S & W E L L N E S S

Garden of the Golf Gods

ROCK STEADY: Kissing Camels Club at the Garden of the Gods Collection takes its name from the adjacent sandstone formation.

A forthcoming program at the august Colorado Springs club adds some MEDICAL MUSCLE for golfers.

By JON RIZZI EVER SINCE 1961, when Garden of the Gods Club founder and owner Al Hill’s golf-loving friends convinced him to build what became Kissing Camels Golf Club, the Royal and Ancient Game has flourished near the rugged and ancient outcroppings that give the facility its name.

And ever since 2013, when an investment group led by healthcare executive Judy Mackey and accounting executive Brenda Smith bought the club, the Garden of the Gods Collection (as it is now known) has made health and wellness a priority for club members and guests of its plush 53EVENING EDEN: The Garden of the Gods Club

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room resort, opening in 2016 a spectacular 28,000-square-foot International Health and Wellness Center (IHWC) that specializes in integrative medicine.

Now, by the end of 2018, the Garden of the Gods will have fully merged its dual emphases on golf and wellness. The club’s “20/20 Optimal Performance Program” will apply the same comprehensive, 360-degree diagnostic approach used in the IHWC to golfers looking to get the most from their games.

“When you think about PGA Tour pros, they have a team—a fitness coach, a physician, a golf coach,” explains Dr. Shane Wells, a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine at the IHWC who specializes in Applied Kinesiology and Functional Neurology. “We’re giving the average golfer the resources the Tour pros have.”

The process, he explains, will be based on the TPI (Titleist Performance Institute) model of assessing swing mechanics and biomechanics, physical fitness, movement quality, current health, client history, and then creating a fitness plan for that particular golfer.

“That’s the golf and fitness connection,” says

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GOOD READ: Dr. Shane Wells of the IHWC

Wells, who has achieved Level 3 TPI Certification. “What distinguishes us is that we also have capability to satisfy the medical aspect— the wellness.”

“Wellness is the third leg of the stool,” concurs Kissing Camels’ PGA Director of Golf Rich Parker, one of the club’s three TPI-certified staff members and the leader of the 20/20 initiative. “The TPI protocols for the golf and fitness screenings quantify, validate and inform our golf and fitness instruction and equipment recommendations, coloradoavidgolfer.com

but the data also can indicate issues that may benefit from medical intervention.”

For example, one of the 16 TPI screening assessments is the ability to do a deep overhead squat. If a golfer can’t do one, it can indicate lack of pelvic stability requiring exercises to strengthen the core. “But it can also indicate a neurophysiological problem, which is where I come in,” says Dr. Wells. “We have the resources to go deeper when the testing reveals biomechanical flaws that exercise alone may not correct.”

Those resources include everything IN THE MIX: Naturopath Karly Powell prepares a remedy at the IHWC.

from traditional medicine to chiropractic adjustments to IV nutritional therapy to naturopathic remedies, massage and halotherapy.

For diagnostics, the IHWC even has a BOD POD Gold Standard to gauge body weight, body volume, body density, body fat, fat-free (bone and muscle) mass, and lung volumes.

A lifelong golfer from Nebraska, Wells says he knows of no other TPI program associated with a wellness center. However, he adds, “The Wellness Center will be a support staff for the golf program.”

The initial appointment will last approximately three hours and involve a the comprehensive and integrative diagnostic process including swing analysis, biomechanical assessment, functional analysis, fitness review and an integrated assessment of both the client’s physical fitness and structural alignment.

On the golf side, Parker will enhance the 20/20 Optimal Golf Performance Program with not only FlightScope and Trackman, but also with the K-Vest 3D-motion capture and analysis system that uses inertial sensors located on your pelvis, upper body and hand to measure real-time body movements in your golf swing.

Combined with video capture, it will

SWEAT EQUITY: Golf performance workouts in the Fitness Center.

produce an abundance of infinitesimal information about posture, dynamic movement and the body sequencing that will contribute to optimize the development of a performance plan.

Integral to that plan are Parker, Garden of the Gods Collection’s TPI-Certified Fitness & Lifestyle Instructor Tracy Iverson and the club’s Holistic Human Performance Coach Steve Thompson.

Their coordination will result in equipment, instructional and exercise recommendations as well as potential medical solutions to swing-inhibiting pain, injury or discomfort. “We can even do a deep dive with blood analysis,” says Wells. “But that takes more time.”

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POOLED RESOURCE: A sunset dip in the Garden

Speaking of time, Parker anticipates having the program up and running well before the 2019 golf season begins. There’ll be beta versions this fall. “We certainly can facilitate the assessments right now,” he says, “but this program needs to be every bit as great as the Wellness Center and Spa,” he says, referring to the IHWC, which ultimately took about three years to come together. “We want to deliver a performance program the likes of which the golf industry has never seen.”

For more information, visit gardenofthegodsclub.com.

Colorado Springs’ association with health and wellness dates to the late 1800s, when tuberculosis patients from all over flocked to breathe in the clean mountain air, prompting the construction of dozens of sanatoriums, many of which have evolved into the city’s current hospitals. The International Health and Wellness Center (IHWC)—part of the Garden of the Gods Collection but open to all members of the public—carries on the city’s tradition as a wellness destination.

The IHWC medical team integrates the latest innovations in traditional medicine and complementary (also known as “alternative”) healthcare to deliver what Medical Director Mike Barber, M.D. calls “a unique, fully integrated model of personalized treatments to transform and empower clients to live and perform at their fullest potential.”

A board certified cardiologist, internist and electrophysiologist, Barber has assembled an allstar team of medical professionals with complementary areas of expertise.

World-renowned alternative health-care expert Dr. Robert Blaich serves as Barber’s holistic counterpart. Naturopathic Doctor Karly Powell specializes in functional medicine, therapeutic nutrition and herbal medicine to treat autoimmune conditions, digestive dysfunction, weight issues, hormone imbalances and cardiovascular disease. Chiropractic Doctor Shane Wells utilizes stateof-the-art testing and treatments from the fields of functional neurology, applied kinesiology and chiropractic.

The IHWC team also includes trainers and therapists, dieticians and nutritionists. “We all have at least two significant areas of expertise,” Barber says. “We all overlap nicely.”

The IHWC overlaps with the spa and salon to provide medical massage, dermatological and other types of therapies, including toxin-removing salt-spa treatments. The fitness center and golf clubhouse—the other two spokes in the 20/20 Optimal Performance Program are located in separate buildings. ihwcwellness.com

Country Club feel with a public course price.

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H E A LT H , F I T N E S S & W E L L N E S S

Perturb Your Enthusiasm A little perturbation will increase BODY AWARENESS and BALANCE.

By NEIL WOLKODOFF IN GOLF, awareness of your body in space and time is crucial to controlling and replicating the golf swing. Knowing if you are in balance—and how to get back into balance—is essential to maintaining a robust and rhythmic swing.

In both physical therapy and sports science, using mild movements termed “perturbations” to get the body out of balance or control has shown positive benefits in both everyday activities and sports performance. In fact, many of the World Cup racers in alpine skiing use this form of training to increase their body awareness and balance to maintain optimal position and avoid falling.

Most commonly, an athlete will stand on a balance device in an optimum position, and the therapist or strength coach will use

small movements to push him or her out of balance. The goal is for the athlete to be aware he or she is out of balance, react, and then get back in balance and position as fast as possible. Perturbations are also used as rehabilitation and strengthening exercises on most joints and muscles as a final phase of athletic preparation. Perturbation force is typically applied with a cable, manual pressure, band, foam roller, or another device to disrupt balance and posture.

Because golf involves a set position in one plane of motion (front to back), but movement in the other two planes of motion (side to side and rotational), perturbation exercises increase balance and body awareness in these two dimensions. It doesn’t take a large number of exercises for this to improve your body awareness, balance and,

therefore, your golf consistency. Ideally, one or two exercises per training session are a good start.

However, unless you have consistent access to a therapist or strength training professional who understands how to use perturbations, then you are best off doing these simple exercises on your own. The following exercises are good starting points to understand and apply these performanceenhancing capabilities quickly at the gym or home.

Neil Wolkodoff, Ph.D. is the Medical Program Director of the Colorado Center for Health & Sports Science. The CCHSS provides medical fitness assessments, gait analysis and orthotics, sensory/sports vision training and athletic performance training programs. cochss.com; 303-596-6519.

USING A FITBALL, assume a back bridge position akin to being a coffee table. Take a small, 2-3 pound medicine ball, and while trying to maintain that bridge position, slowly move the ball in a half circle motion from one side to the other. Various parts of the core will have to fire to keep you in position, and you will be aware of getting out of and back into position. For added difficulty, you can take the medicine ball slightly overhead and also pointed to the side. The best way to start is three sets of 20 seconds of this exercise, then progress to 30 seconds per set. For more awareness and core challenge, narrow your stance. For even more challenge, try being slightly to one side or the other with your shoulders on the ball.

IMPROVED GOLF POSTURE can be a result of a similar perturbation exercise application. Stand on any balance device (Bosu, Step360 or individual balance disks). With knees bent slightly, use the same, slow, half-circle movements with the medicine ball, keeping the ball the same distance from the floor. For additional challenge, you can raise and lower the ball with one arm, and slightly speed up or slow down ball movement. As with the Fitball version, note body position and how you get back into balance. Those small adjustment abilities will translate positively to your golf performance.

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May 2018 | COLORADO AVIDGOLFER

H E A LT H , F I T N E S S & W E L L N E S S

“Oh, those planks!”

I hear it frequently as a golf fitness coach, but doing them right yields TREMENDOUS BENEFITS.

By DEE TIDWELL YES, THERE ARE BETTER and worse exercises than planks, but here are a few things I like about them: 1. Your abs have the “mechanical advantage” of holding up your upper and lower body with your navel as the “center point” where gravity is pushing down the most. Understanding this allows you to “push back against gravity” to hold a strong plank.

2. The plank position can help with “body feedback” and getting to understand how to stabilize your core.

3. They work. Like bridges for the glutes, planks build endurance, which is crucial for good posture on and off the course.

4. You can do them anywhere and most anyone can do them. I’ve started people out just standing in front of a wall, placing hands on it and doing a leaning plank. It’s

super simple but people can start from this position and progress.

5. They are highly progressive. Like some of the examples below, there are many ways to increase the difficulty and awareness to keep challenging the brain and body.

So let’s learn how to do them right.

All planks must start from an optimal neutral spine and pelvis. Without this starting position, the exercise becomes way less valuable.

Think about your “perfect posture”— feet hip width, middle of knees over front of ankle joint, middle of hip joint over the middle of the knee, middle of shoulder over middle of hip and middle of your ear hole the middle of your shoulder.

Now that you know how to have “perfect posture” in normal life and in your plank position, let’s go through some plank

progressions with the following parameters:

PARAMETERS • Start where you can with as long a hold as you can while maintaining this perfect posture. Stop before you lose it.

• Work up to 60 secs on all holds.

• Don’t sacrifice form!

• Think about your abs, body position, head position and creating tension between your elbows and your toes.

Dee Tidwell owns the Colorado Golf Fitness Club in Greenwood Village. He is a Level Three Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) Certified Golf Fitness Pro, Golf Fitness Instructor, Junior Coach and Medical Coach. A three-time CAGGY Award winner, he recently ranked as one of Golf Digest’s 50 Best Golf Fitness Professionals.

Reach him at dee@coloradogolffitnessclub.com or 303-883-0435.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPHS BY EJ CARR

PLANKS: On forearms without hands touching, elbows under shoulder joints.

Head neutral, spine neutral and err with butt to ceiling, not core sagging to floor.

PROGRESSIONS: 1. ONE ARM UP: Holds or reps.

2. ONE LEG UP: Holds or reps.

3. ALTERNATE ARM AND LEG UP: Holds or reps.

SIDE PLANKS: Elbow is under shoulder, head neutral, feet stacked. Too hard? Bend bottom knee to 90 degrees to start. Keep body straight by imagining straight lines, horizontally, from your nose to toes and top shoulder to heel.

PROGRESSIONS: 1. ONE ARM UP: Hold.

2. ONE LEG UP: Holds or reps.

3. GET ON HAND. Position hand under shoulder and bottom leg in front of top leg with feet parallel.

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H E A LT H , F I T N E S S & W E L L N E S S

The Fountain of Youth

There’s NO MAGIC BULLET to improve your game, but hormone pellets can help.

HORACE WESTERLY is a pseudonym for for the bioidentical hormones—non-synthetic a man who doesn’t want his real name used— plant-based replications with the same monot because he’s shy about getting hormone lecular structure of the hormones his body treatments, but because he doesn’t want to let produces—that he would receive subcutanehis golf opponents in on his secret. ously via pellets inserted into a small incision The 66-year-old former executive, who in a buttock. The dissolvable pellets deliver a never had much time for golf before retire- steady amount of hormones as the blood flow ment two years ago, now plays virtually every picks up what’s needed. day, walking the courses at Lone Tree, South Westerly returns every six months for a Suburban, and even Breckenridge.

“I feel like I’m 50. My index has gone from 26 to 18,” he says.

“And I’ve added 40 yards to my drives. Part of that improvement comes from having more time to play, but it absolutely started after I went to see Dr. Engsberg.”

Hope Engsberg, M.D., is the president and founder of AgeWellMD, an anti-aging functional medicine clinic in Denver’s Cherry Creek. She specializes in bioidentical hormone replacement and hormone pellet therapy. She’s no storefront medicine woman promREJUVENATOR: Dr. Hope Engsberg ising to “T Up” golfers, but a highly of AgeWellMD decorated cardiac anesthesiologist who six years ago rededicated her skills to regenerative medicine. As she puts it, dosage, at which time Dr. Engsberg checks “I went from resuscitating to resurrecting.” his body fat and muscular percentages (“I’m Westerly’s resurrection began 18 months already 77 percent to my goal of losing 36 ago after witnessing the effects Dr. Engs- pounds of fat and gaining 50 percent more berg’s treatments had on his wife, Linda, who muscle,” he boasts). She also gets his blood sought treatment for her postmenopausal levels tested to make sure his body isn’t confunk. “She suddenly felt full of energy and felt verting testosterone into DHT and estrone, great,” he says. “I wanted to keep up with her.” metabolites that contribute to prostate canA consultation with Dr. Engsberg fol- cer. Were those levels elevated, Engsberg lowed. Extensive blood and thyroid panels re- would counter with natural supplements or vealed hormonal imbalances and deficiencies prescribe an aromatase inhibitor. related mainly to testosterone, the producWesterly has had no complications. tion of which in men declines annually by 5 Neither has Cheryl Wilkenson, a 10-handipercent after the age of 35. She also put West- cap at Fox Hollow who has played golf for erly through a body composition analysis more than half of her 65 years, the last two that indicated the typical high body-fat, low and a half as an AgeWellMD patient. “I inimuscle-mass and low bone-density percent- tially went to see her because of a low libido, ages associated with low testosterone levels. but within a few months I also had so much A metabolic detoxification involving di- more energy,” she reports. “I always walk the etary supplements primed Westerly’s body course and can keep up with a lot of players COLORADO AVIDGOLFER | May 2018

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who have lower indexes than I do.”

As a woman, Wilkenson represents the majority of AgeWell’s patients. Hormone replacement therapy has been associated with women’s health far longer than it has with men’s. Dr. Engsberg treats both sexes of all ages and from all over the country.

Her professional journey allows her to connect personally with her patients. “I realized I didn’t just want to keep people alive,” she says. “I wanted to help and heal them.”

Plus, she adds, “as an anesthesiologist, you bring people close to death, cradling their lives during surgery, so you never want to know them. So, I decided to do a complete one-eighty. Instead of putting anonymous patients to sleep, I now wake up conscious people I have the privilege of listening to, getting to know and helping lead more fulfilled lives.”

Dr. Engsberg now holds advanced medical degrees in anti-aging, regenerative medicine and nutrition. The diplomas squeeze onto the credential-filled “wall of wood,” an aesthetic anomaly in a suite brimming with enough Southwestern art to fill a Canyon Road gallery. “The degrees establish an emotional trust; the artwork shows patients who I am.”

She is not only AgeWellMD’s sole practitioner, she’s also a beneficiary of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. So is her spouse, Kathy Vieth, who serves as office manager and patient concierge. Vieth and their Great Dane, Wilhm Dakota, warmly greet patients. The office also recently added peptide therapy and intravenous nutritional therapy to complement and enhance the effects of the supplements and pellets. As Dr. Engsberg says, “We want to give patients the most options to be their optimal selves.”

For more information, visit agewellmd-denver.com or call 720-361-8080. coloradoavidgolfer.com

PHOTOGRAPH BY EJ CARR

By TASKA CAMPBELL