Charles Staley - The Unnatural Athlete, Kulturystyka, ebook, pdf

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"That Just Ain't Natural!"
Those of us who live here in America are just obsessed with the word “natural.” If it’s
natural, it’s good; unnatural; BAD.
If you’re trying to sell a nutritional supplement or other type of remedy, it’s crucial to use the
word “natural.” If you don’t no one will buy it. Forget about the fact that substances such as
arsenic and tobacco are completely natural. Even testosterone, the most evil hormone of all,
is completely natural! Just repeat after me: “natural is good, unnatural is BAD.”
Well you know what? I have a different take on it. You say you’re a “natural” bodybuilder?
Great! But I have to wonder, how “natural” is it to wake up and do 20 minutes of cardio on
an empty stomach? How “natural” is it to take 25 grams of pure creatine a day to saturate
your tissues beyond what would otherwise be possible? How “natural” is it to drive to a
commercial gym and perform all manner of exercises to tear down your muscle tissue? Then,
how “natural” is it to rush home to get exactly 30 grams of micron-filtered whey protein and
maldodextrin to replenish your glycogen stores?
Those other guys? They use drugs— it just ain’t natural!
Forget about training for a minute— it’s not even natural to treat others with kindness! As I
sit here writing this, one of my cats walked over and took a swipe at her litter-mate for no
apparent reason.
In the natural World, you got plenty of exercise hunting for food (and also trying to avoid
becoming food). You didn’t count grams of fat— you just ate whatever you could get.
Enter technology. Today, food is easy to get and we barely need move a finger to get through
the day. So it becomes necessary to exercise (a very unnatural concept) and watch your
nutritional intake.
So, the title of this newsletter reflects the irony of the current fitness scene. Each month,
we’ll provide you with new information and strategies on how you can become the best
unnatural athlete possible. Some of the themes we’ll be presenting include:
• Developing an unnatural mindset— everything from becoming mentally tough, open-
minded, goal-directed, and laser-focused. You might even develop an autotellic approach to
training: doing things for the love of doing them, rather than only for the secondary gain. The
“naturals” among us can’t wait to get finished— the “unnaturals” can’t wait to get started.
• Developing an unnatural body— certainly less fat and more muscle, but more importantly,
the ability to perform well above and beyond those who pursue more natural activities, such
as sitting on the couch in front of the television.
• Developing an unnatural perspective— for example, rather than walking into the gym and
“winging it,” you’ll actually have a plan. Rather than judging the effectiveness of a workout
by how much pain it causes, the unnatural athlete judges it by how well it improves his or her
fitness levels. To the “natural” athlete, recuperation means resting between workouts.
However, “unnatural” athletes force the issue, achieving faster recoveries than what Mother
Nature had in mind.
Habits
"Habits are like cobwebs at first, cables at last"
— Proverb
With the New Year upon us, I thought I'd use this installment of The Unnatural Athlete to
explore the relationship between our habits and the outcomes we experience in training and
in life.
The concept of "New Year's resolutions" has always been interesting to me, primarily
because so few people manage to keep them. Since the conventional route rarely works, let's
explore a less conventional approach...
What Are Habits?
Habits are consistent patterns that reveal our character and determine our effectiveness in
life. Steven Covey describes habits as "the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire." In
Covey's representation, knowledge represents the paradigm we apply to a situation, or the
"how to do." Skill is the "how to do," and desire is the motivation or the "want to do."
Benefits & Costs
Anthony Robbins has suggested that we do not change "bad" habits until the negative
consequences of those habits begin to outweigh the perceived benefits. For example, you
might find yourself in the habit of eating a pint of ice cream every night before going to bed.
You enjoy the experience of eating that ice cream, and, at least for the short term, that
enjoyment greatly outweighs the negative outcomes of your habit, since it takes time for
those extra calories to cause weight gain.
After several weeks however, it becomes evident that your ice cream habit has caused you to
gain 15 pounds. At this point, the negative outcome of the habit is quite tangible, and because
you have been eating that ice cream every day for weeks, you don't get the same enjoyment
from it that you used to. Because the negatives are now outweighing the positives, you're
now much more likely to change your ice cream habit.
Changing Unproductive Habits
Knowledge
In some cases, we are unaware of the negative consequences of our habits. For example,
excessive intake of processed carbohydrates can promote inflammatory responses in the
joints. You may assume that your painful joints are simply part of life, or the outcome of old
athletic injuries. It isn't until you reduce your intake of processed carbs that you realize the
negative consequences of your former habit. On a similar note, we often do not realize the
benefits of our good habits until we discontinue them for a period of time.
We commonly assume that it takes discipline to change bad habits. It's interesting to note that
the word "discipline" evolved from the root word "disciple" which means "one who learns."
And in fact, when you encounter a highly disciplined person, you're not looking at someone
who gets his/her kicks from self-denial, but instead, someone who has learned that the
negative outcomes of certain behaviors is not worth the benefits associated with them. It
really comes down to self-awareness.
Skill
The skills required to change undesirable habits can be learned by anyone and are widely
available to those who seek it. The primary skill involved is the simply decision to take
action. I recently saw a great sketch on a television show, where Bob Newhart played a
psychologist who billed himself as being able to cure anyone's problems in 5 minutes. A
female patient comes in whereupon he asks "How may I help you?" She proceeds to explain
that she has a terrible eating disorder where she eats copious amounts of food, only to purge
the meal shortly thereafter. "Is that all?" Newhart asks? "No" she replies, and begins to
describe her terrible drug and alcohol problems. "Anything else?" Newhart inquires. "Yes,"
the patient continued, explaining that she also has Obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and
can't manage to leave her house without making sure that the stove if off dozens of times.
Finally, the patient had fully detailed her numerous psychological problems. Newhart reflects
for a moment, and then simply says "OK, here's what you need to do: STOP IT!"
"Huh?"
"STOP IT!"
"But..."
"Just STOP IT!"
"I also pull my eyelashes out"
"Stop that too"
Substitution
Unfortunately, simply stopping your bad habits, in and of itself, is an insufficient strategy. A
much more effective plan is to substitute a new, more productive habit in place of the one
you've decided to end. For example:
Sitting in front of the television at night is the enemy of good eating habits. You're being
bombarded with tremendously effective food commercials, and you're in close proximity to
the fridge. If you find that you're most vulnerable to making poor eating choices at night, this
could be the reason why. If you can terminate the night-time TV habit and substitute it with
(for example), a bike ride, a lot of good things start to happen:
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