New Article at Staley Training Syetems

[Charles Staley]

It's called Living The Exerciser Lifestyle: Four Defining Practices (http://www.staleytraining.com/articles/charles-staley/living-the-exerciser-lifestyle.htm)

Enjoy and I'd love your comments!

[Tuesday]

That was hilarious.

Two to add to the list: unnecessary complexity and insufficient rest. I mean, working hard at dozens of exercises every day and never taking time off will pay huge dividends in creating the pain and suffering exercisers crave.

[Charles Staley]

...great points, especially complexity, which helps to ingrain the self-doubt that exercisers cherish. Also, complexity helps to create paralysis by analysis, which often results in skipping exercise altogether. Which creates further guilt, and so on and so forth.

Conversely, the Phelps diet was a great insight into how athletes eat, which is to say, they just eat, and often, a lot. While exercisers get fat worring about fat grams and artificial sweeteners, athletes stay lean (often) eating the foods that exercisers fear most.


That was hilarious.

Two to add to the list: unnecessary complexity and insufficient rest. I mean, working hard at dozens of exercises every day and never taking time off will pay huge dividends in creating the pain and suffering exercisers crave.

[Tuesday]

...great points, especially complexity, which helps to ingrain the self-doubt that exercisers cherish. Also, complexity helps to create paralysis by analysis, which often results in skipping exercise altogether. Which creates further guilt, and so on and so forth.
Too true. It never occurs to them that they might not be suited for that kind of a program at their level of development, or that their program might never even be necessary for what they want to achieve. They only get the idea that if they can't do it, they must not be trying hard enough or that they should quit.

I wonder if it comes down to planning. Not just planning workouts, but planning out the steps needed to achieve a goal and paring them down to the essentials. Some people just get sucked into the idea that more is better (more exercises per workout, more workouts per week, more calorie cutting. More for the sake of more), when the reality is better is better.


Conversely, the Phelps diet was a great insight into how athletes eat, which is to say, they just eat, and often, a lot. While exercisers get fat worring about fat grams and artificial sweeteners, athletes stay lean (often) eating the foods that exercisers fear most.

I know what you mean. When I was a competitive cyclist and rode hundreds of miles every week I had to eat everything I could to stay above 145 lbs. I ate whatever let me get the calories to ride the miles I thought I needed to win races, so my diet was nearly all carbohydrate with a lot of junk food thrown in for good measure (half-gallon of rocky road before bed? Brilliant!) I continued to eat that way after I stopped competing and gained 100 lbs in about a year.

I probably eat less now that I've moved on to strength sports, though it's hard to say as I still eat a truck load of food. And I still make food choices based on my desired performance, but these days it's a lot of protein, a ton of fat, and enough carbohydrate to keep me well out of ketosis. I lift like shit when I'm in ketosis.


I just thought of another notable difference between athletes and exercisers: athletes usually have other athletes in their social circles while exercisers rarely have anyone who isn't an ordinary Joe, so athletes get pressure to be like other athletes and exercisers get pulled down to keep them from too being different from the ordinary Joes.

[Phil Stevens]

I think one of the single largest hings is people somehow dont think they can be titled an athlete. But anyone can you just put in the work have confidence shut up and ACT.

Being an athlete is a mind set. Its something we choose to be, not something we earn. Awards and accomplishments are what you get for first being an athlete, not the other way around.

[spur]

It's called Living The Exerciser Lifestyle: Four Defining Practices (http://www.staleytraining.com/articles/charles-staley/living-the-exerciser-lifestyle.htm)

Enjoy and I'd love your comments!

Excellent article, I actually know a guy who is on raw food, is vegan and on colonics for years. He even has an expensive juicer to follow the Norman Walker diet. But he is the weakest and the weirdest looking bloke I have ever seen.

[Paul Stagg]

I wonder if it comes down to planning. Not just planning workouts, but planning out the steps needed to achieve a goal and paring them down to the essentials. Some people just get sucked into the idea that more is better (more exercises per workout, more workouts per week, more calorie cutting. More for the sake of more), when the reality is better is better.


I think this is a key that you don't hear many people discuss.

Appropriate goal setting and the patience to see things out to the goal are missing from most trainees.