don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

It seemed at times that it would be easier to schedule an interview with Osama bin Laden, Muktada al-Sadr, Pat Robertson or George W. Bush than to arrange such a thing with Lance Armstrong's coach, Chris Carmichael. (I hope Chris will forgive the invidious associations.) It took weeks of negotiations with a PR company in LA to gain approval and pin down a precise time for the interview. Then, on the big day, at the appointed hour, a snowstorm (in Colorado where Chris is based) delayed the big moment. It was starting to look like a lost cause -- this interview was not going to happen. Besides, I concluded, it probably would not have been that much fun, anyway. After all, Chris Carmichael is bigger and "more famouser" (at least to endurance athletes) than Knute Rockne, George Halas, Paul Bryant and Vince Lombardi put together -- why would he deign to give me the time of day, anyhow, let alone an in-depth interview about his five essentials, even absent an early season Rocky Mountain blizzard?

I'm exaggerating, of course, in fact I made all that up. The truth is that our connection began when I received an advance, uncorrected proof 5 Essentials for a Winning Life: The Nutrition, Fitness and Life Plan for Discovering the Champion Within, Chris Carmichael's latest book. It looked good and proved to be exceptionally good, so I asked the contact at the LA firm doing book promotion for the publisher (Rodale) for an interview with the author, and got one with no hassle. Most notably, my lengthy discussion with Chris Carmichael
was delightful and instructive. We had much to talk about regarding common interests (wellness issues, training, triathlons, Lance, the Tour, the "icantdoit" concept and much more). By the end of the interview, Chris was so impressed with the wellness concept that he expressed interest in speaking at a future National Wellness Conference -- and even invited me to ride as a member of the US Team in the 2007 Tour de France.

OK, I made that last part up, which I hasten to add in case you have a jejune tendency to believe everything I write.

5 Essentials ... covers so much besides the five essentials (relationships, career, fitness, nutrition and health). Carmichael begins with a not-so-pretty and somewhat shocking description of his own period of low-level worseness. The realization that his lifestyle had deteriorated to a pernicious state came just after Lance won his second Tour de France in 2000. He gave Chris a yellow jersey that read, "Happy 40th. Man, you're getting old!" Though a Tour racer and Olympian himself a decade earlier and a lifelong athlete and fitness buff, Chris realized he was "fat and out of shape, unpleasant, achy, chronically tired and disgusted with myself."

When I read that, a confessional, which appears on the first page (the Preface, actually), I thought right away of the "icantdoit" dilemma. If Chris could not sustain an integrated, healthy and balanced lifestyle, what chance does some ordinary guy or gal have? What chance, that is, for the average person who never WAS an athlete, let alone an Olympian, who never coached anyone in anything, never experience the myriad payoffs of top-of-the-line fitness, does not know anything about the thrills of competition or success and has never been steeped in excellence?

Au contraire, it seems, most Americans and everyone else are mired in mediocrity, at best -- and usually worse! So, if Carmichael gets into a mess, as he put it, who won't?

Well, the fact is, anybody can backslide. I know -- I slid backwards myself a few years ago (early 1995). My excuse was a bad back, so bad I could not run, bike, swim or even walk much, so I must have sought comfort in food (if not drugs, sex and rock and roll -- I kind of forget, it's been so long). Within a few months, I was huge and easily winded. Nobody gave me a yellow jersey nor can I recall any other memorable epiphany, but once the back pain receded, I was back on track, for personal reasons (I WANT to live a wellness lifestyle), as well as professional considerations (who takes seriously an overweight wellness promoter "out of shape, unpleasant, achy, chronically tired and disgusted" with himself?). However, as with Carmichael, the former motive was quite sufficient. Personal reasons (wellness being its own reward, in other words) should be quite sufficient, as well, for anyone who reads 5 Essentials...

For readers who enjoy a step-by-step action plan, organized around five essential areas over a nine-week period, this book is just the thing. It provides a wide range of "commit period" recipes (my wife and I followed one for "cumin-dusted salmon over mixed greens with clementines" -- and it was incredibly delicious, as well as nutritious), testing protocols, helpful summaries as you go along, "Challenge Team" models and movement illustrations, interesting case stories, testimonials, tips on aging -- its all here.

However, a review of 5 Essentials... will never do justice to the extraordinary depth and range of the Carmichael Performance Program and the Carmichael Training Systems. A sense of Chris' operations can be appreciated not just by reading 5 Essentials... but by visiting his website, reading his other books and articles, scanning his elaborate training systems and looking over the stable of world class and other athletes who train using Carmichael performance methods.

Whether you are seeking to discover "the champion within" or simply want to boost your prospects for living well, you will benefit from Carmichael's guidance reading 5 Essentials for a Winning Life: The Nutrition, Fitness and Life Plan for Discovering the Champion Within.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of lifestyle habits. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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