The Psychology of Radical Physical Transformation: Constructing the Superager

To change your body, you must first change your mind.

Albert Camus once observed, “Man is the only animal that refuses to be what it is.” Dr. Ken Davis, majordomo at Davis Advanced Health Systems, and elite coach Marty Gallagher assist men and women who refuse to be what they are. Davis and Gallagher transform people for a living. These two transformational masters have decades of in-the-trenches experience showing people how to metamorphosize physiologically. They relate with empirical certainty that those who succeed in engineering a vital physical transformation using all natural modes and methods share a unifying mental characteristic: they all are highly motivated, daresay, and driven.

No one casually or offhandedly ignites a dramatic physical transformation. Those who succeed positively burn for transformation. Transformation begins in the mind. Physical transformation emerges from a profound dissatisfaction with the current shape and condition of the body. This bodily dissatisfaction intensifies until remedial action is eventually undertaken. To succeed, the transformative acolyte must have:

• The right situation  
• The right training regimen
• The right dietary protocols
• The right mindset

To succeed, one must identify, adopt, and set into simultaneous motion all components of the transformative process. Radical improvements in physique and performance require the implementation of the “transformational triumvirate,” a balanced melding of resistance training, cardiovascular training, and precision nutrition. The successful shapeshifter underpins savage training and unwavering nutritional strictness with sustained adherence. The “process,” on average, takes three months to complete. The process is executed with the thoroughness of a military campaign.

Periodization is another name for intricate preplanning used to periodize and establish overarching goals in a wide range of interrelated disciplines. Each successive week of the process, reach these attainable goals in a wide range of disciplines over a protracted period—power the effort by consistently obtaining irrefutable gains in performance and physique. Improvement creates motivation. Motivation needs continual refueling. Results refuel motivation.

Transformational training is necessarily intense. In every training session, the trainee seeks to push to the limits of their capacity – capacity on that particular day, at that point in time. Unless an effort is relatively herculean, the adaptive response (hypertrophy/body fat oxidation) will not happen. A submaximal effort is insufficient to remold the body. The body does not favorably reconfigure itself in response to doing things of which it is already capable.

The nutritional approach is rooted in nutrient quality. Detoxification occurs as the trainee weeds out chemically polluted foodstuffs, empty calories, fast food, sweets, and highly processed refined carbohydrates. The quality of the nutrients consumed becomes paramount; eliminate “dirty calories.” Detoxification has the unintended consequence of improving mental clarity while simultaneously amplifying energy levels.

Many roads lead to transformational Rome. Physical transformation is a process, not an event. Periodization is transformational preplanning. A classic “periodized cycle” is typically 12 weeks long with four 4-week “micro” cycles tucked inside the overarching three-month macro-cycle. Periodization requires the establishment of overarching goals that are realistic yet motivating.

Establish the various performance and physique goals. Establish weekly benchmarks by reverse-engineering (from the overview endpoint) backward to a starting point. Eat the periodized elephant one small bite at a time. Any goal rendered numerically can be periodized. Nutrition and body composition goals are periodized. Body composition manipulation is a fundamental goal of “the process.”  Powering the entire effort is a mental recalibration that underpins every aspect of the process.

• Channeling dissatisfaction: Profound dissatisfaction is used to birth something profound: negativity is jujitsu-ed and morphs into psychological incentive. The poor self-image becomes the genesis for the institution of the transformative process. An urgency must propel our efforts to remold the body. Those that are successful make adherence to the process a priority.

• Willpower: Willpower is forcing oneself to do something we would rather not. No one needs to use willpower to engage in something enjoyable. Willpower is a finite mental propellent. Eventually, willpower exhausts itself. Willpower initiates processes and protocols. Enthusiasm needs to come online to replace willpower. Enthusiasm is continually reenergized by attaining actual physiological results.

• Enthusiasm: Results birth enthusiasm, enthusiasm births motivation, and motivation creates adherence. Adherence to the proper modes and methods triggers dramatic improvements in physique and performance. Results need to appear, and enthusiasm needs to be birthed before willpower dwindles out. Willpower kickstarts the training and nutrition; enthusiasm takes over from willpower – but only if results appear.      

• Psyche: A recalibrated mindset improves training results. “Psyching up” before an all-out training effort (resistance training, cardio) indisputably improves results compared to a non-psyched state of mind. There are dozens of psyche-up techniques, ranging from sensible to comical and becoming centered and psyched before all the effort generates exponentially better results than a casual, nonchalant mindset.

• Adherence: Adherence is directly proportional to results: the more significant the results, the easier and deeper the adherence. Results appear in many guises: you could add ten pounds or two reps to last week’s best deadlift, lose 1.5 pounds of body weight, improve your best 30-minute rowing machine time, go all week without any sugar products and experience a detoxing energy surge – results take many forms.

• The hormonal after-glow: Intense physical training causes the body to release a flood tide of beneficial hormones; adrenaline commences a training session. In direct proportion to the severity of the training effort, endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, growth hormone, et al., are fuel injected into the bloodstream. The effect is a predictable post-workout “afterglow,” a result of the exercise-induced hormonal tsunami.     

The first fourteen days are critical. There is no easing into the process, nor are there any cheat days, cheat meals, or cheat anything. The trainee’s high hopes and expectations generate terrific initial enthusiasm and adherence to kickstart the process. Enthusiasm fades, and now willpower takes over. Results need to appear before willpower flames out. Those who tenaciously adhere to proper protocols can expect results to unfold as follows:

• End of 14 days- Detoxification creates a spike in energy and vitality.
• End of 21 days- Metabolism shifts from carb-burning to fat-burning, visible physiological changes.
• End of 30 days- Friends, family, and coworkers comment on noticeable physical changes.
• End of 60 days- The trainee discovers how to attain and reside in a “metabolic sweet spot.”
• End of 90 days – Transformed: irrefutable, mind-blowing improvement in physique and performance.

To everything, there is a season. Every method, no matter how sophisticated or effective, has a shelf-life. The pros wring all the gains from a weight training regimen, an aerobic mode, or a dietary approach. They recognize when progress stalls and will rotate in a new and wildly contrasting mode or method, something to shock-blast the complacent body out of its sluggish torpor. Slight changes are no changes at all.

When a system has proven effective and runs dry, stick it in your arrow quiver for future use: it has proven its effectiveness. Now, we should adopt completely different training and dietary strategies. Contrast is king when it comes to stagnation-busting. The transformational template is easy to grasp, challenging to implement, and requires serious mental recalibration: to change your body, you must first change your mind. Create realistic yet motivating goals, and eat that periodized elephant one small and delicious bite at a time.