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[Definitie:] "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance."
(Wilmore and Costill) 
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2 1 - 0 6 - 2 0 0 5 New biography shines light on Schwarzenegger's use of controversy
BY DION NISSENBAUM
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - (KRT) - Long before he derided political opponents as "losers" and "girly men," long before he publicly derided California nurses as special interests whose butt he was kicking, Arnold Schwarzenegger made courting controversy a hallmark of his career.
Much the way Muhammad Ali mocked, lampooned and ridiculed his opponents, the cocky Austrian bodybuilder used psychological warfare to rattle his competitors.
Now, a new biography that spotlights the California governor's ability to use controversy to his advantage is generating some controversy of its own.
Written by veteran biographer Laurence Leamer, "Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger" is the first biography to examine the three main acts of Schwarzenegger's life: bodybuilding, acting and politics.
Schwarzenegger's willful courting of controversy has served him well in bodybuilding and Hollywood, said Leamer. But it's not working as well in politics.
"Controversy is the quickest way to create publicity," said Leamer, who said the governor was just using his tried-and-true tactics to get his way when he began belittling his critics. "What he didn't realize was that once he declared war on the California political establishment, this isn't a movie where he can mow down hundreds of his enemies. They're going to strike back as brutally and efficiently as he did."
Throughout his life, Schwarzenegger has always excelled at his professions by setting out to be the best, Leamer said. Schwarzenegger put controversy to use at a young bodybuilder who reveled in belittling his challengers. "We European bodybuilders have little respect for the American bodybuilder!" Schwarzenegger said in a 1970 Muscle Builder/Power magazine article on the eve of an historic battle for Mr. Universe against his idol, Reg Park. "He is an unsporting, big-talking, no-action coward."
The taunts, recounted in "Fantastic," did the trick. They sparked outrage in the bodybuilding world and generated more attention for Schwarzenegger, who went on to defeat Park in the contest.
Schwarzenegger adapted and evolved as he worked his way to the top of both bodybuilding and the entertainment industry, Leamer said. "The question is: Is he learning now? Is he evolving now?" he said. "He's got to evolve dramatically, if he's going to succeed."
Leamer isn't counting Schwarzenegger out as he gears up for the Nov. 8 special election. But he sees a need for the Republican governor to step up, admit his mistakes and figure out how to win back the millions of Californians who helped put him in office.
Efforts to generate publicity for the book ran into trouble earlier this month when an NBC publicist raised concerns that they could not interview Leamer because Schwarzenegger's wife, Maria Shriver, a former NBC correspondent, might object.
The director of publicity at St. Martin's Press, Leamer's publisher, wrote the author saying he sensed trouble after a lunch with "Today Show" producer Andrea Smith in March.
"Just back from lunch with Andrea at `Today.' She says, `I don't think we can do it because of Maria,'" St. Martin's John Murphy told Leamer in a e-mail obtained by the San Jose Mercury News and first reported by the New York Times.
Later that day, Smith sent Murphy a follow-up e-mail, asking him if he could get Shriver to green light Leamer's appearance. "Any way you can ask Maria to call me so I can just make sure she is OK with us doing the Leamer book," Smith wrote.
Shriver had reason to be concerned about "Fantastic." While the book generally offers a favorable look at her husband, it also sheds more light on some of his alleged affairs, including a longtime relationship with Gigi Goyette, a former actress who told Leamer she served as Schwarzenegger's "avenue of relaxation" and that the two of them engaged in what she described as "outercourse" out of respect for the actor's relationship with Shriver.
Smith did not return phone calls and e-mails for comment. But Lauren Kapp, a senior communications manager at NBC News, issued a statement saying that they had little interest in having Leamer on the show.
"Had we, Maria would have had no say in our decision on whether to interview the author," she stated. "The suggestions that Maria Shriver, or anyone else for that matter, has veto power over who we book runs counter to NBC News policy."
Aides to Shriver and Schwarzenegger both declined to comment on the issue or the book.
As a biographer, Leamer has devoted three books to members of the Kennedy dynasty. But never before, he said, had one of his subjects had such an impact on him.
"He's an amazing man," said Leamer. "I personally have learned a lot from him. I'm a more focused person. I'm a more positive person. I've picked up a lot of things from this man."
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