. Do less training, but do it perfectly. Less done properly is always better than
more done improperly.. Learn from your mistakes and unproductive training practices. Do not keep
repeating the same errors in the hope that more of the same will eventually
work.. Conserve your energy, and focus your effort. Always focus on the big basic
exercises—the builders, not the refiners.. If in doubt, consume more food rather than less, but without getting fat, and
rest more rather than less.. Do not ignore signs of protest from your body—aches and pains. If you
push too much, your body will stop you, eventually.. When you are feeling especially energetic, resist the temptation to add more
than your usual small poundage increment. Otherwise you will be unlikely
to be able to cope with that weight the following workout. e important
exception to this rule—and to rules ., . and .—is if you are near-
ing the peak workout of a cycle on almost-maximum singles and you feel
“ready for the big one.” In this case, it is not only okay to add a little more
weight than planned, but it is imperative. You may never feel that strong for
a long time, and perhaps never again if you are very close to realizing your
strength potential and are “on a roll.”. Haste truly makes waste, and encourages the use of steroids because of the
hurry to have big results immediately.. e names of the game are effort and progressive poundages, but the effort
must manifest itself in terms of progressive poundages. If you are driving
yourself very hard in the gym, but continue to use the same poundages, then
the effort is being wasted. Judge the effectiveness of your training by the
poundages you are moving, in good form, not by effort per se.. At the end of a cycle you are better off training “very hard” (but not to total
failure) for week after week, rather than training mega hard for one week,
exhausting yourself mentally and physically, and hitting a wall. Progressive
training means being able to do a little more next week or the one after, and
a little bit more again another week or two later, and on and on. If you take
yourself to the absolute limit this week, then you will have trouble doing the