body much more responsive than the archetypal hard gainer’s. I wish I had
gotten a body like that.. Very high achievers need to appreciate that they were blessed with good
genetics for building strength and muscle, and that blessing gave them a
body more robust than the typical person’s. A minority of people do not get
injured easily. But it is that minority which has such a powerful influence
in educating the exercise world. Because their bodies are so robust, many
of them are largely unaware that certain practices may result in less robust
individuals getting injured.. Easy gainers almost always fail to understand how it is on the other side of
the gaining table, though some fail much more miserably than do others. A
very few of these coaches, however, do know the real score because they have
sympathetically worked with many archetypical hard gainers.Injuries arise from ignorance
. ere was nothing “unlucky” about the injuries I suffered. I got all my inju-
ries because I used poor form in good exercises, and used some exercises
that are bad almost no matter how you do them. All the training injuries I
have sustained were avoidable.. I got hurt because I was so committed to training hard—I had the zeal that
would make even the most macho coaches proud. I am all for training inten-
sity; but first I am into proper and safe form, because full-bore intensity is
ruinous when combined with poor form and/or bad exercises.. Good exercise technique and prudent exercise selection is so obviously the
priority, when you really think about it. It should not be necessary to have to
justify it.The conservative approach
. I am more conservative in my exercise prescriptions and proscriptions than
most trainers and writers. e exercise world, generally speaking, is not con-
servative. Consider all the exercise distortions that have been promoted over
the years.. I am not the first person to criticize specific exercises. Dr. Ken Leistner has
been criticizing the power clean for decades, and like me is no fan of the
good morning, press behind neck, hack squat, or barbell and -bar rows.