ere may even be criminal activities to fund drug habits; and the drug hab-
its themselves may be illegal, depending on the country concerned.. e high-set, lots-of-exercises, high-frequency, almost-live-your-life-in-the-
gym advice that claims to be training instruction for the masses comes from
at least three sources. First, from the very few bodybuilders who are so gifted
that they can gain very well from this instruction even without the assis-
tance of drugs. Second, from the far bigger number of trainees who have
learned that almost any training program will work if they get into serious
drug abuse; but these people rarely mention the importance of drugs. ird,
from armchair trainers who have absolutely no idea of what constitutes
effective training for the typical hard gainer.. In an activity where the vast majority of its participants are genetically
typical, we have the amazing situation of instruction that is appropriate for
the masses being very hard to find. Generally speaking, the training world
focuses on the achievements and training of the competitive minority. Even
when instruction appropriate for the masses is publicized, it is usually
downright misunderstood by those who are buried in conventional dogma.. e number of people who have tried weight training is astonishing. Out of
almost any random selection of adults you will find a big number who have
been members of a gym at some time. Hardly any of them, if any, will still be
training, and probably none of them will have obtained even a small fraction
of the results they were led to believe they would.. Of course the lack of adequate application and persistence accounts for part
of the failure the masses experience with weight training. But it is the lack
of consistent, practical and effective information for typical people that is
mostly to blame.. Training instruction does not just have to be effective; it has to be practi-
cal. Most adults have demanding jobs and family lives. Time and cash to
devote to training are in short supply. Instruction must not make excessive
demands upon time and money if it is to be practical for the masses.. I am only one of the many who had the perseverance—or insanity, depend-
ing on how you look at it—to find out what does work through years of
personal experience and observation. To have come through all this, to have
“seen the light,” to know the huge cost involved, and then see others follow-
ing the same path of misery, is heart-rending.