training world, the pioneers are forgotten. Even the people who today claim
the “new” training ideas and equipment designs are usually totally ignorant
of the fact that men long-since dead came up with the original ideas and
designs ages ago.. As Charles A. Smith told me shortly before his death in January ,
“You never know how important good health is until you no longer have
it.” ink about this. Dwell on it. Make it one with you while you still have
your health, not when it is too late. Avoid all harmful habits, activities and
environments. Look after yourself! (Charles Smith was one of the major
figures at Joe Weider’s magazines in the fifties.)Failure of “one size fits all”
. e training world is forever churning out “new” approaches that are claimed
to be “the” way to train. Never mind that what is claimed as “new” is only a
rehash of something that has been around for decades. What is dangerous
is the claimed universality and definitiveness of whatever is being touted.. Many programs are not to be taken seriously because they were devised only
for a quick commercial killing, and a few are outrageously expensive. Some
programs do have specific aspects that may have practical value. But these
aspects can only be selected by people who are highly knowledgeable about
weight training.. A single program, even if it works well for some people, will not work well
for everyone; and some heavily hyped programs are dangerous for all but a
very small minority of trainees, and thus should never be promoted for mass
use.. Avoid seeking the “perfect” training routine. Once on that slippery slope you
will join the mass of trainees who are buried in all the peripheral, downright
irrelevant or even destructive aspects of training. Instead, knuckle down,
long-term, to paying the necessary dues on basic, straight-forward, sound
and abbreviated training programs as described in this book. ese pro-
grams cover trainees of all levels of experience who want bigger and stronger
muscles. One of the biggest and most disastrous errors in the training world
today is the belief that programs like those in this book are only for beginners.