- given the squat the highest priority, but I should have realized the assistance
value of the leg press. at I never pursued the leg press seriously until after
I was forced to by knee injuries, is one of the regrets of my training life.
But not having fully exploited the squat is a much bigger regret. e knee
injuries I suffered were caused by poor squatting form, including using a
board under my heels. At the time I was doing this form of squatting I was
unaware of the eventual consequences. My imaginary mentor would never
have allowed me to squat with a board or plates under my heels.. ough my body structure is better suited to deadlifting than squatting,
with the expert coaching of my mentor I would have managed to squat
well, and certainly much better than what I managed as I struggled along in
ignorance during my actual youth. By being able to exploit the magnificent
potential of the squat I would have taken a giant stride towards excellence in
muscle and might.. At least in some cycles I should have given serious attention to the parallel
bar dip. As it was I had a bench press fixation. e dip, done in good form,
is a terrific exercise that is much underused. It is at least as productive as the
bench press.. e great majority of my training focus should have gone on the primary
fivesome, and the balance should have covered the secondary exercises (the
accessories). Secondary work would only have been done after the sched-
uled exercises from the major fivesome had been trained. When intensity
was so high on the primary fivesome that I would have little energy left for
anything else, I would have cut back elsewhere.. I should have stayed with the same exercises for year after year, and per-
sisted, and persisted with the same productive formula. My wise dictator
would have shielded me from anyone who might have offered negative com-
ments on my training. I would have been unaware that any other exercise or
training methods existed.. I would have done a moderate amount of stretching a few times a week. I
would not have got hung up on it, but neither would I have neglected it. I
would have ignored aerobic work until I was into my thirties, preferring to
keep almost total focus on what meant the most to me—weight training.