- Putting it all together
. e clear vision on hindsight presented in this chapter specifically applies
to when I was in my late teens and early twenties. is was a time of my life
when I had few responsibilities, and the chance to be well rested all of the
time. I also had gung-ho motivation and good recuperation. us I could
push my body full-bore for longer periods than I could later in life, and I
could productively train each exercise more often. Applying the same per-
spective to a body twenty years older would be the same in principle, but
there would be some modifications. ese may include a reduced volume
of work, shorter workouts, reduced training frequency for the big exercises,
and a greater attention to keeping overlapping exercises on the same day
each week rather than spreading them over the week.. Regardless of what you have or have not done in the past, today is the start
of the rest of your life. Now you have the chance to train correctly and start
to make the progress you could only dream about while being lost in inferior
training approaches.. e points in this chapter may seem dictatorial. is chapter is not, how-
ever, the definitive word on weight training. It does not have to be. But if all
of this chapter was written in stone, and laid down as law in all gyms the
world over, the instruction would work for so many people for so much of
the time that it would probably be the most important contribution ever to
the Iron Game history.. Something does not have to be “the last word” for it to be of benefit to the
masses. Apply something that works well, i.e., the priorities given in this
chapter, and you may never even want to bother looking for “the last word.”. Never, let your attention waver from progressive poundages in good
form. Never, that is, until you no longer want to build stronger and bigger
muscles.. ere are many interpretations of the abbreviated and basics-first training
philosophy that this book is all about. No matter which interpretation you
use, the bottom line is the same—progressive poundages in good form.. Apply this “progressive poundages in good form” dictum to your own train-
ing, now, and make the most of the next few years of your training life. You
cannot correct the errors of the past, but you can get your act together for
the future.