Because he's setting himself up as a guru in how to work out. Most who he wants to follow his advice don't want to look like him. A big hairy ham.
I've read a lot of his stuff.
he says everything starts with basic strength.
that's his main point.
you can't properly condition a weak body. its pointless to take a bunch of middle aged women who are extremely weak structurally (because the only exercise they've ever done is "jogging") and run them through a long series of conditioning drills. all you'll do is break them down.
and strength all starts with the squat. and the fact is that 99% of everyone on this board who say they CAN'T squat, CAN. they just don't want to. because its hard, humbling, and requires mental and physical discipline.
I know this because I was in my early 20's one of those guys half squatting 400+ when I wasn't strong enough to squat 225 properly. my knees hurt, my legs weren't growing and I was frustrated. but it was my ego that was holding me back. So I swallowed my pride and learned how to squat from the beginning. with 45 lbs. I read everything I could about squatting from guys like Rippetoe, Coan, Tate, etc.
Basically what I learned was that most people who don't actually compete in powerlifting overestimate their squat by about 150-200 lbs. They squat high, incorrectly, and too heavy and then they blame the exercise and not themselves when they're sore, beat up, and not any better than they were before.
