C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

On the Joy of Creative Training      I love training for many reasons.  Like a lot of lifters, I’ve always loved training because, more than anything else, I just loved the feel of moving heavy iron.  I also loved the kind of training that goes along with being incredibly strong.  I can think of fewer pleasures in life than a workout that involves near max sets of squats, bench presses, deadlifts, overhead presses, and curls.  But I also love training because I love the creativity of it all.  I am a creative, after all.  An artist.  Writing is one of the arts that my creative side is attracted to—not just attracted to but needs .  But I love lifting for the same reason that I love writing.  The gym is where I practice the art of training.      Training is both science and art.  If you neglect either side, you’re neglecting the full range of benefits that lifting provides.  Nowadays...

  Bradley J. Steiner, author of the original "Rugged Size and Strength Split Routine"      In the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, Bradley J. Steiner was the voice of (what he called) “sane, sensible” barbell training.   His workouts were full-body programs done 3 times per week, utilizing a limited number of big “bang-for-your-buck” movements such as squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench presses, overhead presses, barbell curls and the like.   They were intended for the average, drug-free lifter who didn’t have the luxury of living at Muscle Beach in Venice, California and training all day, but worked a full-time job, had a wife and kids—you know, a “regular” life—but still wanted to build a strong, impressive physique that could move some heavy iron and turn heads at the local swimming hole.      He wrote prolifically for (primarily) IronMan magazine up until the early years of this century.   When I started writing for IronMan i...

Bradley Steiner's "Rugged Size and Strength Program" Version 2.0 A.K.A.: The New, Improved, Totally Bad-Ass Rugged Size and Strength Program for 21st Century Mass and Power! Bradley Steiner flexing his well-developed arms.  This picture was taken sometime in the '70s.   Anyone who has read my blog with more than passing interest knows that one of my inspirations has always been Bradley Steiner (sometimes his name would appear as Bradly J.  Steiner).  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Steiner, he wrote a LOT of really good articles for the old IronMan  magazine in the '70s and '80s, and he wrote a monthly column for them for decades, into the 21st century. Steiner was the  voice of basic, sensible, but tough  programs using full-body workouts.  In turn, he inspired a lot of other writers (Stuart McRobert probably was the most well-known) who wrote for IronMan  starting in the '80s, and continuing to this day.  And his training prog...