C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Variations on the 10 Sets of 10 Reps Method for One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Training      Since the ‘90s, I’ve preached the benefits of one-exercise-per-bodypart workouts in articles I wrote for Ironman magazine and MuscleMag International .  The very first method that I touted was the 10 sets of 10 reps workout.  Back in the last century, when I still trained as a bodybuilder before my “conversion” to powerlifter, I did most of my hypertrophy workouts using the standard multiple exercises per muscle group for multiple sets—typically 3 to 4 lifts per bodypart for 3 to 4 sets of (somewhere between) 6 and 12 repetitions.  I’d hazard that’s still the way most bodybuilders train in today’s gyms.  Back then, I was “chasing the pump” in most of my workouts.  I noticed something, though. I would often start a workout with a good pump on my first exercise but when I switched to a new one, I would lose my pump or it would diminish somewhat.  ...

On Striving to do Fewer Things Better      In my recent Go Heavy or Go Home essay, I discussed Pavel Tsatsouline’s “7 rules of Russian training.”  The last of the rules is “You must strive to do fewer things better.”  In this essay, we will look at the importance of this rule and some various training strategies to accomplish it.      I often write about the different reasons that lifters don’t get the results out of their training that they’re looking for.  Not using the right movements, following so-called bro-split routines that are also coupled with too many machine and cable exercises, along with jumping from program-to-program are just a few of the workout ideas that I’m apt to rail against.  For these reasons and some others, there are a lot of average gym-goers—even ones who have been “training” for years on end—who don’t look like they lift.      The best programs often involve doing...