C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

How to Gain Upper Body Mass AND Build a Big Bench Press      I received an email question a couple days ago that went something like this: “Hey, C.S.  I know you’ve probably written some articles about it already, but what is your advice right now for someone who wants to increase his bench press and build a lot of upper body muscle at the same time?  I’ve struggled to both increase my bench press weights and gain muscle, so I could use some advice.  Thanks a bunch!” (Emphasis added is mine.)      Well, my questioner is correct.  I do have a number of articles that I’ve already written on building a big bench press and I have a lot of articles for anyone who is looking to gain a lot of upper body muscle, but I figured, you know, what the heck, there’s no reason that I can’t write another one.  Also, I would have to assume that there are still a lot of modern gym-goers who train for just those goals.  I me...

 For this week's "Thursday Throwback" I have selected an article that I originally wrote for Planet Muscle Magazine  around 15 years ago.  What is interesting is that the article as I wrote it for PM was essentially a "redux" of an article I wrote in the late '90s for MuscleMag International  when I competed regularly in powerlifting - and bench press-only - competitions.  Jeff Everson - the publisher and editor of Planet Muscle  - actually sent me a "clipping" of my original MuscleMag  article, and asked me if I could re-write it, and make enough changes that it was different from my original (and therefore wouldn't violate any copyright laws).  And the funny thing - for me, at least - is that I could hardly even remember writing that original article.  Anyway, the article itself as it appeared in PM is still great, I think (I am a little prejudice since I did write the thing), for anyone that is looking to build his/her bench press but...