C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  A Bill Starr-Inspired Program for Advanced Strength and Power Athletes      One of my favorite programs for strength athletes is the heavy-light-medium program as it was designed by Bill Starr.  I’ve written about the HLM system aplenty over the years—including my recent 7-part series on how to train with it.  (Consider this an unofficial Part 8.)  Once you’ve used it for a lengthy period of time, it’s wise to add an extra session so that you are training more than just 3 days a week.  This is exactly what Starr himself recommended.  He utilized a heavy-light-light-medium system for this extra day of training.  If you’ve been training Monday (heavy), Wednesday (light), and Friday (medium) then you move to an extra light day on Tuesday, one with an even lower workload than the Wednesday workout.  I have recommended that exact plan myself.  However, as the years have gone by and I have trained more and more lifters, ...

  Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part 7: How to Design a Powerlifting Program Using the H/L/M System      At the beginning of February, I started this series on H/L/M training using the methods of the late, great, and, hell, legendary Bill Starr.   For now, I believe this will be the last in the series, although I will still probably do a few more here and there when there is interest or when I think of a subject.   Also, April 7 th was the 10-year anniversary of his death, and I have the intention of using this series—along with other articles and essays that I’ve done in the past—to publish a book on Starr sometime later this month in honor of him.      Since this is—as the subtitle above indicates—the 7 th part of this series, you might do well to familiarize yourself with the previous installments.   At the very least, read parts 1 through 4, as those cover similar concepts as this article, and it will allow you to se...

    Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part 5: An H/L/M Miscellany – On Variation and Advanced Options      This is the 5 th part of our ongoing series on heavy, light, and medium training based on the coaching of the (always) great strength writer extraordinaire Bill Starr.   If you haven’t done so, then please read the other parts before reading this.   If you don’t read them, then the rest of this essay may be a bit confusing—unless, of course, you are already familiar with Starr’s methodology, in which case you can just jump right in here.   When I presented parts 2 through 4, I mentioned that you at least needed to have read part 1 before reading any of those, though it wasn’t necessary to read the other parts aside from the 1st.   With this essay, it’s good to read part 1 and be familiar with the other parts.   This article will discuss bits from all of the previous installments and assumes a working knowledge of those pieces. ...