C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

The Principle for Programming High-Frequency Workouts      I know that I’m probably beating the proverbial dead horse here, seeing as how I have gone on more than a few rants on the subject, but the main problem, as I see it, in modern training circles is the all or nothing mentality .  The training culture in America—I have the distinct feeling that it’s no different for my international readers—is one where we think a workout is “good” if it exhausts or fatigues you.  If you’re lying in a pool of sweat once the workout is finished, and the next day your muscles are sore to the bone, then, by God, it must have been an effective training session.  Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.  And if you’re chasing strength and power along with muscle mass, that method will fail you.       “If you want pain, learn Muay Thai. If you want to learn about failure, play golf. If you want to vomit, drink a syrup of ipecac...

Training Design for the “All-Around” Lifter      The popularity—or lack thereof—of many of my articles often surprises me.  Sometimes I will write an essay that I think will be a real hit—I spend several days crafting and honing it, giving it plenty of thought and time—only to find that it never really “takes off” or gets many reads.  On the flip side of that, I will occasionally write a piece in a flash of inspiration, giving hardly any thought to it but just allow my writing muse to take me where it will.  I also, quite often, don’t think that those works will be very popular, only to find that they get way more reads than many of my others.  My last article “ High-Frequency Grease-the-Groove Training - The Intuitive Approach ,” is a case in point.  I wrote it very quickly, in only a few hours, shortly after I came up with the idea while on a morning hike with my dogs Kenji and Kiko.  I was unsure if it would garner interest, but...

         The other day, after writing my recent article “Full-Body Workouts—Variety and Specialization,” I received an email that went something like this: “Okay, coach, I get it.  You like, and I mean really like, full-body workouts.  But let’s say that you could only do split workouts for the rest of your life instead of full-body training.  What split workouts would you use?  I guess I’m asking, and really just want to know, what are your favorite bodypart splits?”   That is, I admit, paraphrasing the email, but it captures the essence and tone of my questioner.  Also, there was a lot more to the email than just those few sentences, but for the sake of what I want to write about here, that covers it.      I replied to the email and then didn’t think about it until a couple days ago, when I was in the middle of my current full-body routine and thought it might actually be a good subject for an ...