C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

     This is my 2nd Q&A article.  If you want to read the first one, click HERE .  Here are some random questions that I received of late. Question: Can I use the 3 powerlifts as the only exercises in my program but do them for higher reps in order to build muscle? Answer:  Maybe.  (I know readers don’t care much for it, but as I pointed out in our 1st Q&A piece, the answer to a lot of questions is “maybe” or “it depends.”)  So, also, it depends.      I think the squat and the bench press should be mainstays of all hypertrophy programs, or at least the squat and the bench along with some iterations.  Ultimately, you wouldn’t want to just do squats for your legs or bench presses for your chests.  But squats along with front squats and lunges would be about all you need.  Bench presses along with dumbbell benches and incline bench presses, both the barbell and dumbbell version, would also be...

Advice from Bill Starr (and Myself) for the Midlife Bodybuilders and Lifters      Last week, I overdid it.  I should know better.  Actually, I do know better.  But, like all former elite athletes I’ve ever met with decades of training under their lifting belts, there are workouts and weeks when I decide to do a little too much—train too heavy, do cardio that is  way too intense—if nothing than to see if I can still handle it.  Kinda stupid, I know.  But I still do it.  And every time that I do this, reality comes crashing back down to earth and I know I need to settle into a kinder, gentler training routine.  How do I know I overdid it?  Because I hurt like hell in my joints and pretty much want to take a nap all day long instead of staring at this computer screen and writing the very thing that you’re now reading.      If you’re in your 40s and 50s, and have trained for a considerable amo...