C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Some Advice for Choosing a Training Program      I have, over the years, occasionally received emails from readers who are confused over what training program to use (or how to design one of their own).  Most of them discover my blog, but then are confused due to, not just the overwhelming number of training programs that I write, but the seemingly disparate methods present.  I do, after all, write full-body programs, split training routines (of all kinds), low-rep programs, high-rep regimens, high-set programs, low-set routines, and everything in between.  Of course, if you were to really read over the whole of my material, you would find a “string” of training theory running throughout all of them.  But I also understand the confusion.  I received just such an email this morning from a reader who, with the New Year upon us, was looking for a workout program, but then wasn’t sure what to select after reading through a lot my material. ...

An 8-Week Program for Monstrous Mass and Power Gains      Over the years, I have often received the following question from a reader (though it comes in various guises): “If you could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, what would it be?”  I understand the question.  Or, at least, I understand where the question comes from.  Readers simply want to know what exercise I deem the best.      The truth is that I never really answer that question.  Mainly because I just don’t understand it. On what planet would I live where I could only do one exercise?  But as said, I do understand the rationale for the question in the first place.  And the answer I usually give is something along the lines of this: “Well, I don’t know about one exercise, but if I could only do a handful, they would be these (fill-in-the-blank).”  And the truth is, if I’m being quite honest, that I don’t always give the same ex...

  The TBMT Program      It’s an old adage in bodybuilding/strength communities—and I suppose it’s probably applicable in other arenas, as well—that “everything works, but nothing works for long.”  Or as I also like to say: everything works…for about 6-8 weeks.  Kinda similar to another adage that “the best program is the one you’re not doing.”  Well, you get the point.      Having said all of those cliched-but-still-true pithy little aphorisms, some programs definitely do work better than others.  It’s the reason that I’m always trying to come up with new, slightly different (from the programs you see in the “mainstream,” at least) training regimens.  When you have plenty of effective, result-producing programs in your workout arsenal, then you’ll always have something to go to when what you’re currently doing stops working at that 8-week mark (or before).  Enter Total Body Mass Building , or TBMT for ...