C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

High-Volume Workout Variation for Continuous Hypertrophy Gains      The more advanced a bodybuilder gets, the more variation that he needs.  The late strength coach Charles Poliquin believed that a bodybuilder should make a change to his training at every 4th workout.  He thought that 3 workouts was about the limit for doing the exact same session.  This doesn’t mean to overhaul your training completely at every 4th workout.  It means making a couple to a few changes, while keeping the workout template the same.  I think this is pretty good advice.  Some highly advanced bodybuilders might need to make a minor change at every workout session and some bodybuilders, even advanced ones, might do well with a slightly less frequent change.  Overall, however, I think the advice is fairly sound.      One mistake that I think some modern bodybuilders make is doing too much variety in a single session.  Fo...

How to Build Muscle and Achieve the Physique You Want with High-Volume, High-Frequency Training      After penning my article on my son Garrett’s high-volume, high-frequency training, I had a couple of emails asking if I could write a program or explain in more detail what a workout routine would look like using his methods.  This is my response.      You don’t need to read that article first, but I’m not going to re-iterate the 6 “training types” that are contained within it.  So, here’s a LINK if you wish to read that one first and get your mind on better muscle-building “footing” as to what is being discussed in this article.      The workout routine I will suggest, and explain, here uses a high-volume, moderate (to high) frequency, and low-intensity methodology.  “Intensity” in this case is used as it is by strength and power athletes, but not typically bodybuilders, as a percentage of your 1...

High-Volume, High-Frequency Training and Realistic Muscle-Building for the Natural Bodybuilder      This article, I will admit, is in many ways nothing more than an excuse to show off my youngest son Garrett’s physique as seen above.  But since I have a good feeling that he has exactly the kind of body that most men would love to acquire, I also want to discuss his training philosophy and some lessons that you can learn from it.      First, however, let’s discuss the 3 training variables of volume, frequency, and intensity.  If you’re familiar with my point-of-view, you can skip ahead to the next paragraph.  If you’re not, then pay attention!  In order to get results out of resistance training, no matter your goals, you must properly balance and manipulate the 3 training variables of volume, frequency, and intensity.  Two of the variables need to be high (or one high and the other moderate) and the remaining v...