C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Re-Thinking “Light” Day Training and the Need for “Play” in Your Workouts      In my last essay on Spring Training , I mentioned briefly that summertime is, from a training perspective, the time for “play.”  This is not the essay for summer training—we’ll save that, you know, come summertime—but I do want to discuss the need for lifting sessions that are play no matter the season or how it is that you train.  That’s right.  All year-long, you should do at least some “play” workouts where you experiment with new things, try out some “odd” lifts or set/rep sequences, and, perhaps above all, just have some fun .      One of the best times for play is during your “light” day sessions, whether you follow a structured program such as Bill Starr’s heavy-light-medium system or if you are just more intuitive about it and throw in a light workout when you feel as if your body could need or use it.  Play is essential for cont...

  It’s About More Than Just Resting and Recuperating      In my last essay on “Plateau Busters,” I mentioned briefly the importance of proper recovery when your progress has stalled.   But recovery is important all the time.   If you do it “right,” then you won’t have too much stalled progress in the first place.      Part of the issue with recovery methods, at least in the West, is that too much emphasis on training is placed around volume, intensity, and “rest and recuperation.”   The prevailing understanding for most lifters—and I don’t want to generalize, but I believe this to be true—is that recovery will take care of itself if you train hard and then give your body plenty of time to “rest and grow.”   While that has some truth to it, I won’t deny, it’s not the whole picture.   Or, at least, it shouldn’t be.      I wish lifters would think more along the lines of proper programming . ...

  How to Utilize Light Workouts for More Strength, Power, Mass, and All-Around Athleticism      When it comes to “things that confuse the average lifter,” I think it’s possible that the light-day concept takes the cake.   A lot of lifters either never train with light days or they don’t know how to properly utilize and implement them.   In this essay, I would like to explain the correct implementation of light days—this information can be used by a variety of lifters, whether you’re a powerlifter, a bodybuilder, a competitive athlete, a fighter, or just an all-around fitness enthusiast.   Most of the ideas that will be presented here are not my own, I must admit, but are culled from the wisdom of strength coaches or bodybuilding writers (from bygone eras) such as Bill Starr, Tommy Suggs, Bradley Steiner, and John McCallum.   (It must also be noted that there is a decided “Russian” influence on my lifting philosophy, as well—not just here bu...