C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Simple, Easy-to-Implement Strategies for More Size and Strength        If the titles of workout articles are any indication, America doesn’t know how to train.   I can’t speak for other countries, since I haven’t lived anywhere else.   In the past, I have spent some time in Asia for work, and if my visits there were any indication, then I don’t think the rest of the world trains much better.   So I guess there’s that.      Now, if you know anything at all about proper training, and if you walked into any gym anywhere in America, you’d probably come to the same conclusion—that Americans simply don’t know how to train—so why am I singling out the titles of English-language workout articles?   The reason is simple.   Almost every single article I have seen lately—to a friggin’ tee—has almost the exact same title, and it goes something like this: “I did (fill-in-the-blank) for (fill-in-the-number of days...

  An Old-School Program for Shirt-Busting Biceps and Titanic Triceps       This essay is the start of a planned series on old-school, real bodybuilding training.   It is a follow-up, however, to an article I wrote earlier this month entitled “Real Bodybuilding the Old-School Way.”   That article has proven popular enough that I figured there would be interest in an entire series on the subject.   So, I guess this is technically the 2 nd part, even though I never intended that first one as part of a series when I wrote it.      I would advise reading that article before continuing here (and not just because it will help you understand this article but because I think it’s a pretty damn good read even if, you know, I’m a bit biased), but the gist of it boils down to this:   Old school bodybuilders built impressive size, strength, and definition (before the advent of large amounts of PEDs) by following 3 “stages” of tr...

  How Classic Bodybuilders Gained Mass, Sculpted Their Physiques, and Achieved Fantastic Condition!          Ever since I first picked up a muscle magazine in the 1980s, I have loved the old-school, classic bodybuilders from the decades that came before me.   I realize that I’m old enough that even my training heyday of the ‘90s is now considered “old-school,” which, if I’m being entirely honest, seems quite odd to me.   However, when I think of old-school, I think of the “silver era” of bodybuilding (roughly the ‘40s and ‘50s) along with the “golden age” of bodybuilding (‘60s and ‘70s).      I still love those eras.   I love writing about those eras.   I love reading about those eras.   I love the training from those eras.      I think that the training wisdom from those bygone days of bodybuilding glory has a lot to offer the modern bodybuilder, especially the drug-free o...

       I may give the impression at times that I’m not a fan of split workouts.  That’s not true, of course.  I have a lot of split programs here on the blog—in fact, I’ve probably written considerably more split workout programs than full-body ones over the course of my writing career.  But it’s also true that I do have a certain disdain, and don’t try to hide it, for “modern” workout splits.  Programs where you train only one bodypart at each session, and take off a week between training sessions for individual bodyparts, pretty much drives me crazy.  And, of course, yes, I’m obviously a fan of full-body workouts.  Not only are they highly effective, but they’re probably the  best form of training for the “average” gym-goer, allowing you to train your muscles frequently (always a plus in my book), while also minimizing the amount of time that you have to go to the gym each week.  You just can’t beat workouts like th...