C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

How to Gain Upper Body Mass AND Build a Big Bench Press      I received an email question a couple days ago that went something like this: “Hey, C.S.  I know you’ve probably written some articles about it already, but what is your advice right now for someone who wants to increase his bench press and build a lot of upper body muscle at the same time?  I’ve struggled to both increase my bench press weights and gain muscle, so I could use some advice.  Thanks a bunch!” (Emphasis added is mine.)      Well, my questioner is correct.  I do have a number of articles that I’ve already written on building a big bench press and I have a lot of articles for anyone who is looking to gain a lot of upper body muscle, but I figured, you know, what the heck, there’s no reason that I can’t write another one.  Also, I would have to assume that there are still a lot of modern gym-goers who train for just those goals.  I me...

  Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part Two: Bill Starr’s Secrets for Upper Body Bulk and Power +How to Move to a 4 Days a Week Program        This is, as the title indicates, the 2 nd part of our new, ongoing series on heavy, light, and medium training .   If you haven’t read it, then please go to Part One first before diving into this one.   This essay assumes an understanding of everything discussed in the first part.        Here, we will cover upper body training, and more specifically how to build your upper body pressing strength.   I’ll give you the great Bill Starr’s advice along with some of my personal insights.      I was never a strong presser, either on the bench press or on the overhead press.   The most I ever bench pressed in competition was just over 350 pounds in the 181-pound class.   Sure, that’s not bad for the average gym-goer—and, yes, I did win some local be...