C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

My friend—and fellow iron-pumper—Jared Smith (a big, hulking power-bodybuilder) sent me the following training "mini-article". Jared has some good advice in this piece. And most of you who read this blog for training advice might actually follow it. (Unlike a lot of the so-called bodybuilders who read most of the newsstand mags.) So... here it is: Commercial Manipulation and the REAL Key to Massive Arms Jared Smith I can't tell you how man times I've picked up a magazine that only glorifies abs and biceps and tells you that the key to bigger arms is simply to curl until your brain goes numb. Before I even get into the meat and potatoes of the program I'll outline, don't get the idea that I am anti-curl, but the curl aint gonna put size on those arms. What puts size on your arms are the same things that put size on the rest of you: COMPOUND MOVEMENTS. Benches, dips, deadlifts,chins, squats. Now before the vast majority of everyone who reads this get co

Over the last few months, I've written a couple of articles for Mike Mahler that have appeared on his website—www.mikemahler.com—or in his "Aggressive Strength" magazine. In the past, I have enjoyed reading some of Mahler's articles on training—his stuff is not necessarily revolutionary but he is very good at assimilating ideas from great lifters both past and present. However, it was only recently—after reading a lot of his "Aggressive Strength Living" articles—that I came to appreciate just where Mahler's strength lies. Perhaps it's Mahler's background in Eastern philosophies—Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism—that causes me to like him so much, but I think it's more of the fact that he's not your typical "self-help", "positive thinking" sort of writer (as the article below will clearly show). I picked out the following article because it resonated with me, but I hope you will use it as a springboard to expl

Mike Mahler—over at www.mikemahler.com—puts out an excellent on-line magazine called "Aggressive Strength Magazine". The magazine always has plenty of great information, and best of all... it's free. (Mike, by the way, also seems like a wonderful person. He's one of the few vegan strength coaches/athletes that you'll find. Read over his personal articles and you'll see that he has a very spiritual side to him—we need more guys like that in the business.) The latest issue of "Aggressive Strength" is out, and I have an article in it entitled "3 Keys to Monstrous Muscle and Strength Gains". Here's the link to Aggressive Strength Magazine, Issue 176 .

Training Entry #2: The One with the Bottom-Position Squats... and the Poundage... and Tapping into The Source Sunday, January 17th Since my last training entry, several things have happened to me. For one—and this is the most impacting—I severely pulled a pectoral muscle. A couple of years ago, I had a partial pec tear, so I've had to take it kind of easy while training my chest muscles. However, even training easy didn't help in this case. I haven't let the minor setback keep me from training heavy, however. I have—since my last entry—been training quite heavy on squats, deads (various kinds), overhead presses (I can overhead press without much discomfort), and various sorts of upper-body pulling movements (chins, for instance). The other is that I have been using the 5 to 7 Method of training. (Read the post a couple below this one for more info on that form of training.) Now, on with this entry.... For the past several weeks, I have been lif

     Power Volume Training is a system that I came up with a few years ago, and wrote an article about it in the November, 2004 issue of Ironman.   Since that time, this is the one program that I have used more than any other when training someone who is solely interested in maximal strength—powerlifters, for instance.   Although mainly geared toward building strength, it’s also a great means of building muscle mass, especially when you have been performing workouts with higher reps.   (It would be a great form of training, for instance, after a couple months of Staggered Volume Training .)      Power Volume Training works by incorporating 4 distinct methods of training into one week of workouts.   The methods used are: Dynamic lifting Very heavy training—max singles, doubles, and triples; and never more than five reps Partial reps Frequent training      Like a lot of good methods of strength building, the parameters of this program aren’t set in stone.   However,

     There are several programs that I have touted on this blog because of their efficacy—the two that I get asked the most questions about would probably be the H-L-M system of training and the 3 to 5 method.  I like both of these systems for a few reasons: 1) They use full-body workouts. 2) They allow you to train your muscle groups frequently while still being fresh at each session.  And 3) while they are training templates  they both allow for enough variety to keep the lifter from getting stale and/or bored.      Now I would like to introduce another template of a training system that I think is even more effective for advanced strength athletes.  I call it the 5 to 7 Program .      The 5 to 7 Program works for advanced athletes because of a simple reason: it forces you to use more volume than with the other above systems.  (Despite the bull  that is often espoused in some of the various bodybuilding magazines, as you get more advanced you don't need less training you need mor

Staggered Volume Training      This little gem was designed by an exercise physiologist named Douglas Christ over a decade ago.   He claimed—and probably still does—that it’s the best program for maximizing growth hormone release.   I wasn’t sure about that claim when he first made it, and I’m still not sold.   However, what I do know is that it’s an excellent way to pack on some muscle mass when stuck in a rut, particularly when you have been pounding away at more heavy duty, low rep style routines.      Here are the three factors to making this program work: Always perform full-body workouts 3 days a week. Pick one exercise for each bodypart.   The exercises selected should be “bang-for-your-buck” ones—exercises that work a lot of muscle groups at once. Perform a high volume of work.   Depending on your fitness and strength level, you want to perform 8 to 12 exercises for 12 to 16 reps each.   Also—and here’s the kicker—perform all