C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  A State-of-the-Art Mass & Power Program for Outlandish Gains      I’m fond of some forms of training over others.   This doesn’t mean, however, that I believe there is one training program or method that reigns supreme.   Some may make such a claim as that.   HIT enthusiasts—who seem to think like the Highlander in that there can be only one —I’m looking at you.   But there are also individual lifters and coaches who stumble upon a program that really works well for them , and they declare it to be the one program that stands above all others.   No, I believe that there are quite a few different training methods and programs that are effective.   But some are decidedly better than others, depending on your goals.   I like full-body workouts, high-frequency training, Russian-style power programs, routines that utilize the “big 4,” and old-school “classical” bodybuilding routines.   Those are all different, by the...

  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...

  Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part 4: Building a Massive Back and Monstrous Pulling Strength      This is the 4 th part of our ongoing series on heavy, light, and medium training inspired by the methods of one of the greatest strength coaches to ever walk the planet, Bill Starr.   Once this series is finished, I hope that it will include everything one needs to know in order to train using this methodology.   If you haven’t done so already, or if this is the first article in the series that you’ve stumbled across, please take your time to read the other articles.   At the very least, you need to read the first part before continuing here.   It lays the foundation that the other articles are based upon, and the rest of the articles assume a working knowledge of that one.   So, here’s the links to the past essays in this series: Part One: How to design an H/L/M program Part Two: Upper body training Part Three: How to build a mas...

  Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part Three: How to Build a Massive Squat      In this, the 3 rd part of our series on heavy, light, and medium training, we’ll take a look at how you can build a superhuman squat using this form of training.   Make sure that you read Part One , as it covers the basics of H/L/M training, before continuing to this one.   Part Two is on “upper body training,” and it, too, would be good to read before continuing here, but not necessary.   As I mentioned at the end of that essay, if this series was a book and these posts were chapters, I’m not sure the order they would appear, outside of the first and last entry.   So, read Part One so that you will know the basics; this article assumes familiarity with all of the concepts presented there.   So, with that out of the way, let’s get on with it…   All Hail the King      The squat.   It has been hailed the king of all exercise...