C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Garrett Sloan's High-Volume Training for the Natural Bodybuilder Seeking Aesthetic Perfection Part One: 3-Way Split Training      In April, I posted an article on My Son’s High-Volume, High-Frequency Training .  There was enough interest in it that I wrote a follow-up in May titled High-Volume, High-Frequency Training for Quick Mass Gains .  The first article contained a little bit about my son’s training (that's his pic in the header), along with an overview of the 3 training variables of volume, frequency, and intensity, and the ways that they can (and should) be manipulated for achieving your training goals.  The 2nd article outlined a more detailed training program that anyone can use to begin a high-frequency, high-volume routine.  In this article and the other that will follow, I am going to outline in much greater detail exactly what my son Garrett does (and did) to build his outstanding, not to mention entirely natural , physique. ...

On Plain, Simple, but Effective Workouts and Progressive Training Programs       Zhazhou asked Nanquan, “What is the Way?”      Nanquan said, “Ordinary mind is the Way.”      “Just watch children playing.  Eat vegetable soup instead of duck stew” ~Matsuo Basho (the most famous haiku poet of Edo-era Japan; this was his advice to poets)      When in pursuit of our goals from resistance training—whether it’s size, strength, both, or just aesthetics—it’s only natural to look toward what you want to achieve down the road.  That is, after all, the reason that you are training to begin with.  You want to achieve.  You are in pursuit of mass and power.  Maybe you don’t want to just achieve but you want to excel.  But when we are constantly focused on the future, we take ourselves away from the now , the present moment where we are actually lifting.   ...

That is  the Question On the Importance (or Unimportance) of Spiritual “Experiences” such as Kensho and Satori in Budo Zen and Zen-Influenced Budo Are Experiences of Spiritual “Awakening” Important?  Should They be Purposely Cultivated?  Can Kensho be Achieved—as Some Budoka Claim—Through the Training of Budo Alone?       After writing the following, I have been hesitant to post it.  I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.  Nonetheless, I decided that I would go ahead and do so.  If you practice Zen, Budo, or both—or you have enjoyed reading my past essays on the subjects—then perhaps you will find something in it that is of interest.  It is, at times, deeply personal, as well, which had something to do with my hesitation in making it public.  I’m also unsure as to whether or not it conveys my thoughts adequately on the subjects it addresses, but if it helps even one reader, then that’s good enough.    ...