C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

I hope that everyone who reads my blog—and even those of you who have just stumbled upon it—will take the time to view some of the videos below. They are some of my favorites. Although Jack Lalanne is gone, it's nice to know that we can still watch and listen to him as he tells it like it is.

One of my all-time heroes, Jack Lalanne, died yesterday. I'm not sure if—as popular as he was—Lalanne ever got his just due. Modern "fitness" experts (and I use that term rather loosely considering a lot of the current crop of "experts") couldn't hold a candle to old Jack. If you don't believe me, then ponder this: What current "expert" could do a 1,000 push-ups and a 1,000 pull-ups in just over one hour? The answer: not one. But Lalanne could. He's due more respect among bodybuilders, as well. (And if you don't believe that, just look at the picture above.) His physique in the '40s was as good as anyone (though, admittedly, not as large as others.) In honor of him, I thought I would post the article below. It's from 1949, but it's words ring as true now as they did back then. (Maybe even more true, considering the fact that so few lifters want to work hard these days.) Strength and Endurance by Jack Lalanne The ques...

Now that 2010 is come and gone—and now that a whole slew of people (some of you reading this) are in the midst of attempting to succeed at their New Year's resolution—I thought I would post my pick for the "Best Article of 2010." If you know me—or at least my writings—then you won't be surprised by my pick. I've selected Bill Starr's article that appeared in the March '10 issue of Iron Man magazine entitled "Make it Harder: There are No Shortcuts on the Road to Building Strength." And if you are truly interested in succeeding at your resolutions, then this article is a must read. Enjoy. (And maybe in the near future, I'll post my "honorable mentions" for 2010.) Make it Harder There are No Shortcuts on the Road to Building Strength Bill Starr The current trend in strength training and the fitness world is to come up with some new piece of equipment or a training system that isn’t demanding but that ...

For those of you who still read articles in print—and not just stare at a computer screen for all of your bodybuilding, powerlifting, mass-building info—I have two new articles out in magazines this month. First, in the February '11 issue of Planet Muscle , I have an article entitled "400 Pound Bench and 50" Chest." What makes this one unique is that it's actually a re-print of one that I already had in PM about a year ago. However, they said that it was "hands down, their most popular article of the last two years." Their words, not mine. Pretty cool. And, in the February '11 issue of Iron Man , I have an article entitled "X-Factor Arm Workouts." I don't usually write "body part training" articles, so if I did, then you know it's going to be different.