C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Thoughts on the Two-Barbell Rule      Over at T-Nation, Tony Gentilcore has an article where he mentions something he calls the “two-barbell rule.” [1]   The “rule” is pretty simple: At each training session, perform two barbell exercises before doing anything else.      Although I never thought about making this one of the “rules” of training, I like it.   In fact, a couple of things crossed my mind upon reading about it.   First, I wished I would have thought of it myself—it’s one of those things that’s so simple, it should be blatantly obvious to most lifters, but it’s not.   Second, I realize that I “do” this rule almost every time that I train myself or others.      The two-barbell rule—although simple, and although it should be obvious to most lifters—needs a little clarification.   What I would like to discuss here, then, is ways that you can make this “rule” work.   If applied properly, in fact, I think it can be the thing that takes your training from mediocre or

5 Keys to Mass… Fast  5 Principles for Building Massive Muscles in the Shortest Possible Time       If you’re reading this article, the chances are that you want exactly what the title implies: massive muscles.  And I bet there’s an equally good chance that you have been going at it all wrong.  It’s time to fix that!  What follows are 5 tips – along with training programs and other sagely muscle-building advice – for acquiring the most massively muscled body that your genetics are capable of building. Key #1: Squat, squat, and squat some more Jon Cole squatting heavy and deep      Whenever someone wants to know what they can do to build more muscle, I ask one question first.  Are you squatting?  If the answer is “no,” then I know that the lifter isn’t serious about building muscle or is misinformed about what entails good training.      Hard, heavy squats should be the cornerstone of any good mass-building program, whether you’re splitting your body several ways or whe

Almost every month now, I have an article in Planet Muscle (sometimes every other month—PM hits the newsstands 9 times per year). If you want to see the last 3 issues of PM—I have an article in each issue—then be sure to check out the new Planet Muscle website.  It's loads better than their old site. You can access it at the link below or by following the link to the right under all my favorites: http://www.planetmuscle.com/

When I first began training over 20 years ago, many things were the same then as they are now.  There were plenty of bad workout programs, and plenty of people “just working out” instead of following a training program. A lot hasn't changed. And, yet, a lot has.  Training advice is more readily available in our internet age, for better or for worse.  For better because there is a lot of really sound advice that can be found, assuming of course that you want to actually listen (or read) sound advice.  For instance – and not to toot my own horn, so to speak – I would have loved, when I first started lifting, to have an ever-present blog such as this one at my fingertips. For worse because any Tom, Dick, or Harry can now be an “expert” even though he/she may have very little knowledge.  But I think, overall, that the pros more than outweigh the cons. Also, even though it is often said that there is nothing new under the bodybuilding sun, training knowledge really

Total Body Mass Training      It’s become an old adage in bodybuilding training: “everything works, and nothing works for very long.”   Yeah, well, that’s true but some programs do work better than others.   As a strength trainer (of both myself and others), I’m always trying to come up with new ways to keep the muscle gains—and the strength that my lifters and I crave—coming.   Enter Total Body Mass Training .   As far as packing on slabs of muscle goes, this one is as good as it gets.   (And it also ain’t half bad in the strength department, either.)      For a strength and/or muscle-building program to be successful, it needs two factors in order to consistently work.   These factors are variety and stability .   At first, it might seem that the two factors are diametrically opposed to one another.   They’re not.   Let me explain.      Variety is important because without it your muscle gains will shortly stop cold in their tracks.   The more advanced you are (in terms o