C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Journal of Strength Monday, November 17, 2014      Today I did something that—to some lifters, at least—might seem rather odd.   I performed a full-body workout of whatever I felt like doing, for relatively moderate to high reps.   I had no idea what I was going to do, with the lone exception of the first exercise, until I actually started training.      This might seem even more odd for those of you who read this blog regularly, which includes me often praising—rather highly, I might add—the benefits of high-frequency training for multiple sets of low reps.      And here’s the thing: I actually think the kind of workout I did today can be highly effective, for a certain segment of the lifting population, at least.      First, a little backtracking is in order.      Last week I mentioned that I have been training using a regular program of high-set singles for the past few weeks.   I also mentioned in a previous post that I have been having some pain and numbnes

     While reading Nick Horton’s good blog “The Iron Samurai” the other day [1] , I came across this quote by the samurai Yamaoku Tesshu: “ In order to learn about the Way, forget about self and awaken to the truth… Exerting self is a mistake… We should not say “myself” — in truth there is no such thing… When there is no thought of self, true Bushido develops.” the samurai, and Zen master, Yamaoku Tesshu      The essence of Bushido is summed up in the last sentence.      When there is no thought of self, true Bushido develops .      Bushido—for those of you who are unaware—is often translated as “the way of the warrior” or, a more literal definition, “the samurai’s way.”   It is the way of one who practices Budo.   (Budo means “martial path”.)      I have often thought of lifting as a form of Budo, and my gym as the dojo.   (This is one reason that I enjoy lifting at home, in my garage dungeon gym.   It is not commercial, and, therefore, becomes more of a dojo tha

Journal of Strength Wednesday, November 12, 2014      My current workout program is a bit haphazard.   But it’s also enjoyable and effective for my current goals.      It’s haphazard in the fact that I pretty much do whatever I feel like on whatever days I feel like training.   Of course, to be honest, that’s not entirely the case, but it’s close to it.   There is some structure—I always begin each workout with high-set singles of one exercise.   I rotate between a few different exercises.   Deadlifts, power cleans, power snatches, full snatches, clean and presses, or one-arm dumbbell presses are the typical exercises, although occasionally I will do flat bench presses or squats.   Also, I sometimes do two exercises for high-set singles instead of just one, and I always finish the workout with two or three additional exercises of whatever I feel as if I should do, for two or three sets each of whatever rep range I feel like doing.      There is structure, t

     As of late, I have—for multitudinous reasons—found it hard to write very much.   (Please forgive me, in fact, if I have yet to respond to anyone’s email questions—I will as soon as possible.)   Not that writing itself, per se, is hard.   Once I sit down to my computer, open up Word, or once I sit down on my couch, notebook in hand, I find writing to be—while not the easiest thing—not much of a chore.   No, I have been busy with so many other things that, unfortunately, I just haven’t found the time to write much on my blog.   And when I have found the time, I have attempted to work on some articles, or some other stuff that actually makes me money writing—or, at least, has the potential to make money.      Despite my inability to write as much as I need to, I would really like to write on this blog more, despite the fact that I don’t know if I always have something very important to write about.   (Most of my writing here, in fact, is very much the same stuff s

      The following article is a combination of a couple of different articles I wrote for some different magazines, and a few brief posts that I've written on this blog in years' past.  I hope you enjoy the outcome—and find that it offers some valuable insight, AND a kick-ass training program for packing on the mass! Old School Muscle Training Strategies of the Classic Bodybuilders      Most bodybuilders today think that newer is always better; doesn’t matter if it’s the latest pill, protein powder, diet, or workout program.   Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not always the case.   I think it’s time some of the old-school training strategies once again saw the light of day.   In fact, I think if you combine many of the ideas of the “old-timers” with today’s state-of-the-art supplements, the results could be amazing.       In the following article, I’m going to outline many of the best strategies the old-time bodybuilders had for building slabs of

Three On/ One Off Redux A New Twist on an Old Classic      When I began lifting weights – sometime in the late ‘80s – there was really only one training split that most bodybuilders used: the three on, one off scheme.  For any of you unfamiliar with this split, it works like this: You split your body three ways, and then you train for three days straight before taking a day off.  After your day off, you begin the split over again.      Most bodybuilders of that era trained legs on one day, and then split their upper body into two sessions; some lifters trained antagonistic bodyparts together on one day – chest and back, or biceps and triceps – while others would train all of their push muscles on one day – chest, shoulders, and triceps – and their pull muscles on the other day – back and biceps.      But the three on, one off split eventually fell the way of the dinosaurs.  In the early ‘90s Dorian Yates entered the scene, bringing with him his “blood-and-guts” style of train

     Sorry for the long delay in posts.  I will try to make up for it this month by publishing numerous posts/articles.  Here's the first:       For years—back when I was writing almost monthly for IronMan magazine —IM’s editor-in-chief, Steve Holman, penned many articles on his personal brand of high-intensity, briefer-is-better, training: something Holman called “positions-of-flexion” training, or just POF for short.      Holman first revealed this “new” form of training sometime in the mid ‘90s.   I can’t remember the exact year, but I think it was sometime in ’94 or ’95, and it was highly touted by IM as a new “state-of-the-art” form of high-intensity training.   (IM took advantage, at the time, of the rising popularity HIT was experiencing, especially under the incarnation of it that Dorian Yates was espousing as the key to his Mr.O dominance.)      POF was based on something that I thought—and still do think—to be fairly inventive.   Holman’s thought was that