Russian Power Training Revisited

Slovenian powerlifter Erni Gregorčič at Worlds 2014 in Sydney, Australia

The other day, I received an email from a reader who wanted to know if I still felt the same way about strength training - specifically Russian strength training, for some reason - as I did years ago. He asked this, he said, because I hadn't published very much on the subject in the last couple of years. I replied that, of course, I still feel the same way about the efficacy of strength and power programs that I recommended 10 years ago as I do today.

There really is nothing new under the strength and power building sun.

With that being said, for those of you new to Russian-style training, here are the "rules" of Russian-style training as recommended by strength guru Pavel Tsatsouline*:

1. You must lift heavy.

2. You must limit your reps to five.

3. You must avoid muscular failure.

4. You must cycle your loads.

5. You must stay tight. Tension is power.

6. You must treat your strength as a skill and "practice" with iron rather than "work out".

7. You must strive to do fewer things better.

The only caveat I would add is that all rules can be broken under the right circumstances, but we'll save that for another post...

*As listed in Pavel's book "Beyond Bodybuilding"

Comments

Tailoring Your Workout Program - Part Two

Tips and Advice for Tailoring Your Training Routine Part 2: Selecting a Program In post-modern philosophy, there is a term that is important to understand. I’m not a post-modernist myself—I am, if anything, an integralist , one who integrates different philosophies, East and West, into a singular whole—but I feel this concept is important. It’s called “the myth of the given.” The “myth” is when we take our given perception of things to be how they actually are. We do this more often than we think. It’s easy to understand this concept when it comes to simple objects, but less so when it comes to ideas. We may not like how something tastes—raw oysters,for example—so we think oysters are simply bad. Others, however, may love raw oysters—I could eat them by the bucket. In this instance, it’s easy to see the myth of the given at work. Even though you may find oysters personally unsettling, and it befuddles yo...

The Hardgainer Size Solution

A 10-Week Mass Building Regimen for Lifters Struggling to Pack on Size I don’t like the term “hardgainer.” I don’t mean to imply that some lifters don’t find it harder to pack on muscle size than others. Some certainly do. It’s just that when a lifter is labelled a “hardgainer” he (or she) often resorts to the kind of training that may not necessarily be what they really need. I won’t go into all of the details here for why I find that to be the case. If you want more information on that , then read my essay from last year “ The Myth of the Hardgainer .” The gist of my theory, however, is that many lifters struggle to pack on muscle size because they do standard high-volume workouts, only to find that sort of training doesn’t work for them. After that, they proceed to low-frequency, “high-intensity” workouts, but those don’t work, either. It’s at that point that the lifter, or his lif...

Cemetery Circuit Training

C.S.'s Note: The following is a training program that Jared Smith and I have had in the works for some time. It's Jared's brainchild. He came to me with an article that outlined the program. I made a few tweaks here-and-there, added some notes on classic bodybuilders, and what you are reading here is the end result. In honor and promotion of our new program, the template here at Integral Strength has changed—as you may have noticed—to a more ghoulish and ghastly image. If you have any questions or comments regarding the program, please post them in the "comments" section instead of emailing me. That way, Jared can reply as well. And just why are we calling this program "Cemetery Circuit Training"? Read on, discover, and (hopefully) enjoy! Cemetery Circuit Training Pump-Inducing, Hellish Training for Muscle Building Heaven! C.S. Sloan and Jared Smith Most of us who have attempted to build muscle for a signi...

C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Search This Blog