C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Variations on the 3-to-5 Method for Powerlifters      The 3-to-5 method of training is one of the most effective, and simplest, programs in all of strength training.  Almost all casual lifters that I meet or talk to—even if it’s just email correspondence—would be better if they changed from what they are currently doing to the 3-to-5 method.  Why?  Because it’s so easy to figure out, and then apply it, that it prevents the lifter from doing whatever other (typical) B.S. he or she is likely to do at the gym.      If you are unfamiliar with it, then here are the basics: Train 3 to 5 days each week. Utilize 3 to 5 exercises at each workout. Utilize 3 to 5 sets on each exercise. Keep your reps between 3 to 5 on each exercise. Lastly, rest between 3 to 5 minutes between each set.      Of course, you want to pick large, compound movements.  Additionally, you should make sure that each workout is as much a “full-body” session as possible.  To give you an idea of what an average training wee

       I had an email from a reader this morning who asked a question I don’t usually get, although I’m sorta surprised I don’t get it.  Odd as it might be, come to think of it, I don’t remember a time that I’ve ever received this question.  The question was: “Should I specialize on a lift or a bodypart sometimes or should I just follow a basic, overall mass-building program?”  Although the reader was solely interested in hypertrophy, the same question could be asked by strength athletes.      My answer was, “well, it depends.”  But, on the whole, yes, you should specialize.  And then you shouldn’t.      If you’re new to training, or if you haven’t built any appreciable strength or muscle mass (depending on your goals) then, no, you shouldn’t specialize.  Specialization should occur when you have a weak point, whether it’s a “cosmetic” weak point for a bodybuilder or a strength weak point for a lifter.  If you’re after both strength and muscle mass, then you may need to specialize at

      There is, at least in certain places online, a lot of “chatter” about whether or not you should practice intermittent fasting.  Many folks who used to previously tout intermittent fasting as some sort of miracle of modern dieting have backtracked, and now a lot of those “influencers” (or whoever-the-heck they might be) recommend a more standard, traditional approach to dieting for building muscle and burning fat.  Recently, there was even that god-awful “study” from the American Heart Association that showed a “91% increased likelihood of death” from heart complications by following intermittent fasting.  Now, this isn’t the place to discuss the real problems and politics around that so-called study, it will suffice for now to point out that its metrics were just plain wrong.   And, of course, on the flip side of all of that you also have the defenders, rightly so, of the benefits of various forms of fasting.      My point in this essay, however, is that most of the above—no m