C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Eastern Martial Arts Philosophy for Western Lifters and Bodybuilders      In the past, I’ve written various “philosophy for lifters” pieces, but I haven’t done so in some time.  (In fact, I wrote a series called “ Epictetus Pumps Iron ” if you’re interested in the intersection of Greek, and later Roman, Stoic philosophy and training.)  I do write some budo pieces on occasion that deal with, primarily, the intersection of Japanese philosophy and the traditional Japanese martial ways.  However, since I get way more views for my classic bodybuilding and old-school strength training pieces, I thought it might be a good idea to write an essay on how lifters (bodybuilders, powerlifters, Crossfit athletes, et al) can benefit from the philosophy of budo.      If you’re not familiar with budo , it’s a Japanese term that, literally translated, means “martial way” or “military way.”  The word is a compound of the word bu , meaning military, and do , meaning “the way.”  Do in Japanese would b

       A couple of posts ago, in my essay on stealing good ideas, I mentioned a quote I stole (and have often used) from the strength coach Nick Horton: “More is not always better, but it usually is.”  In this essay, I want to give you some practical ways to apply this truth to your training.      It has been generally asserted over the years—in bodybuilding magazines and now in blogs and in YouTube videos, or other social media sites—that the key to gaining muscle or strength is through “progressive overload” and that the best way to do that is by either increasing reps or by increasing the weight (but keeping the reps the same), but that one shouldn’t just add sets or exercises.  But I don’t believe that to be the best option for the majority of lifters.  I actually think it’s good to add extra sets, exercises, and, yes, even entire workouts , on a consistent if not regular basis.  In fact, I think this is the key to making steady progress.  But it needs to be done systematically.