Classic Bodybuilding Articles and Essays

The Two Barbell Rule

Minimalist Training for Maximum Gains I made the mistake today of reading one of the popular bodybuilding websites. Occasionally I do this, but almost always regret it shortly after. Today was no different. I write that it was a “mistake” only because reading these online “rags”—I suppose that’s the best term, though perhaps “zine” might be more apropos—almost always makes me want to beat my head into the wall of my dungeonous garage gym until I black out and (hopefully) forget everything I just read. I always make my way to one of these websites in the hope, faint though it may be, that I might actually stumble upon an article or two with good training advice. But, alas, to no avail. I suppose you could argue that I’m being a bit too curmudgeonly. Heck, you might be right. Well, partially right. Because, if I’m honest, there are some decent traini...

Heavy/Light/Medium Training: Getting Bigger

Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part 6: Getting Bigger Starr in his competitive days A Sample Workout Program + Bill Starr’s Dietary Advice for Adding Bulk Bill Starr had some damn sagely advice for getting bigger. Heck, I suppose all of his advice was sagely, for that matter. So, in this, the 6 th part of our ongoing series on Starr’s H/L/M training, I’m going to present that advice to you , dear reader. We will cover both diet and training for getting bigger, because one won’t work without the other. Before we go any further, this essay, just like the ones that preceded it, builds upon the other installments. So, for the simple sake of clarification alone, it would be a good idea to read the parts before continuing here. Here are the links: Part One – program design Part Two – upper body pressing power Part Three – building the squat Part Four – back and pullin...

Marvin Eder’s Mass-Building Methods

The Many and Varied Mass-Building Methods of Power Bodybuilding’s G.O.A.T. Eder as he appeared in my article "Full Body Workouts" for IronMan magazine. In many ways, the essay you are now reading is the one that has had the “longest time coming.” I have no clue why it has taken me this long to write an article specifically on Marvin Eder, especially considering the fact that I have long considered him the greatest bodybuilder cum strength athlete of all friggin’ time . In fact, over 20 years ago, I wrote this in the pages of IronMan magazine: In my opinion, the greatest all-around bodybuilder, powerlifter and strength athlete ever to walk the planet, Eder had 19-inch arms at a bodyweight of 198. He could bench 510, squat 550 for 10 reps and do a barbell press with 365. He was reported to have achieved the amazing feat of cranking out 1,000 dips in only 17 minutes. Imagine doing a dip a second for 17 minutes. As Gene Mozee once put ...

C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

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