Classic Bodybuilding Articles and Essays

Freestyle Training

Instinctive Mass-Building with Dave Draper’s “Freestyle” Workouts It’s usually called instinctive training. It’s often referred to as “auto-regulation” these days. Dave Draper called it freestyle training . Draper, the “Blonde Bomber,” for those of you who don’t know, was a Golden Age bodybuilder of the highest caliber, but not necessarily just for his physique. His physique was fantastic, don’t get me wrong (one of the best of that era), but Dave himself was a bit of an iconoclast. He thought outside of the box, had some unique training perspectives, and was, to boot, a gifted writer. It may have had something to do with the fact that he was a creative . Lifters and bodybuilders of all sorts train for all sorts of reasons. For some, training is a creative expression they undertake for the same reasons that other artists take up particular crafts. These train...

Heavy, Light, Medium Training: Build a Monster Squat!

Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part Three: How to Build a Massive Squat In this, the 3 rd part of our series on heavy, light, and medium training, we’ll take a look at how you can build a superhuman squat using this form of training. Make sure that you read Part One , as it covers the basics of H/L/M training, before continuing to this one. Part Two is on “upper body training,” and it, too, would be good to read before continuing here, but not necessary. As I mentioned at the end of that essay, if this series was a book and these posts were chapters, I’m not sure the order they would appear, outside of the first and last entry. So, read Part One so that you will know the basics; this article assumes familiarity with all of the concepts presented there. So, with that out of the way, let’s get on with it… All Hail the King The squat. It has been hailed the king of all exercise...

Heavy/Light/Medium Training for Upper Body Size and Strength

Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part Two: Bill Starr’s Secrets for Upper Body Bulk and Power +How to Move to a 4 Days a Week Program This is, as the title indicates, the 2 nd part of our new, ongoing series on heavy, light, and medium training . If you haven’t read it, then please go to Part One first before diving into this one. This essay assumes an understanding of everything discussed in the first part. Here, we will cover upper body training, and more specifically how to build your upper body pressing strength. I’ll give you the great Bill Starr’s advice along with some of my personal insights. I was never a strong presser, either on the bench press or on the overhead press. The most I ever bench pressed in competition was just over 350 pounds in the 181-pound class. Sure, that’s not bad for the average gym-goer—and, yes, I did win some local be...

C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

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