C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

       It’s quite possible that, at one time or another, I’ve already written about this subject because, I swear, I remember doing so, but when I looked around on my blog—and in the myriad of word documents that I have stored on my computer—I couldn’t find it.  I also have a sense of deja vu, as the reason I started thinking about this subject was because I received an email from a reader who was confused over the different variations within 5x5 training that he had come across.  And I, once again, could have swore I received this same email—or one unabashedly like it—awhile back.  And I thought I had written an essay in response to said email because I figured that there are other readers out there who are probably looking for similar information.  Hence, the deja vu.      Oh, well, I reasoned, even if I have written about 5x5 variations before, I write a lot of articles that often revolve around a similar the...

A.K.A: Building Muscle and Strength Under Lockdown and Self-Isolation If you're anything like me (and I have a good feeling that many of you are), you haven't left the house in a couple days.  And I have a good feeling, you may even be reading this blog entry because you're surfing the internet a little more than usual in self-isolation/lockdown/quarantine mode - whichever one better suits your situation - in hopes of finding some ways to continue your gains (or at least not bring them to a grinding halt) while you have no way to make it to the gym.  But if you're also like me (and this where I also have a good feeling that many of you are decidedly not  like me), you have a full gym at your disposal in the confines of your garage, replete with squat rack, deadlift and Oly-lifting platform, a bad-ass Forza bench, a good 1,500 lbs of free weights, not to mention various other bands, chains, benches, and other assorted goodies such as sleds and sandbags.  Ok...

I received an e-mail this morning asking me how to set up a 2-3-5-10 workout plan based on my post from a couple days ago (which is itself based on a workout by Dan John). The author of the e-mail wanted to know what kind of split to use and what exercises should be utilized. This post is my answer. (I decided to post my answer here since I have a feeling there are others interested in this kind of workout who have similar questions.) First, let's talk exercise selection. Obviously this program is one of those where you need to select "bang-for-your-buck" exercises. Squats, front squats, and hack squats ( real hack squats as I performed in my training entry) would all be great lower body pushing movements. Deadlifts, platform deadlifts, snatch-grip deadlifts, high pulls, and power cleans would all be excellent lower body pulling movements. Dumbbell bench presses and barbell bench presses of all sorts, as well as overhead presses and dips would all be great upper bo...