C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Casey Viator’s Old-School “Killer” Biceps Program      Casey Viator is probably most well-known—almost infamous, truth be told—for his role in the so-called “Colorado Experiment” used by Arthur Jones to “prove” the validity of his brief, basic “H.I.T” Nautilus training over other training methodologies.  (Jones invented the Nautilus machine, by the way, so he had some money—and a reputation—at stake.)  Anyway, Viator gained over 60 pounds in only 28 days using (something like) just 12 workouts that lasted no longer than 30 minutes each.  This is not the place to get into the Colorado Experiment—I don’t think I’ve written about it before now, so maybe I’ll leave a future essay just to it—but let’s just say that a lot of the “facts” may not be the facts, after all.  Especially if Boyer Coe is to be believed.  In a few interviews with him in some of the ‘90s muscle rags, he said that Viator would actually sneak away from the Nautilus...

Some "Mass-from-the-Past" Training Ideas of Classical Bodybuilders Arnold looking massive in his "Pumping Iron" days from the mid '70s.      When I began training in the late ‘80s, I was enamored with “old-school” bodybuilders, particularly - as with most young men my age at the time - that of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his other cohorts in the “documentary” Pumping Iron.  The funny thing is that I thought of Arnold, and other bodybuilders from the ‘70s (and even bodybuilders from the ‘80s), as “old-school” even though it had only been a decade, or less, since the time of their heyday competing, not to mention training at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California.  And I still love old-school “classical” bodybuilding, both the bodybuilders themselves, and their assorted training methods.  It’s the reason I still write about them to this day, such as what you’re currently reading on your computer (or mobile device or whatever).     ...

For this week's "Thursday Throwback" I've selected an article of mine that I wrote around  20 years ago—maybe a little less—for IronMan , and I put a version of it on my blog back in 2009.  This one's entitled "Tailor-Made Strength", and it deals with customizing your workout program to fit your goals, your genetics, your "level" of strength, and your chosen strength sport.  If you're not taking all of those elements into account, and training accordingly based on these elements, then you're NOT getting the most you can out of your training.  Hopefully, this article can help... Bill Starr, pictured here doing a clean, is the inspiration for this article, and the methods employed. Tailor-Made Strength Customizing Your Strength Training Program        There's a truism in strength training that will never change: "The best program is the one that works best for you."    Nonetheless, there are some ground rules that I believe ...

In 2004, at a bodyweight of 172 pounds, CS pulled 585 lbs.  He did so using the same kind of training outlined in this article. Lately, I have received a few messages from readers who wish my site was "easier to navigate," or of a similar view. I agree. I've had this blog, in a couple of different incarnations, since 2009, and there is a LOT of material here. So I am currently working on a "new and improved" website/blog that will make it easier to find posts you may be interested in by organizing them according to categories. Until then, however, I thought I would - every Thursday for the foreseeable future - put some older posts/articles/essays that I consider my "best of", and title these posts " Thursday Throwbacks ." Unless otherwise noted, all posts will be just the way I originally wrote them. For our first "Thursday Throwback", I have decided on an article I wrote for IronMan magazine in the early '00s, and publish...

  Years ago, when I was a regular columnist for Ironman Magazine , I wrote an article in which I said, "bodybuilding has ruined strength training in America."  I'm pretty sure that I got more hate mail from that ONE article than all my others put together, and I wrote a LOT  of articles for Ironman  in the '90s and the early years of this century, so that's saying something.  But I stand by that statement.  Now, you may ask yourself, why am I beginning an article on strength training for martial artists  with an anecdote I wrote for a bodybuilding magazine that most martial artists are never going to read?  And the reason is simple: bodybuilding has also ruined martial arts strength training  in America.  Why?  Most martial artists who take up weight training in this country are greatly influenced by bodybuilding-style training , whether they know it or not, the kind of training that relies on multiple sets of multiple reps in order...