C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

A Mass and Power Program for the Natural Lifter      This morning, I was reading some old muscle magazines—I have hundreds of them boxed in my attic—when I came across an article by Don “Ripper” Ross entitled, aptly for this essay, “Power Bodybuilding.”  I’m always looking for inspiration for new training programs, and this article gave the idea for the program you’re now reading.      Ross’s program was a 6-days-per-week routine where you trained chest and arms on days 1 and 4, back and shoulders on days 2 and 5, and, finally, legs on days 3 and 6.  I really like a lot of the training programs that Ross created—this one included—but I do think it had too much overall volume at each session for that many training days.  Each day contained between 8 and 10 exercises in his program.  Ross was the kind of guy that thrived on hard work and a lot of volume (oh, and a lot of anabolics).  This program keeps some of Ross’s principles—heavy training, multiple sets for each lift, low reps—and k

  Classic Bodybuilding:  Don “The Ripper” Ross’s Mass-Building Routine for Stubborn Calves Don "The Ripper" Ross in competition shape.      I have never had good calf development.  My calves were always stubborn and the hardest body part for me to grow.      Those two opening sentences are completely true for my personal calf development.  But I also think they’re the truth for a lot of lifters and bodybuilders; there are probably an endless sea of trainees who have uttered the very same words.  In fact, there have been a lot of bodybuilders in general that have had an almost stellar physique in every way but with one lone exception : they had poor calf development.      When I first started bodybuilding, there was nothing that would make my calves grow.  I would have swore to you up-and-down at the time that I had tried everything to make them grow, too, but they just didn’t seem to budge.  My legs grew.  My chest grew.  My back grew easily .  My arms grew—they were stubbo