C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

       Ken Waller is probably most well-known from the “documentary” Pumping Iron.  Although Pumping Iron primarily focused on Arnold’s rivalry with Ferrigno in the Mr. Olympia competition, the other main “story” of the pseudo-doc revolved around the rivalry of Waller and (fellow Mr. Universe competitor) Mike Katz.  Waller was sort of portrayed as the “villain” in the Universe competition to the more “All-American” Katz.  The problem is that the storyline was set up by the filmmakers, and none of it was actually true.  Katz and Waller were, in truth, actually good friends.      I still love Pumping Iron to this day, but I really wish I would have known that the Waller and Katz story was fabricated when I was a teenager.  Because before watching Pumping Iron, I liked Waller.  Afterwards, not so much.  Sometime in the late ‘90s, I discovered the truth (or “untruth,” I suppose) about Pumping Iron, and...

Occasional All-Day Training Challenges for New Gains in Size and Strength      In his book The Education of a Bodybuilder , Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed the fact that, on occasion, he and a training partner would take some weights into the woods and do endless sets of squats or other exercises.  He said the first time they did this bit of insanity, he did something like 55 sets of high-rep squats with 250 pounds, and couldn’t walk correctly for over a week.  He said it became a regular part of his training at the time.  Eventually, it turned into several workout partners, women who would come along for some lovemaking, grilled meats for an all-night barbecue, and an endless amount of beer and/or wine-drinking.  If I remember correctly, they would even swim naked in lakes and carry on as if they were gladiators or Vikings from centuries ago.  When I read that as a teenager, crazy as I might have thought it to be, it also sounded like ...