C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

George Turner’s Old-School Full-Body Program for Gaining 90 Pounds—that’s right, 90!—of Pure Muscle George Turner was in his 60s in this picture!      When it comes to old-school bodybuilders, George Turner remains one of my favorites.   Probably because of the fact that he was more than just a competitive bodybuilder.   He was a gym owner along with being a damn good writer of (damn good) training articles.   He was also a bit—how should it be said?—curmudgeonly.   But he was without a doubt curmudgeonly in the best possible way.   He was, in many ways, similar to Vince Gironda in that regard, just without the disdain for squats.   (That’s right, as much as I like Gironda, he wasn’t a fan of the barbell back squat.)   Myself, I love back squats.   As did Turner.      Anyway, that paragraphic preamble is just a way of writing that, as I was thumbing through an old IronMan magazine this morning, looking ...

      Matthew Sloan does real bodybuilding workouts at 16 years old, and it shows!      The other day I received an email from a reader who stumbled across my article on "Increasing Work Capacity."  Apparently, this particular gentleman had come across it while perusing some forum-or-another—in one of the many "hardcore bodybuilding forums"—that was discussing the article.  Basically, to sum it up, he took me to task for "daring" to suggest that drug-free bodybuilders could possibly perform such hard work as I suggested for the advanced lifters in my post.      I, politely as I could, explained my reasonings.  I explained how drug-free bodybuilders could certainly work up to the amount of work I suggested and, not only survive it, but actually thrive  on it.  When I was finished with my reply, I hit the "send" button, and then began to lament inwardly, thinking to myself, "Where have all the real bodybuilde...

George Turner is one of the greatest bodybuilders/trainers/writers who ever lived (and ever put pen to paper). He also knows more about training than just about any writer still writing for the major muscle magazines. Probably a lot of younger lifters who read his stuff think that he's crazy—because of all the high-volume programs he recommends—or that he's too "old-school." The Q&A below comes from a column he used to do for Iron Man magazine. There's more wisdom in the below piece—dealing with how you should train if you're young and how you should adjust that as you get older—than most folks will ever realize. For those of you who DO realize it, then welcome to the wisdom that is George Turner. Question: How have you adjusted your training and diet as you’ve gotten older? Answer: My training has changed a number of times over the years. Back in the 1940s I trained my entire body every time I worked out. When I got out of the service in 1946, I con...