C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

On Striving to do Fewer Things Better      In my recent Go Heavy or Go Home essay, I discussed Pavel Tsatsouline’s “7 rules of Russian training.”  The last of the rules is “You must strive to do fewer things better.”  In this essay, we will look at the importance of this rule and some various training strategies to accomplish it.      I often write about the different reasons that lifters don’t get the results out of their training that they’re looking for.  Not using the right movements, following so-called bro-split routines that are also coupled with too many machine and cable exercises, along with jumping from program-to-program are just a few of the workout ideas that I’m apt to rail against.  For these reasons and some others, there are a lot of average gym-goers—even ones who have been “training” for years on end—who don’t look like they lift.      The best programs often involve doing...

An Effective Training Approach for Muscle Growth      I write a lot about high-frequency training (HFT).  I think it’s one of the most effective methods of training.  One of the main reasons that I write about it is because I believe it’s underused.  At least, it is among modern trainees in most gyms throughout the land.      Because it is a really popular way to train among modern lifters, I also write quite a bit about low-frequency programs, but ones that use high-volume and high-intensity.  Since it is so popular, I figure I might as well write about good programs that use that methodology.      But there is another way to train that can be highly effective for a lot of lifters.  It’s not flashy.  It’s not “sexy.”  And it’s without a doubt nothing new.  You might call it the everything moderate approach.  Moderate frequency.  Moderate volume.  Moderate...