C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  A.K.A. - How to Gain 40 Pounds of Bulk in 8 Weeks John McCallum’s High-Frequency, High-Volume Routine for Rapid Mass Gains      In the 1960s, John McCallum wrote arguably the greatest monthly column the bodybuilding world has ever known.  It was called “The Keys to Progress” and appeared in what was probably also the greatest muscle magazine of all time, Strength and Health .  His column is still fantastic to this day.  To be honest, it’s probably better today because of all the nonsense that you see, hear, or read about in the ultra-saturated world we all know and love called the internet.  I wonder what the hell McCallum would think about training and nutrition information these days?  I have a feeling he wouldn’t think highly of it at all.      I thought about McCallum this morning when I was “thumbing” through my new digital copy of “The Complete Keys to Progress.”  I have an older, slightly tatt...

       There really is nothing new under the bodybuilding, strength-gaining sun.  One of the proofs of that is John McCallum’s Definition Diet , which he wrote about in 1968 (at least, that’s where the information for this article comes from).  Actually, John McCallum himself is proof.  All you have to do is read his “The Complete Keys to Progress,” a compilation of his articles from Strength and Health that he wrote throughout the ‘60s, and discover that McCallum wrote about every single training theory, technique, program, or bodybuilding diet more than 50 years ago.  Randall J. Strossen—of “Super Squats” fame and the founder of IronMind Enterprises—said that if you were to only read one book, ever , on how to train, that book would be it.  I think he wrote that in the ‘90s, but I seriously doubt that he’s changed his opinion in 2024.      When I started bodybuilding in the ‘80s, I think it’s safe to say ...

  If you've never read any McCallum, you're in for a treat.  I didn't read McCallum myself until after  I had already become a successful lifter - not to mention a successful writer.  But I wish I had  read McCallum when I first began weight training.  It would have saved me a lot  of confusion, not to mention prevent me from following a lot of the foolhardy training programs I did follow, if I would have just read - and then put into practice - the great McCallum's advice on getting big. But here's the thing: McCallum ("Mac" as he was known) didn't JUST know how to get one big and strong.  He also knew how to get someone lean and looking good .  And he was light years  ahead of his time.  For instance, here's the diet he recommended about 15 to 20 years before Atkins (this article was written in 1965): “The Definition Diet, like most good things, is simple. It’s tasty, nutritious, easy to figure, easy to follow and the ideal adjunc...