C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

 For this week's "Thursday Throwback" I have selected an article that I originally wrote for Planet Muscle Magazine  around 15 years ago.  What is interesting is that the article as I wrote it for PM was essentially a "redux" of an article I wrote in the late '90s for MuscleMag International  when I competed regularly in powerlifting - and bench press-only - competitions.  Jeff Everson - the publisher and editor of Planet Muscle  - actually sent me a "clipping" of my original MuscleMag  article, and asked me if I could re-write it, and make enough changes that it was different from my original (and therefore wouldn't violate any copyright laws).  And the funny thing - for me, at least - is that I could hardly even remember writing that original article.  Anyway, the article itself as it appeared in PM is still great, I think (I am a little prejudice since I did write the thing), for anyone that is looking to build his/her bench press but doesn&

                       Set/Rep Variations for Strength and Power Part Two The DYNAMIC EFFORT Method The great Jim Williams bench pressing in his heyday.      A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an essay on some of the set/rep variations that are the best if your goals are strength and power, as opposed to just gaining muscle mass.  I wrote about 5x5 training, ramp training, and variations that use multiple sets of low reps.  Here I would like to explore some SPEED work set/rep combos that are ideal for the powerlifter or anyone that wants to boost their squat, bench press, or deadlift. Multiple Sets/Low Reps for Speed      This form of training is often referred to as “dynamic effort” training.  It became popular as a mode of training within Westside Barbell.  For Westside, this form of training was of utmost importance due to the fact that the Westside lifter also trained with a “max effort” session each week where you maxed out on a triple, double, or single (typically a single) for an a

  Tips and Routines for Monstrous Pulling Power Here I am pulling over 500lbs in competition.  In the background (in the red singlet) is my Uncle Kirk, yelling encouragement, who made an appearance in my last "Deep South Mass and Power Chronicles."  This meet was around the same time as that essay's setting.      I received an email this morning from a reader curious about deadlift training after reading my last "Deep South Mass & Power Chronicles" on just that very thing.  The reader wanted to know if I could write an article that detailed out an "exact" training program as opposed to all of the "tips" that I sprinkled throughout the (only slightly) fictional conversation between me and my cousins.  At first, I thought, "sure, I can do that," but then I realized that I have already written some articles on this very thing.  And since I haven't done a "Thursday Throwback" as of late, I thought this would be a perfe

To fail or not to fail... that is the question. We're talking training to failure, of course. On one side of the spectrum, you have strength coaches such as Chad Waterbury and Charles Staley (and I suppose myself in recent years) who seem to never recommend training to failure. On the other side of the spectrum, you have the great strength coach Charles Poliquin, and bodybuilding writers/trainers such as Steve Holman, Eric Broser (and whoever the hell invented that Doggcrapp—yes, that's the actual name of the training system for those of you who don't know— crap) who seem to always recommend training to failure. The million dollar question: Who's right? I think the answer is both—as long as certain criteria are adhered to for the most part. I haven't always felt that way. If you read my early writing for Iron Man magazine and MuscleMag International —I used to write quite a bit for those magazines 10 to 15 years ago—then you would have assumed I was a training