C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Extra Workouts for Improving Recovery, Enhancing Performance, and Maximizing Gains      When lifters think about workouts, it’s usually either lifting or bust.   It’s either hard and heavy barbell and dumbbell sessions or nothing.   But it shouldn’t be this way.   No matter how “hardcore” of a lifter or bodybuilder you are—perhaps you’re one of those guys that thinks anything over 5 reps is “cardio,” as I once certainly did—you need to do some stuff other than just heavy weight training.   The truth is that the more serious you are about lifting, even more do you need to take advantage of non-lifting workouts.   These extra sessions might very well be the difference between gaining another 10 pounds of muscle or not, or between winning your powerlifting meet or just coming in 2 nd place.   When it comes to being your very best, it is the little things that matter.      I first started lifting as a teenager, more...

 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...

                       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 al...