C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

How Old-Time Lifters and Bodybuilders SLOWLY Worked Up to Using Split Workouts - How They Utilized Them and How YOU Should Use Them Bill Pearl was one of the greatest bodybuilders who ever lived, and he rarely used anything more than a "2-way" split program.      If you’re new to training, always start with full-body workouts.      I say this because I see WAY too many split workout programs being recommended on the internet for “average” or even “beginner” trainees.  I write “trainees” because I understand that these guys aren’t lifters per se, and the kind of results they are after are probably not what the average reader of my blog is after.  None-the-less, I have a feeling that the majority of lifters that read my blog probably do a lot of split workouts, too, where you just might be better off performing a full-body program instead.      Now—and I must make myself crystal clear on this point—spl...

  Build the Ultimate Combination of Mass and Strength with this Unique High-Set, Low-rep Method of Training The late, great Anthony Ditillo utilized programs very similar to what is written here.  If he were with us today, he'd probably give this one a thumbs up and say, "Ditillo approved!" Some of my favorite programs for building muscle mass involve the use of high-sets and low-reps.  In fact, when I first started this blog 14 years ago, one of the very FIRST questions I was asked by a reader was whether or not I had a “favorite” method of training.  At first, I think I was going to “cop out” and tell him some crap such as, “the best workout is the one you’re not doing” kind of thing.  But then I decided that, hell, honesty is always the best policy, and so I told him the truth: my FAVORITE approach to training was the high-set, low-rep method, specifically using anywhere between 10 to 20 sets of 1 to 5 reps. Fourteen years later is that still the case?  ...

The Classic Physique and Workouts of a Golden-Age-of-Muscle Beach Demi-God There was no one - and I mean no one  - quite like the "golden age" bodybuilder Zabo Koszewski.  This is not hyperbole, however cliche that it might sound. If you are unfamiliar with Zabo, or have never really spent the time to familiarize yourself with his training, then I promise that you are in for a real treat here and now. A picture that does the great Zabo Koszewski justice. I can't remember the first time I laid eyes on Zabo or read about his training, but I do remember not being impressed when I first saw pics of him.  This is probably because he wasn't that large of a guy, especially when standing next to some of the larger legends of his day, and, at the time in my bodybuilding life, I was all about  massive, more modern bodybuilders.  (I seem to recall that another first impression of him was that he liked to hang out with - and smoke weed with - Tommy Chong, of Che...

 For many bodybuilders older than myself, John Grimek is often considered the greatest bodybuilder of all time.  I personally am unsure as to whether or not that is true - I tend to have Bill Pearl in the Numero Uno spot on that particular list.  But perhaps if I was a little bit older, and had been exposed more to Grimek in all of the bodybuilding magazines, I would feel different.  See, here's the thing: if you came of bodybuilding age in the late '80s, early '90s (which I did), then you read a lot about the legend of Grimek or you "heard" his name bantered about by a lot of the top pros, especially the pro and amateurs who themselves "came of age" in the '70s, but you never actually saw that much of Grimek in the magazines, other than occasional "blast from the past" pictures in Ironman Magazine .  But, whether or not he's in the #1 spot really doesn't matter that much to me because he is definitely in my top 5 - which one of ...

Shortly, you will see a big change at Integral Strength. First off, I'm back to writing with a volume that I haven't attempted in many years, which means a lot more posts.  But Integral Strength is also going to change in a large way. For the last several years, my health has sucked , to the point at which I even thought I may only live a few more years.  This has severely limited the amount of training I could do (in lifting or martial arts), and it has hindered the amount of writing I have done, whether it was articles for magazines or posts on my blog.  But I am now feeling like my old self for the last several weeks.  And I'm not just talking about feeling a little better, I'm talking about feeling better than I have felt in about a decade (when I was at my peak strength and conditioning in my mid 30s).  I'm currently lifting (or performing bodyweight workouts) 3 days per week, in addition to regular martial art workouts such as I haven't done in almost...