C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Stillness, Rest, and Relaxation The Forgotten Keys to Muscle Growth Epictetus, the founder of Stoicism, one of the inspirations for this article. “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit alone with himself in a room.” ~Blaise Pascal I begin our essay with this quote from the great French writer, philosopher, and Catholic theologian, not just because 2023 is the 400th anniversary of his birth, and not just because I believe in the utter, complete truth of the statement, but because it can easily apply to all of man’s problems—including, whether you believe it or not, your goal of getting bigger, stronger, or the combination of both. That’s correct, man’s inability to rest in stillness (and woman’s, too, although women actually tend to be naturally better at this than men) often prevents one from achieving his/her muscle-building, strength-gaining, physique-enhancing goals. Now, as I mentioned, you may not believe this, and if you don’t, then I only ask that you sus...

Classic Bodybuilding:  The Wisdom of Paul Grant’s Muscle-Building Methods Paul Grant, seen here in the '70s, was a Golden Age bodybuilder from Wales, with some excellent training wisdom. Paul Grant, the “Welsh Dragon,” is a bodybuilder that may not be that well-known, but he had some fantastic muscle-building wisdom that more and more bodybuilders need to know about these days.  “Wisdom” isn’t always a word that can be associated with bodybuilders - or bodybuilding in general, to be honest - which is unfortunate, since there have always been at least some bodybuilders throughout the history of the “iron game” that have some wise thoughts, words, and ways of life.  And Paul Grant was one such man. I first saw Paul Grant as a kid in the ‘80s when I watched the bodybuilding “documentary” Pumping Iron.  (I put the word “documentary” in quotes because it was more akin to modern reality television - scripted and set up by the filmmakers, but it had very little truth to it,...