C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

The Most Impactful Changes You Can Make to Your Training for More Size and/or Strength      I received a question from a reader yesterday, and, after responding to it, thought it would be good to share here, and, essentially, use my response for this essay.  So, the question from “Alan S.” goes something like this (edited slightly by yours truly): “I was wondering what the biggest ‘game changers’ are that you have used over the years?  By this, I mean what things have you added to your training that made the most improvements to your physique and your strength?  Or what things have you added to the programs of lifters you have trained that made the most difference in their size and strength?”  (Emphasis added is mine.)      At first, I thought about just rattling off to Alan what I call the “Big 4,” but I figured he had read enough of my programs and/or articles—his question was even more in-depth, but I removed anything regarding his personal history—so I decided giving him that par

  On Programming, Variety, and Making Gains!      The other day, Jason, a lifting friend of mine, called me on the phone.  He needed some advice for breaking out of the rut he was in.  Jason’s one of those guys that’s always into “powerbuilding.”  He wants to look like a bodybuilder, but also wants to have impressive strength.  He said that several months ago he had started on one of those “briefer-is-better” programs—the kind of program that would have made Ken Leistner proud—and got some of the best results he’s ever had in just a matter of a few weeks, but then it all ground to a sudden halt.  After explaining to me what he had been doing, and some of the adjustments he’d made but to no avail, he was almost at his wit’s end.  “I just don’t know what I’m doin’ wrong,” he said.  To which I replied, “It ain’t what you’re doin’.  It’s what you’ve done.”      “Huh?” he replied in turn, bemusingly.  I then took my time to explain to him what I believe had happened, and some easy ways tha

      Three Power Programs for Building Muscular Might       “You can train long or you can train hard, but you can’t do both.” ~Arthur Jones, inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines      Arthur Jones was correct.  But what he incorrectly assumed is that you should choose hard over long.  I know that there are lifters who would disagree with me—and perhaps a whole cult of “HIT” enthusiasts who would want to crucify me over that statement—but I stand by it.  Twenty years ago, I wrote an article for T-Nation , in fact, that was called “Train Long,” partly to counter the belief that briefer is always better.      In addition, in an article for IronMan some years ago, I wrote this: “Everyone seems to immediately assume that the answer is to train hard.  Not many consider that training long might be the better option.  Bodybuilders from the past, however, understood this well.  It's the reason Bill Pearl always advised taking sets about two reps short of failure.  This allows one t