C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

C.S. pulls over 500 in his powerlifting days.  Power Volume Training was one of the programs he—and his lifters—used at the time. For this week's "Thursday Throwback"—and since I didn't do one last week—I thought I would post an article/program of mine that you MIGHT be more familiar with.  Of all  of my many programs, Power Volume Training is one of my favorites—my program was the first time I can remember seeing a combination of high-frequency training  with Westside training  in one program.  And if you need to boost one, or all three, of your powerlifts, I promise: there's not a better program out there. Power Volume Training Redux      Power Volume Training is a system that I came up with a few years ago, and wrote an article about it in the November, 2004 issue of  Ironman.   Since that time, this is the one program that I have used more than any other when training someone who is solely interested in maximal strength—pow...

 For this week's "Thursday Throwback," I have chosen an article of mine that I wrote for IronMan  sometime in the '90s.  This article may be "old" but it proves that good, solid, heavy training—the kind that produces bulk—never changes. Matthew Sloan is seen here after going on a "bulking" program such as the ones in this article. Bulk Forget about isolation exercises, ultra-high reps, machines and the like. For bulk-building you absolutely must use the compound movements for a limited number of sets. That means heavy bench presses, squats, deadlifts, barbell curls, rows, push presses, cleans and shrugs. Another factor you must pay attention to is recuperation. The following workouts all have those two things in common – heavy compound lifts and plenty of recuperation time. Use each for at least a month before switching to another, and six to eight weeks per routine may be even better. TWO DAYS A WEEK PROGRAM This routine’s great if you’re just sta...

For this week's "Thursday Throwback" I've selected an article of mine that I wrote around  20 years ago—maybe a little less—for IronMan , and I put a version of it on my blog back in 2009.  This one's entitled "Tailor-Made Strength", and it deals with customizing your workout program to fit your goals, your genetics, your "level" of strength, and your chosen strength sport.  If you're not taking all of those elements into account, and training accordingly based on these elements, then you're NOT getting the most you can out of your training.  Hopefully, this article can help... Bill Starr, pictured here doing a clean, is the inspiration for this article, and the methods employed. Tailor-Made Strength Customizing Your Strength Training Program        There's a truism in strength training that will never change: "The best program is the one that works best for you."    Nonetheless, there are some ground rules that I believe ...