C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Lessons in Mind Power from Bill Pearl and Others      In one of Bill Pearl’s books, “Getting Stronger,” he has a chapter entitled “The Power of Positive Lifting” (which I have unabashedly stolen for the title of this essay).  He opens that chapter with a story from Charles Garfield, a sports doctor in the ‘70s, who had visited Russia in ‘79, when it was still the Soviet Union.  A group of Soviet sports psychologists and physiologists met with Garfield and told him of the wondrous powers and the fabulous effects of intense mental concentration on the performance of their lifters and athletes.  Garfield spent days with the Russian researchers, and apparently had enough “theory.”  He wanted to see results .  Here’s how Pearl tells the tale:      “At a gym, the Soviets quizzed Garfield. ‘How long since you’ve done any serious training?’ they asked.  ‘Eight years.’ ‘What was your maximum bench press in your prime...

     In Part 3 of my “Big and Strong” series of on-going articles that I’m writing at the moment, I mentioned how that series isn’t for the average gym-goer.  If you’re going to follow the high-set, low-rep (and really high volume) regimens that the series recommends, you really can’t do much else.  Hell, you probably can’t do anything else.  I’m taking a break from that series briefly so that I can focus on some essays and articles that tackle different workout programs and just different subjects in general. I have several articles and essays that I’m working on at the moment, and it made me realize something.  Since this blog has quite an array of different workout programs, many lifters might be unsure as to the one they should be doing.  So, I thought it might be good to look at training goals and the workout programs you should be following for your goals.  Because, if you have been reading that series and you decide to ac...

  Insights from Napoleon Hill for Building Muscle, Gaining Strength, or Getting in the Best Shape of Your Life       “I don’t know why it is that when a man decides what he wants, the whole universe seems to come to his aid to see that he gets it.” ~Napoleon Hill Napoleon Hill, the inspiration for this post.      Whatever you may think of the man personally—his Wikipedia page, for instance is, let’s just say, less than flattering—Napoleon Hill had some great insights.  But of all his “lessons” that should be learned, one of them is more important than any other.  And based on the title of this post, I am, of course, talking about having a Definite Chief Aim .      In his book “Secrets of Self-Mastery,” popular New Thought author Mitch Horowitz has this to say about the importance of this one thing:  “I often say that if you take only one message from Hill and the larger body of work that deve...