C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Just the Basics for Fast Muscle Gains      There are a number of reasons why modern trainees don’t get good results in the gym.  I write a lot about programming , workout ideas, and whatnot, and the fact that most lifters would be better off training with more frequency, using full-body workouts, and stop treating every single workout session as if it’s an all-out onslaught where they have to storm the muscle-building Bastille.  I suppose when it comes right down to it, however, the first culprit for lack of gains is just not doing the right movements in the first place.  Do your workouts consist of these movements (with free weights, I must add)? Vertical press (overhead work) Horizontal press Squat Upper body pull Lower body pull Loaded carry      If they do, you’re probably getting decent results even without proper programming.  If, on the other hand, the majority of your sessions consist of pumping up your chest...

  Some Thoughts, Tips, and Ideas on the Standard Basics of Eating and Training      I often extol other lifters to “get back to the basics,” when it comes to both training and eating.  Sometimes you’re stuck in a rut and need to get back to the basics.  Maybe you haven’t seen any gains in either size or strength—whatever it is that you’re trying to gain—and so you need to get back to the basics.  Or maybe you’ve been following too many convoluted multi-exercise, multi-angle routines and need to get back to the basic barbell movements.      Anytime I get confused about my own training, I do the same thing.  It’s what everyone needs to do on occasion; get back to the basics of simple, but not necessarily easy, methods of training and eating.       Seems pretty common sense, which it is, but I realized something else the other day when I was having a conversation with a young man: not...