C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

                     While doing research for my last article, I was re-reading Bradley Steiner’s original “Rugged Size and Strength” essay (from 1972) and came across this bit of advice: “Do not attempt to set up a pre-planned schedule of either sets or reps.”  That may not seem like much—it’s the kind of “basic” advice that’s easily overlooked—but there is wisdom in it, minimal as it may seem at first glance.      Depending on the workout program and the lifting population it’s aiming for, that quote could be either good or bad.  It’s not good advice for a beginner’s program, any beginner’s program.  It’s not good advice for intermediate or advanced lifters, either, who are attempting a new workout program or a new “style” of lifting that they haven’t utilized before.  For instance, if you’ve been training for the past decade on a bodybuilding workout consi...

       There are, I suppose, a few different “principles” involved in strength training.   You need to train with heavy weights to get strong.   You need to eat enough protein on a regular basis to gain muscle.   You need to follow a program instead of just “working out.”   I could go on and on.   So, what could possibly be the two most important principles of strength training?   Perhaps if you ask me again next week or next month or next year, I might give a different answer.   But I doubt it.   Anyway, the two principles of strength training are (drumroll, please): 1.       Everything works. 2.       Everything works… for about 6 to 8 weeks.      I am not the first trainer (or bodybuilder or powerlifter) to write this.   I won’t be the last.   Most lifters who take seriously their training discover it on their own without anyone tellin...

      I apologize for the delay in posts this month.  I just returned from a vacation to my home state of Texas and simply wasn't able to get the writing done out there that I had PLANNED on doing.  Anyway, I hope to post more frequently for the remainder of the month.  Also, be on the lookout for a new book (hopefully this week🤞) on heavy-light-medium training!  With that out of the way... Grip Work for More Mass, Strength, and Power If You Want to Get REALLY Big and Strong, Throw Away the Straps and Embrace HARD Grip Work        “When I made the decision to forego the use of straps and persevere until I could handle heavy weights without them, I surpassed previous bests.   In fact, the entire exercise (deadlifts) became much more intense and my overall gains in strength and muscular size were quite unexpected.   Perhaps my level of concentration was higher because I was so intent on maintaining my grip on the...

How to Select the Weights Used During Your Workouts      Bill Starr said one time that the most confusing aspect of setting up a strength program is selecting the poundages to be used for the various sets of an exercise.   A lot of lifters can’t decide the weight to start with or the weights to utilize for all the intermediate sets as they work their way up to a heavy set of 5 or a max triple, double, or single.   Starr even said that he spent more time giving advice on this than any other subject in lifting.      I personally receive more questions about other things—a lot of lifters need help with an assortment of training stuff before they even get around to deciding weight selection—but I have noticed that this confuses a lot of lifters compared to many subjects.   And it’s not just beginners, either.   A lot of advanced lifters get confused, especially when changing over to a new program.      Pe...

  Simple, Easy-to-Follow Programs for Unleashing Size and Strength Gains     While working on the next installment of my series on HFT yesterday, I received an email from a reader who was a little confused—perhaps more than a little confused would be more appropriate—about how he should set up his workout program.  And, as with a lot of questions that I get asked and are then turned into an essay or article, I thought it would be good to write an article about some easy and simple workout plans that are also quite productive—the same kind of workouts that I suggested to this young man.      Periodically, I receive these sorts of emails from readers who are confused over some of my recommendations.  After all, I do write about various forms of training and lifting.  They are often different because, for one, different people respond well to different forms of training, and, two, different lifters have different goals....