C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

How to Build Muscle and Achieve the Physique You Want with High-Volume, High-Frequency Training      After penning my article on my son Garrett’s high-volume, high-frequency training, I had a couple of emails asking if I could write a program or explain in more detail what a workout routine would look like using his methods.  This is my response.      You don’t need to read that article first, but I’m not going to re-iterate the 6 “training types” that are contained within it.  So, here’s a LINK if you wish to read that one first and get your mind on better muscle-building “footing” as to what is being discussed in this article.      The workout routine I will suggest, and explain, here uses a high-volume, moderate (to high) frequency, and low-intensity methodology.  “Intensity” in this case is used as it is by strength and power athletes, but not typically bodybuilders, as a percentage of your 1...

Double Split Training for Quick Hypertrophy Gains      If there is one form of training that is more controversial than any other, it just might be the idea of “double-split” training, where you do two workouts in a single training day.  Popular among pro bodybuilders from the ‘70s up through the ‘90s, it was usually viewed as a form of training that could only be performed by the genetically few “easy gainers.”  It was used by Arnold, and many others, in the ‘70s, and was the favorite training system of many European bodybuilders in the ‘90s.  Arnold utilized it to work different muscle groups at the morning and evening sessions.  Bodybuilders like Francis Benfatto, who possessed one of the most aesthetically pleasing physiques of all time in the ‘90s, used it to train the same muscles at both the A.M. and P.M. sessions—the common way that it is still used among East European bodybuilders.      It’s also oft-used by...

The Need for Variation and Opposing Strategies      When I write about topics like the need for balance in your training or the importance of “reasonable” workouts or anything of a similar bent, they don’t get a whole lot of views.  Of course, if I write something like “The Greatest Mass Building Workout of All Time” or anything with a degree of hyperbole in the title, I get thousands of views.  Nonetheless, certain subjects need to be written about, this one included.  Besides, here is where you actually learn the information needed—assuming you apply it—to achieve your goals.       Balance isn’t a “sexy” topic.  Most lifters probably understand it’s true.  You’ve no doubt been told since you were a little kid, assuming you had responsible parenting, to eat a “balanced diet” or to live a “balanced lifestyle.”  The problem, or at least one of the problems, is that there are different opinions on what exac...