C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

On Programming Design and Discovering the Best Program for You      Ha!  I probably caught you with that catchy little title and got you to click on what you’re now reading.  Call it a little “bait and switch” or a handy bit of marketing to get you to read my blog, but I’m also quite sincere.  I want to discuss the single greatest training program/workout routine ever , so what is it, you ask?      There are essentially two truisms in strength training and muscle building that will always be true.  Sure, we make discoveries all of the time in the realm of science.  What was “true” one minute can be washed away the next in a new moment of discovery.  But when it comes to training, here are the two truths: The very best program on the planet is the one that works for you . The best program is the one that you’re not doing.      Many lifters simply follow the routine of the latest hot-...

Another Anthony Ditillo Inspired Training Program for Massive Size and Strength      This is now the 3rd of my recent articles inspired by the workouts and training programs of the great bodybuilding writer Anthony Ditillo.  If you’re interested, and you haven’t read them, check out my Anthony Ditillo and the Development of Muscular Bulk and Power for an overview of Ditillo’s methods along with Ditillo’s Big Three for Bulk and Power , which outlines some workouts using Ditillo’s “big 3”, the full squat, the weighted dip, and the weighted chin.      One of Ditillo’s favorite methods was to use workouts involving multiple sets of heavy singles.  Most bodybuilding writers of his day—nothing has changed since then—thought that heavy singles were good for strength but not so much for size.  Ditillo believed that multiple singles didn’t just build strength—though it might be the best method for pure strength alone—but also bu...

More Anthony Ditillo Training Wisdom for Developing Size and Strength      My recent essay on the training methods of the great bodybuilding writer Anthony Ditillo has proven quite popular, more so than I thought it would be when I posted it.  When I wrote it, I knowingly left out a few of his training routines due to length constraints.  I was afraid it was a bit too long as is when I finished it, since my shorter articles tend to get the most views.  Besides, I figured I could always write more down the road, though “down the road,” in this case didn’t prove to be very long.      Ditillo was a huge proponent of using the “big,” basic barbell movements—squats, overhead presses, bench presses, bent-over rows, deadlifts, barbell curls, and the like.  But in one of his many articles for Ironman , he wrote that there were three movements in particular that were all you needed to, in his words, “build great massiveness a...