C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Slow and Steady Wins the Hypertrophy Race An “Easy” One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Muscle-Building Program      Part of effective programming—whether you’re trying to build muscle, gain strength, or a combination of both—is learning how to balance volume, frequency, and intensity.  I often write that you must have two of the factors high —or one high and the other moderate—and the remaining factor must be low.  If you’re going to train with a lot of volume and intensity, then your frequency must be low (the standard method of training these days).  If you’re going to train using a high-frequency program—of which I am admittedly and unabashedly a fan—then you need to keep either your volume or your intensity low.  And so on and so forth.  But you can also do a program where all of the factors are moderate .  The program I want to present here takes this latter approach.      I have actually wanted to write about this program before, but I’ve been a little hesitant to do so because it seems s

  On Programming, Variety, and Making Gains!      The other day, Jason, a lifting friend of mine, called me on the phone.  He needed some advice for breaking out of the rut he was in.  Jason’s one of those guys that’s always into “powerbuilding.”  He wants to look like a bodybuilder, but also wants to have impressive strength.  He said that several months ago he had started on one of those “briefer-is-better” programs—the kind of program that would have made Ken Leistner proud—and got some of the best results he’s ever had in just a matter of a few weeks, but then it all ground to a sudden halt.  After explaining to me what he had been doing, and some of the adjustments he’d made but to no avail, he was almost at his wit’s end.  “I just don’t know what I’m doin’ wrong,” he said.  To which I replied, “It ain’t what you’re doin’.  It’s what you’ve done.”      “Huh?” he replied in turn, bemusingly.  I then took my time to explain to him what I believe had happened, and some easy ways tha

    Variety for Gains in Size and Strength      I knew a super-heavyweight powerlifter at one time who never changed his training program.  And I mean never .  On top of that, he had been a highly competitive powerlifter since the ‘70s.  When I got to know him around 15 years ago, he told me that he had been doing, essentially, the exact same program for at least the previous 35 years.  He was also incredibly strong (even though he was older then than I am now).  And incredibly massive.      His program worked.  It might work for you, too, but I doubt it.  Most lifters—bodybuilders, powerlifters, Crossfitters, and everyone in between—need more variety.  And even if your body responds well to the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to training, your mind, at the very least, needs a bit more variegation.  I have a feeling, however, that the majority of lifters do need variety for their body, not just their mind.      On average, I think most lifters should change things up afte