C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Some “Secrets” to Heavy Training and Continued Progress      There are a lot of pithy sayings out there for lifters, strength athletes, and just casual gym-goers.  Almost everyone, even folks who have never picked up a barbell a single day in their lives, has heard (or read) the phrase “no pain, no gain.”  When I started training in the ‘80s, and I’m pretty sure it became even more popular in the ‘90s, a common saying was to “go heavy or go home.”  There’s some truth in these, and other sayings, but also some misinformation.  Pain isn’t always good, for example.  Heck, that phrase—no pain, no gain—has probably caused just as much harm as help.   Maybe not to the same degree, but you could argue that “go heavy or go home” has also caused the derailment of more than a few workouts and routines.      Context is important.  Pain can be good, but it can also be decidedly bad.  You should never train t...

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...