C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

High-Volume, High-Frequency Training and Realistic Muscle-Building for the Natural Bodybuilder      This article, I will admit, is in many ways nothing more than an excuse to show off my youngest son Garrett’s physique as seen above.  But since I have a good feeling that he has exactly the kind of body that most men would love to acquire, I also want to discuss his training philosophy and some lessons that you can learn from it.      First, however, let’s discuss the 3 training variables of volume, frequency, and intensity.  If you’re familiar with my point-of-view, you can skip ahead to the next paragraph.  If you’re not, then pay attention!  In order to get results out of resistance training, no matter your goals, you must properly balance and manipulate the 3 training variables of volume, frequency, and intensity.  Two of the variables need to be high (or one high and the other moderate) and the remaining v...

A Strong-as-You-Look Bill Starr-Influenced, Old-School Strongman-Inspired Program for the Natural Bodybuilder/Lifter      Modern bodybuilding is certainly capable of producing hypertrophy.  The problem with it is that it often doesn’t produce the kind of muscle size that is as strong as it looks.  This program takes care of that problem.  If you want to build muscle that is also strong and powerful, then look no further.  This one is as good as they come.      This program combines, in one routine, many of my favorite methods. It utilizes heavy/light/medium training a la Bill Starr.  It uses load-cycling, where several training weeks move from lighter to heavier, then back off again.  And it also utilizes an old-school weight ladder method inspired by the legendary strongman Hermann Goerner that I have grown more fond of the more I use it.  Goerner called them “chains” where—unlike “rep ladders” in whi...

Some Thoughts and Tips on How to Design a High-Frequency, High-Volume Workout Program      I believe some of the best training programs available are ones that utilize high-frequency training (HFT).  I think that many lifters, bodybuilders, and just casual trainees believe that they are so-called hardgainers for one simple reason: they’ve used low-frequency programs (whether they were high-volume workouts, high-intensity routines or a combination of both) and could never get good results.  Many of these same lifters, if they were to engage in HFT, may discover that being a “hardgainer” becomes a thing of the past.      The one issue, however, that I have found with HFT is this: lifters often find it hard to properly program.  And because of this lack of understanding, they either use it improperly and then give up on it too soon or they never give it a chance in the first place.  In this essay, I want to show you how ...