C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

     It’s important to program your workouts.   For many lifters, this can seem daunting—though it shouldn’t be—because they’re accustomed to just “working out.”   Programming your workouts, however, doesn’t have to be complicated.   In fact, it can be quite simple.      I like to recommend easy-to-follow routines where the title of the program pretty much explains the workouts contained within.   My 30-Rep Program is an example.   With it, you do 30 reps total for the entire session.   Sure, you must still understand the program’s parameters—as you ought to with all good routines—but once you do, it’s easy to follow and easy to program.      Another good example is the 3-to-5 workout .   The title of program basically gives away the whole thing.   You train 3 to 5 days each week.   You utilize 3 to 5 exercises at each session.   You do 3 to 5 sets of 3 to 5 reps on eac...

     This is a little belated—should have done it a couple of weeks ago—but my latest article is out in Planet Muscle magazine (October, 2013).  It is on "strongman-style" training, replete with a few weeks of workouts to get you started if you want to begin such a thing.      Here I am—in my study, semi-naked as usual when writing or engaging in creative endeavors—holding up the cover:      And here is what the article looks like inside the magazine:      To whet your appetite just a little bit more, here's a brief excerpt:      Most of you reading this will probably never compete in a strongman competition, but the kind of lifting they utilize can be a great way of training for any bodybuilder looking to pack on some muscle mass.      The program presented here allows you to train as if you were preparing for—or even competing in—a strongman competition.  First, I ...

 Bulk-Building Brutality H.I.T. Training Using the Big 5 System Mike Mentzer, the most well-known H.I.T. proponent      I'll  admit it: I’m not a big fan of high-intensity training. [1]   While a few people are neutral on the subject, most people either love or loathe high-intensity training principles.   I have, for the most part, been in the “loathe” category.   However, I do think it has its place, and I also think it’s been effective for a lot of lifters—when used properly, at least.      In the past, I have been critical of it for several reasons:   I think it breeds laziness.   I think that it doesn’t allow the lifter to build enough power and strength when performed for high repetitions.   I don’t think that it’s effective at increasing work capacity.   I think it’s for “whiners” and “complainers” who claim to be “hard-gainers”, but who in fact want an excuse to not train frequen...

Thoughts on the Two-Barbell Rule      Over at T-Nation, Tony Gentilcore has an article where he mentions something he calls the “two-barbell rule.” [1]   The “rule” is pretty simple: At each training session, perform two barbell exercises before doing anything else.      Although I never thought about making this one of the “rules” of training, I like it.   In fact, a couple of things crossed my mind upon reading about it.   First, I wished I would have thought of it myself—it’s one of those things that’s so simple, it should be blatantly obvious to most lifters, but it’s not.   Second, I realize that I “do” this rule almost every time that I train myself or others.      The two-barbell rule—although simple, and although it should be obvious to most lifters—needs a little clarification.   What I would like to discuss here, then, is ways that you can make this “rule” work.   If applied p...