C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

       Before we get things started here, I haven’t been able to write quite as much as I want to on the blog.  I have been busy, as with a great many of you, in all likelihood, with various holiday functions and I have been trying to put the finishing touches on a book I have been working on for almost two years—and should have had finished by now—on Miyamoto Musashi’s “The Dokkodo.”  However, I will try to post at least one more essay/article—possibly two—to round out 2024.      With that little aside out of the way, let’s get down to business. I had a question from a reader who wanted to know if I knew of any training program that was capable of both building muscle and burning bodyfat at the same time.  If you’re unaware, it’s widely considered damn-near impossible to achieve that feat.  Even guys on anabolics have a problem with doing such a thing, although the introduction of steroids, and other perfor...

    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...