C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

More Tips, Advice, and Program Suggestions for Winter Bulk-Building      After writing my last two articles on bulk and power training—the 1st on Hugh Cassidy’s training and the second on another, similar winter bulk building program—I figured that was it.  I mean, not as if I’m done writing or need to take a break from hacking away at my laptop.  No, I just mean that I thought that was it when it came to advice for cold weather bulk building.  I have a few other articles that I am already about a ⅓ of the way through at the moment—the 4th part of my "bodyweight and beyond” series, an essay on “pain”, and another one on Bill Starr’s advice for tailoring workout programs for your own needs and goals, along with a few others, in addition to outlines and notes for around 20 more—so I had every intention this morning of finishing up one of those assorted pieces.  But then I received an email.      A reader messaged me....

  Winter is the Time for Bulk Building      A couple of occurrences precipitated this essay.  First, my last article on the legendary powerlifter Hugh Cassidy.  His training is just the kind of program anyone seeking bulk should follow.  And not just his style of training, but most certainly his “method” of eating.  You know, if you can call scarfing down every calorie-laden, protein-packed, carb-loaded thing in sight a method.  Second, and most obvious, the cold.  Much of our country, as I type these words on my laptop, snug against the warmth of my fireplace, is in the grip of a bone-chilling freeze.  Even in the Deep South of Alabama where I live, work, and train (outdoors), we have been told by the wintry weather prognosticators that it will only get slightly above freezing as the high for the week.      I have long believed that we should do “seasonal” training.  Too many lifters, train a...

      “Bulking is basic.  Remember that.  If you try to do too much or get too clever… you’re not going to make the kind of progress that I’ve typically seen.” ~Dan John      I was reading Pavel and John’s book Easy Strength when I came upon that quote above.  That first sentence is so true that I don’t know why I never came up with it myself.  But, like a lot of the ideas for articles that I’ve written over the years, I figured that I’d use it for an essay of my own.  Which you’re now staring at on your computer screen or tablet or phone or, well, whatever-the-hell it is that you use to read my blog.      By the way, and before we get into the gist of this article outright, if you want to know about a lot of the ideas that I’ve stolen over the years—that’s correct; I’ve stolen a lot of good stuff—then check out an essay I wrote last year aptly entitled “Stealing Good Ideas.”   Any...