C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

      “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...

  The Bulk-Building Program of Jack Delinger This photo was taken of Delinger after he won the '56 Mr. Universe. Delinger was a well-known bodybuilder from the ‘40s and ‘50s that, unfortunately, just isn't as well-known today as many of his contemporaries.  This, despite the fact that he had an “All-American” look; blonde, aesthetic physique, young, and good-looking.  I have a feeling that the only reason he isn’t more well-known today—at least, it has to be a partial reason—is because he only won 3 contests his entire career .  (I have read conflicting reports as to how many competitions he actually entered.  In one article from the ‘50s, it said that Delinger only entered these three contests, but other sources show that he probably competed in 6 competitions, but it was only these 3 that he won outright.) Delinger competed in, and won, the 1946 Mr. Northern California, the 1949 AAU Mr. America, and, finally, the 1956 Mr. Universe.  At the Mr. Universe, ...

     A little more than ten years ago, or thereabouts, I made a change in how I trained.  I switched over from heavy, full-body infrequent routines to heavy, full-body, frequent training programs.  I’m not going to get into all of the details here as to why this happened – you can read past posts about my success with the powerlifting programs of Boris Sheiko if you desire to know more.      Once I had success with Sheiko’s programs, however, I wanted to try more routines, so I voraciously read everything I could get my hands on from knowledgeable lifters/writers who had espoused such forms of frequent training over the years.  Some writer/trainers (whether they were bodybuilders, powerlifters, or Olympic lifters) were better than others.      Bill Starr, of course, was one of the best.  (And he still is.)  But I had been doing Starr’s routines – or stuff similar – for quite a long time before ever at...