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...

  Are High-Frequency, High-Rep Programs Good for Building Muscle? READ ON AND FIND OUT!      With some of my recent writings—specifically, my article for DragonDoor on “ The 30-Rep Program ” and my “Powerlifting with the 3 to 5 Method” here on the blog—I have written quite a bit about what is generally referred to as easy strength methods of training.  For that reason, I suppose, I received an email from a reader today asking if I ever recommend, or have utilized, high-frequency training programs that also use high-repetition training.  He then asked me if I did use them, what would such programs look like?      This essay is my answer.      First off—and let’s just cover this briefly in case you’re not familiar with easy strength methods—easy strength refers to high-frequency training done with minimal sets and reps but with fairly high intensity .  Now, intensity is used here as it is b...