C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

A Highly Effective High-Frequency Program for Strength, Power, and Muscle Mass      In several recent articles, I have presented a few key concepts to building strength, power, and muscle mass.  One of the concepts is the “90% method” where you do most of your sets at 90% of a certain rep range.  It could be 90% of 1 rep, of 3 reps, of 5 reps, or even as high as 10 reps.  (If you want more in depth discussion on the 90% method then read my article “ Skill Training as Size Building .”)  I have also presented the concepts of weight ladders and wave loading , where, instead of sticking with the same weight throughout several sets before moving to a different weight, you move back and forth from heavier to lighter sets.      One of my more popular recent articles that used the above concepts is “ The 1-5 Program .”  It’s a high-volume program.  It’s good for lifters who like to use split programs, as it’s a mul...

     I write a lot about lifting because I think a lot about lifting.  I am a writer after all.  Sometimes I even write about writing.  When you’re a writer, that’s what you do.  You write.  Anyway, I was thinking earlier about why I write about lifting and why in the world I continue to write about it, even when I’ve penned around 800 articles at this point, but who’s counting?  No one but me.      I think I’ve written more articles, essays, and musings this past year than I have in any other year of my life.  That’s saying something since I’ve been writing training articles since 1993, when I sold my first articles to IronMan magazine and MuscleMag International .  Earlier this year, at some point, I remember briefly thinking something along the lines of, “What if I run out of ideas to write about?  Maybe I should slow this thing down.”  But then I realized that it’s not possible....

Some Thoughts and Tips on How to Design a High-Frequency, High-Volume Workout Program      I believe some of the best training programs available are ones that utilize high-frequency training (HFT).  I think that many lifters, bodybuilders, and just casual trainees believe that they are so-called hardgainers for one simple reason: they’ve used low-frequency programs (whether they were high-volume workouts, high-intensity routines or a combination of both) and could never get good results.  Many of these same lifters, if they were to engage in HFT, may discover that being a “hardgainer” becomes a thing of the past.      The one issue, however, that I have found with HFT is this: lifters often find it hard to properly program.  And because of this lack of understanding, they either use it improperly and then give up on it too soon or they never give it a chance in the first place.  In this essay, I want to show you how ...