C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Turn up the Volume for More Size and Strength      Okay.  Yeah.  I know.  If you’ve read even a smattering of my articles or essays, you’ve probably seen me say that squatting is king.  Well, it is.  If you give it your all on squats—whether it’s back squats or front squats, barbell squats, kettlebell squats, or just your bodyweight, really high-repetition squats or heavy-as-heck, low-rep squats—you will make gains.  In fact, if you’re not going to squat, you might as well hang it up as far as gains are concerned.  No squats.  No gains.  It’s that simple.  (Okay, I did write THIS article on how to make gains without squatting, but that aside…)  But let’s just go ahead and assume that squats are mandatory.  Because the truth is also this: You can squat and not make any gains if you’re on a crappy program where you train infrequently or just do random “whatever” workouts.     ...

  Manipulating the Three Variables to Achieve Your Physique Goals Herman Goerner used the form of "high-frequency, high-intensity" programs outlined below in order to perform a one-hand deadlift with 730-pounds! If you are not properly manipulating the three variables of volume, frequency, and intensity, you are not going to see results from your training.  I don't care if you are trying to win a powerlifting contest or a figure competition, whether you are trying to get as massive as possible, or lose as much body fat as you possibly can in a short amount of time; if you are not regulating and programming these 3 variables in your training, you will not  achieve your goals. I have remarked before, in paraphrasing the late, great "Iron Guru" Vince Gironda, "Are you on a training program or are you just working out?"  And to be on a training program proper  is to ensure that you are regulating your volume, frequency, and intensity in the appropriate man...

 For some reason, by FAR the most "hits" on any of my pages here at Integral Strength are for one of my oldest posts, one that I wrote in 2009 when I first started this blog entitled "Old Time Mass Tactics: One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Training."  You can read it here if you're interested: https://cssloanstrength.blogspot.com/2009/05/old-time-mass-tactics-one-exercise-per.html Even though I wrote that piece when I was 35 - and I'm now 48 - I do think that it still "stands on it's own", and so I wouldn't change much, if anything, about it.  However, my views HAVE changed a little since that time, primarily when it comes to older lifters because, well, I'm  an older lifter now, and when you're in your upper 40s (or older) you probably  shouldn't train the way you did when you were in your early to mid 30s.  For instance, when I was in my early 30s, I was the strongest I had ever been in my entire life.  I could squat and deadlift (in...