C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

      Matthew Sloan does real bodybuilding workouts at 16 years old, and it shows!      The other day I received an email from a reader who stumbled across my article on "Increasing Work Capacity."  Apparently, this particular gentleman had come across it while perusing some forum-or-another—in one of the many "hardcore bodybuilding forums"—that was discussing the article.  Basically, to sum it up, he took me to task for "daring" to suggest that drug-free bodybuilders could possibly perform such hard work as I suggested for the advanced lifters in my post.      I, politely as I could, explained my reasonings.  I explained how drug-free bodybuilders could certainly work up to the amount of work I suggested and, not only survive it, but actually thrive  on it.  When I was finished with my reply, I hit the "send" button, and then began to lament inwardly, thinking to myself, "Where have all the real bodybuilders gone?"      I t

Increasing Work Capacity The Key for Gaining Massive Strength and Size Years ago, lifters – be they bodybuilders, powerlifters, or Olympic lifters – knew how to train. [1]   Take Marvin Eder, for instance (still my favorite of the “old timers”): Eder could squat close to 700 pounds, clean and press 355 pounds, snatch 285 pounds, bench press 515 pounds, and do reps on parallel bar dips with over 400 pounds strapped to his waist.  He also had 19 inch arms at a bodyweight of around 200 pounds.  And just how did Eder lift such prodigious poundages and attain one hell of a physique?  He began training around the age of 16 by using a 3-days-per-week, full-body workout plan (as everyone did at that time, I might add).  As he advanced – and by “advanced” I mean that he increased his strength [2] – he increased the number of exercises he used, the number of sets per exercise, the overall length of his workout, and the number of days per week he trained.  By the time of his heyday –