C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Build Even More Size, Strength, and Power with Multiple Sets of Low Reps      Of all the training articles that I have written the last couple months, the most popular article by far is my recent High-Set, Low-Rep Workout Variations for Size and Strength that I posted on July 11th.  In it, I covered (primarily) different variations using workouts of 8 to 10 sets of 3 to 5 reps.  I won’t go back over the training in that article, so if you haven’t read it, and you think it might b e a training method that you’re interested in, then check it out.  In this article, I’m going to go over some additional workout ideas, including some advanced ones for lifters who have already spent a few training cycles using the methods discussed in the prior post.  Based on the interest in the previous article, I figured more lifters would want to know about some additional training ideas. Rep Ladders      With rep ladders , you use th...

     Sometimes the best workouts for building muscle mass look almost easy to the casual trainee or observer.  Too many times, lifters equate how hard you train at each workout to the results that are produced.  But it just doesn’t work this way in reality.  Some of the biggest, strongest lifters and bodybuilders I’ve known looked as if they were taking it easy in their workouts.  When I first witnessed this as a young man in the gyms of the early ‘90s, I chalked it up to “genetics.”  After all, I was told in many of the magazines from that era that, if you were a “hardgainer,” you needed to train with brief but incredibly hard workout sessions.  But with many years of training—and training others—under my belt, I just don’t think that’s the case.  Now, don’t get me wrong (I mean, really don’t get me wrong), there are definitely times when you should train hard and push it in the gym.  But the majority of the time, belie...