C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Some Thoughts on Hard Training, Challenges, and Other Such Stuff      In my last essay on “ Outdoor Workout Challenges ,” I mentioned the body’s need for challenges on occasion, and gave some workout ideas for loaded carries and odd lifts.  In this essay, I just want to discuss hard training in general, and give some thoughts on when—and when not—to use challenges and other hard forms of training.      First, the body does need to be challenged constantly in some way.  But this doesn’t mean that one has to always go “all out” at each session, much less on each and every work set.  For instance, the act of working out on a regular basis is itself a challenge to the body.  Your body grows bigger and/or stronger—or fat loss occurs—through adaptation and accumulation.  Without pushing your body to do more and more on a regular basis, this won’t transpire, and results won’t happen.      Our ...

  Some Training Ideas for Outdoor Fall Lifting Using Loaded Carries and Odd Lifts      I have written before that my favorite time of the year to train is the Fall season.  In fact, last year, around this exact same time, I wrote a piece on Fall training that was mainly centered around sandbag workouts.  In this essay, I want to do something a little different by giving you some different and varied training ideas for outdoor lifting using loaded carries and other “odd” lifts.      For the first time this year, it’s starting to get a little cool here in central Alabama where I live.  And when coolness sets in, I like to take some training implements and objects from my garage to the yard, where I can lift, carry, drag, flip, or push them in assorted ways.      Last night, after completing a full-body workout consisting of front squats, kettlebell cleans, bench presses, chins, and barbell cur...

The Most Impactful Changes You Can Make to Your Training for More Size and/or Strength      I received a question from a reader yesterday, and, after responding to it, thought it would be good to share here, and, essentially, use my response for this essay.  So, the question from “Alan S.” goes something like this (edited slightly by yours truly): “I was wondering what the biggest ‘game changers’ are that you have used over the years?  By this, I mean what things have you added to your training that made the most improvements to your physique and your strength?  Or what things have you added to the programs of lifters you have trained that made the most difference in their size and strength?”  (Emphasis added is mine.)      At first, I thought about just rattling off to Alan what I call the “Big 4,” but I figured he had read enough of my programs and/or articles—his question was even more in-depth, but I removed any...

                4 Tips for Serious Lifters Loaded Carries - one of the 4 tips for serious lifters      I have been lifting weights since, I think, 1986 or ‘87, when, for either my 13th or 14th birthday, my father bought me one of those cement-filled, plastic DP weight sets replete with a flimsy bench.  I’ve come a long way since then - in other words, I’ve gotten friggin’ old - but I’ve never stopped lifting, and I’ve seen a LOT of different exercises, workout routines, and training programs (some good, most not) done by a lot of different people.  In other words, in 36 (maybe 37) years of training - and paying attention - I’ve seen damn near anything and everything you can think of in the lifting world.  And so I’m also pretty sure that in another 36 (or 37) years, the following tips will be just as good then as they are now. Consistency Trumps Everything       “It doesn’t matter ho...