C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  Minimalist Training for Maximum Gains      I made the mistake today of reading one of the popular bodybuilding websites.   Occasionally I do this, but almost always regret it shortly after.   Today was no different.   I write that it was a “mistake” only because reading these online “rags”—I suppose that’s the best term, though perhaps “zine” might be more apropos—almost always makes me want to beat my head into the wall of my dungeonous garage gym until I black out and (hopefully) forget everything I just read.      I always make my way to one of these websites in the hope, faint though it may be, that I might actually stumble upon an article or two with good training advice.   But, alas, to no avail.      I suppose you could argue that I’m being a bit too curmudgeonly.   Heck, you might be right.   Well, partially right.   Because, if I’m honest, there are some decent traini...

      Three Power Programs for Building Muscular Might       “You can train long or you can train hard, but you can’t do both.” ~Arthur Jones, inventor of the Nautilus exercise machines      Arthur Jones was correct.  But what he incorrectly assumed is that you should choose hard over long.  I know that there are lifters who would disagree with me—and perhaps a whole cult of “HIT” enthusiasts who would want to crucify me over that statement—but I stand by it.  Twenty years ago, I wrote an article for T-Nation , in fact, that was called “Train Long,” partly to counter the belief that briefer is always better.      In addition, in an article for IronMan some years ago, I wrote this: “Everyone seems to immediately assume that the answer is to train hard.  Not many consider that training long might be the better option.  Bodybuilders from the past, however, understood this we...