C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

It Came from the ‘90s: The Anabolic Diet      Today, I sat down at my computer to write the second-part in my Denis Du Breuil “rules of bulk-building” when something I was writing (about the benefits of carbohydrates) made me think—for some odd reason—about Mauro Di Pasquale’s “anabolic diet”, a diet I had great success with in the mid ‘90s.   One of my training partners had even better success with it—I remember it vividly because it was the first time that I witnessed someone get bigger while staying very lean.   (These days, bodybuilders tend to know better.   But back then, the over-riding philosophy was that you bulked up as big as possible in the off-season—gaining a combination of fat, water, and muscle—and then got really lean starting 12 to 16 weeks out from a competition—or the summer, if you didn’t compete.   Of course, “over-riding philosophy” didn’t mean that everyone did it—there were some bodybuilders sounding the t...

Three On/ One Off Redux A New Twist on an Old Classic      When I began lifting weights – sometime in the late ‘80s – there was really only one training split that most bodybuilders used: the three on, one off scheme.  For any of you unfamiliar with this split, it works like this: You split your body three ways, and then you train for three days straight before taking a day off.  After your day off, you begin the split over again.      Most bodybuilders of that era trained legs on one day, and then split their upper body into two sessions; some lifters trained antagonistic bodyparts together on one day – chest and back, or biceps and triceps – while others would train all of their push muscles on one day – chest, shoulders, and triceps – and their pull muscles on the other day – back and biceps.      But the three on, one off split eventually fell the way of the dinosaurs.  In the early ‘90s Dorian Yates entered the s...

     Here is the complete, unedited version of my "Bulgarian Method for Massive Muscles" that appeared in Planet Muscle a few months ago.  I included an excerpt of this a couples months ago on this blog, as well, but here it is in full.      Please, if you haven't attempted this kind of training before - or you haven't performed it long enough to give it a "proper test drive" - then don't dismiss it.  You will be pleasantly surprised with the results. The Bulgarian Method for Massive Muscles      In previous articles for PM, I have discussed the efficacy of high-frequency training.  High frequency training is effective because the more frequently you can train a muscle group, the faster you will grow muscle and build strength.  Notice that I didn’t say that the more frequently you train a muscle group, the faster will your results be.  For instance, there’s no way that you can do a typical body...

5 Keys to Mass… Fast  5 Principles for Building Massive Muscles in the Shortest Possible Time       If you’re reading this article, the chances are that you want exactly what the title implies: massive muscles.  And I bet there’s an equally good chance that you have been going at it all wrong.  It’s time to fix that!  What follows are 5 tips – along with training programs and other sagely muscle-building advice – for acquiring the most massively muscled body that your genetics are capable of building. Key #1: Squat, squat, and squat some more Jon Cole squatting heavy and deep      Whenever someone wants to know what they can do to build more muscle, I ask one question first.  Are you squatting?  If the answer is “no,” then I know that the lifter isn’t serious about building muscle or is misinformed about what entails good training.      Hard, heavy squats should be the corners...