C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

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...

      This is a first of a series of articles that will focus on what I call “hybrid training.”  Unlike some – but not all of the material – on this blog, this series will focus on specifically on bodybuilding .  And by “bodybuilding,” I simply mean the kind of training that I believe most guys (and gals) are interested in: building shapely muscle, adding muscle mass, keeping their bodyfat relatively low.  I other words: looking good. Hybrid Chest Training Bodybuilding for the 21 st Century and Beyond      “ Hybrid - a composite of mixed origin.  Complex, composite - a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts.”      There was a time when bodybuilders trained in one, and only one, fashion.  Of course, in the early days – the “Golden Age” if you will, the age of Steve Reeves, the age of the original “Muscle Beach”, the age when bodybuilders engaged in “physical development” – ...

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...