C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

 Uncommon Training Associations for More Size and Strength Build Additional Mass and Power with Some Unique Training Combinations      Certain objects, items, and concepts are associated with other objects, items, or concepts.  Peanut butter is associated with jelly.  Texas is associated with BBQ, longhorn cattle, and cowboy hats—and nostalgic memories of garage power workouts with Uncle Kirk while we dipped Copenhagen snuff if you’re me.  China is associated with kung-fu and acupuncture.  Japan is associated with samurai, sushi, and creating the first fuel-efficient cars.  Italy is associated with pizza and carb-laden, cheesy pastas.  And so on and so forth.  I could go on and on (and on).  We make associations without giving much thought to it, whether we know it or not.  If I ask what you associate with French fries, I bet you’d say ketchup.  Maybe salt.  Okay, if you’re from the Carolinas, you might...

Learning from the Golden Era Legends of Bodybuilding’s Past      I was sitting in my recliner, laptop where it should be, on my lap, typing away at a transcript for a talk I’m giving this weekend at a writer’s conference when I just decided I needed a break.  I like giving talks, especially if I can help and inspire young or aspiring writers in any way, but writing a talk is not my favorite thing.  Giving the talk, I enjoy.  The process of actually writing the speech, not so much.  Anyway, I decided to take a break and write what I most enjoy, an essay where I just start typing away and see what comes out the other end.  There are times when I plan out an article in a lot of detail.  Sometimes, I do quite a bit of research, especially if I’m writing something such as a historical piece on Japanese Budo, but other times, such as this one, I just come up with a title, or have a basic idea in mind, nothing concrete at all , and then I...

Old-School Workout Methods for Achieving Your Training Goals      I admit that I’m not up on anything new in the world of strength training and bodybuilding.  I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any modern bodybuilder or strength athlete or any new methods of training.  I guess that’s a bit of a personality fault on my part considering the subjects I write about.  However, it’s been my view for as long as I can remember that there really isn’t anything new under the mass-building sun.      To be honest, there isn’t anything new in, well, anything .  There is more stuff that is forgotten than is discovered.  And even when something new is “discovered,” it’s more often than not simply something that had been lost.      I take this view in almost any subject that I love, whether it’s strength training, martial arts, or even philosophy and theology.  I am a classical theist , after ...