C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

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 ...

Musings on “Good” Workouts and Effective Training Strategies      I’m sure that you’ve heard of “the rule of 3.”  Actually, just kidding.  I’m sure that you haven’t because, well, I made it up.  Like right now.  This moment.  But it should be a rule, and once I hit “post” on this essay, it will forever be on the internet, so it, you know, will be a rule.  Forever and ever.  Or until the internet collapses in an apocalyptic, cataclysmic downfall.  But maybe then it will be rediscovered by Max and all those grimy kids when they go in search of Tomorrow-morrow Land, and find a copy of it that one of you printed off the internet.  Anyway, rule or not, it is a good way to look at your training.      Now, there are various “rules of 3.”  After writing that first paragraph, I did a cursory search and Google spat out a handful of different “rules.”  The only one I was familiar with, I mus...