C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Variations on the 10 Sets of 10 Reps Method for One-Exercise-Per-Bodypart Training      Since the ‘90s, I’ve preached the benefits of one-exercise-per-bodypart workouts in articles I wrote for Ironman magazine and MuscleMag International .  The very first method that I touted was the 10 sets of 10 reps workout.  Back in the last century, when I still trained as a bodybuilder before my “conversion” to powerlifter, I did most of my hypertrophy workouts using the standard multiple exercises per muscle group for multiple sets—typically 3 to 4 lifts per bodypart for 3 to 4 sets of (somewhere between) 6 and 12 repetitions.  I’d hazard that’s still the way most bodybuilders train in today’s gyms.  Back then, I was “chasing the pump” in most of my workouts.  I noticed something, though. I would often start a workout with a good pump on my first exercise but when I switched to a new one, I would lose my pump or it would diminish somewhat.  ...

  One-Exercise-Per-Workout for Strength, Power, AND Muscle Mass Anthony Ditillo wrote several programs that are similar to the one-lift-a-day program presented here.      The best programs are often both hard and simple.  They’re also—if articles and YouTube videos are to be believed—not very popular.  Which probably has a lot to do with the fact that, well, they’re hard and simple.  Hard and simple doesn’t usually sell magazines, or make for a popular “fitness” influencer,  or imbue a blogger with too many readers.  Oh, well.  It doesn’t make it any less true.  So I’m here to once again preach a hard and simple workout program.      I have been lifting weights, in various forms, since the late ‘80s.  I have been a bodybuilder, powerlifter, and competitive martial artist, changing programs to produce desired goals.  I have also written about a variety of programs since I first started wor...

  One-Exercise-Per- Workout Programs The massive quads of Tom Platz.  Platz built his leg muscles by often doing just one exercise for as many as 50 sets! I have often extolled - on more occasions than I would even be able to remember - the benefits of one-exercise-per-bodypart training.  There really are few choices better for building muscle mass - or an outrageous amount of strength on an exercise such as one of the three basic powerlifts - than one-exercise-per-bodypart training programs.  If you’re a bodybuilder, or someone who is only after building muscle mass and “looking good”, then you really can’t do any better than a 10 sets of 10 program, an 8 sets of 8 routine, or even something like 20 sets of 20 reps on occasion (this is actually a REALLY GOOD program for growing massive quads, but you’ve been warned: it’s also HELL!).  And if you’re solely after strength, then multiple sets of 3s, doubles, or singles on any exercise is one of the best ways to ...