C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

A Simple Method for Quick Muscle (and Strength) Gains      When it comes to building muscle, especially for the natural lifter, I don’t think anything “beats” high-frequency training (HFT).  It works whether you want to use high reps or low reps, whether you’re after strength or hypertrophy or if you’re seeking a combination of both.  If there’s an “issue” with it, it’s the fact that you can’t generally do a lot of work for one muscle group.  I’ve had conversations with lifters—whether in person or through the internet—who have told me that HFT, no doubt, works but that they missed doing more volume for their muscles.  These are typically bodybuilders who really enjoy pump training and the feeling of completely congesting a muscle (or muscle groups) with a lot of sets for a massive pump.  I understand.  After all, in the pseudo-documentary “Pumping Iron,” Arnold even compared the pleasure of “da pump” to the pleasure of good sex. ...

  Tips and Routines for Monstrous Pulling Power Here I am pulling over 500lbs in competition.  In the background (in the red singlet) is my Uncle Kirk, yelling encouragement, who made an appearance in my last "Deep South Mass and Power Chronicles."  This meet was around the same time as that essay's setting.      I received an email this morning from a reader curious about deadlift training after reading my last "Deep South Mass & Power Chronicles" on just that very thing.  The reader wanted to know if I could write an article that detailed out an "exact" training program as opposed to all of the "tips" that I sprinkled throughout the (only slightly) fictional conversation between me and my cousins.  At first, I thought, "sure, I can do that," but then I realized that I have already written some articles on this very thing.  And since I haven't done a "Thursday Throwback" as of late, I thought this would be a perfe...

  Welcome to the World of High-Intensity, High-Volume Workouts-Of-The-Day! First things first: read Part One of this series from September 15th of last month if you haven't already done so.  If you have, then we can move on... Let's keep things as simple as possible for the sake of "ease of workouts".  The workouts themselves will be hard enough without overcomplicating the program. Start off by training each of the core lifts - squats, bench presses, and deadlifts - on one day per week.  I like to train during the week when on this program - or when training someone on this program - and then take the weekends off for rest, relaxation, drinking cocktails, throwing down the gauntlet at an arm-wrestling tournament; ya' know, whatever it is you like to do with your weekends without having to think about also performing a hard-ass training session. So the split would look like this: Monday: Squats - pick any of the WOD below Wednesday: Bench Presses - pick any of the...

Slovenian powerlifter Erni Gregorčič at Worlds 2014 in Sydney, Australia The other day, I received an email from a reader who wanted to know if I still felt the same way about strength training - specifically Russian strength training, for some reason - as I did years ago.  He asked this, he said, because I hadn't published very much on the subject in the last couple of years.  I replied that, of course, I still feel the same way about the efficacy of strength and power programs that I recommended 10 years ago as I do today. There really is nothing new under the strength and power building sun. With that being said, for those of you new to Russian-style training, here are the "rules" of Russian-style training as recommended by strength guru Pavel Tsatsouline*: 1. You must lift heavy. 2. You must limit your reps to five. 3. You must avoid muscular failure. 4. You must cycle your loads. 5. You must stay tight.  Tension is power. 6. You must treat your strength as a ski...

Pat Casey: King of all Powerlifters The massive Pat Casey performing shoulder presses. When I first fell in love with powerlifting - and power training in general - in the mid '90s, I immediately had a few heroes.  Some of the early 19th century strongmen such as George Hackenschmidt, Arthur Saxon, and Louis Cyr were all fascinating to me.  As was my favorite power bodybuilder of all time, Marvin Eder ,and then, of course, there were guys like Bill Kazmaier, Don Reinhoudt, and Bruce Wilhelm.  But, once I discovered him, Pat Casey might have - just might have - been my favorite. Several different things fascinated me about Casey.  First, was his strength (obviously).  He was ahead of his time when it came to the bench press and the squat.  Second, was his physique.  He looked as if he could - at any time - strip some fat and step onto the bodybuilding stage. And third was his training.  And it was this 3rd thing that I think I loved the...

To truly be a lifter, lifting must get into your bones, it must live in the marrow of your being, and it must enter into the depths of your soul . I think it's safe to say that Doyle Kennedy was a real  lifter. Lifting is an art—and it's this way with any artist.  One can paint without being an artist, but that doesn't make the man a painter.  One can write without being an artist, but that doesn't make the man a writer.  One can practice religion without being an artist, but that doesn't make one a religious .  And so it is with lifting.  One can always lift without being an artist—many do that very thing—but those who do so will never truly be lifters. At one time, I practiced bodybuilding.  I enjoyed it to no ends—I still do when it's good.  I enjoyed the love, perhaps even the art, of "chasing the pump."  At the time, I would have even called myself a bodybuilder.  But then, it happened.  I discovered lifting, real ...