C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

My Dramatic Transformation Principle Experience by Jared Smith Jared demonstrates some of the mass he's built using the principles in this article. There are things in this world that can never be eclipsed. Upon the sands of a fallen empire—and in the ruins of rust-covered gyms around the world—they will forever be. The pyramids have been a symbol of power and mystique not just for the Pharaohs of old, but for every gym rat and serious bodybuilder to ever grasp a barbell. Though some things stand the test of time and cannot be replaced, they can be learned from and, thus, improved upon. Most bodybuilders who have trained for even a short period of time, have performed a standard pyramid. Starting with a higher number of reps and building up to an apex, the pyramid usually ends there. Unfortunately, this is short changing potential gains in hypertrophy. Once the apex is reached, the nervous system is primed and ready for intense muscular contraction. The he...

C.S.'s note: The chest-training methods that Jared uses in this article are ones that he first laid out in his "Prime and Pump for Massive Muscle Growth" article a couple of posts back.  Do yourself a favor and read that one first, if you haven't yet done so, before proceeding to this new bodypart-centric piece.  If you read the article below without  having read the other one, you may be confused over some of the terminology Jared uses. Prime and Pump Training for a Silverback Set of Pecs and Animalistic Arms! by Jared Smith I’ve heard some say that a pump will limit one's ability to go heavy. This could not be further from the truth. Physics dictates that the more mass something has, the more power it will possess. I’m not saying to obliterate a muscle with insanely high reps before attempting to go heavy, but if you pump the muscles that support the lift, it will add “mass” via sarcoplasmic expansion which will lend itself to more strength. ...

Why are you warming up, when you could be priming your muscles for growth?! by Jared Smith I have never been one to just take the word of a scientist in a lab coat with no real world training experience. Many experienced lifters figure things out years before science finally catches up. For instance, look at the golden era of bodybuilding when antagonistic supersets were all the rage. Science now shows that training a muscle's antagonist increases performance for both! Well before the days of "human performance "labs", much like the one headed up by Dr. Jacob Wilson at the University of Tampa, time-tested meat heads were pumping opposing muscles to get the most out of training. Some of the methods I’ve come to love are unconventional, even by the standards of those who do love the pairing of agonist/antagonist muscle groups.  Arnold —seen here looking cool—was a big fan of pairing agonist/antagonist muscles For instance, I’m a firm believer...