C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

      Matthew Sloan does real bodybuilding workouts at 16 years old, and it shows!      The other day I received an email from a reader who stumbled across my article on "Increasing Work Capacity."  Apparently, this particular gentleman had come across it while perusing some forum-or-another—in one of the many "hardcore bodybuilding forums"—that was discussing the article.  Basically, to sum it up, he took me to task for "daring" to suggest that drug-free bodybuilders could possibly perform such hard work as I suggested for the advanced lifters in my post.      I, politely as I could, explained my reasonings.  I explained how drug-free bodybuilders could certainly work up to the amount of work I suggested and, not only survive it, but actually thrive  on it.  When I was finished with my reply, I hit the "send" button, and then began to lament inwardly, thinking to myself, "Where have all the real bodybuilders gone?"      I t

The Other Kind of Hardgainer [1]      I think a majority of lifters—even ones who have been training a long time and should know better—mistakenly believe that there are two kinds of training in the lifting world today.  First off, you have your “high volume” training.  It’s not necessarily that there’s anything wrong with this kind of training, or so the train of thought goes, but this kind of training—multiple sets per bodypart, multiple days per week of training, fairly high reps, and going for “the pump”—is for those lifters and bodybuilders who respond well to this kind of thing, usually thought to be “genetically elite” men.  The majority of lifters, or so the line of thought continues, would do well with more infrequent training, but an infrequent training that is combined with minimalist training performed all-out!   In the bodybuilding world, the second line of thought was most espoused by Mike Mentzer and the rest of his ill-begotten ilk. [2]   For instance, when I f

      This is a first of a series of articles that will focus on what I call “hybrid training.”  Unlike some – but not all of the material – on this blog, this series will focus on specifically on bodybuilding .  And by “bodybuilding,” I simply mean the kind of training that I believe most guys (and gals) are interested in: building shapely muscle, adding muscle mass, keeping their bodyfat relatively low.  I other words: looking good. Hybrid Chest Training Bodybuilding for the 21 st Century and Beyond      “ Hybrid - a composite of mixed origin.  Complex, composite - a conceptual whole made up of complicated and related parts.”      There was a time when bodybuilders trained in one, and only one, fashion.  Of course, in the early days – the “Golden Age” if you will, the age of Steve Reeves, the age of the original “Muscle Beach”, the age when bodybuilders engaged in “physical development” – this wasn’t the case.  In those days, the men who roamed the sands of southern Calif