C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

In the Footsteps of Legends - Part 4: Back Training Secrets of the Golden Era for a Wide, Thick, Massive, and Muscular Back      We have reached the 4th part of my series on the training secrets of the golden era bodybuilders, the legends that pumped iron back in the 1970s and ‘80s.  Part 1 was an overview of golden era training, their methods, techniques, and secrets.  Part 2 covered some of the methods I missed in the 1st part, along with their techniques and exercises that they used to build wide, boulder-like deltoids.  Part 3 was all about chest training.  I advise you to read those articles, particularly the 1st two, before reading this one, as they discuss some of the methods that are helpful in understanding why the golden era icons trained their backs the way that they did.  With that out of the way, let’s get right into back training…      I love training back.  It’s easily my best bodypart an...

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...