C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

  The Look of Power Tips for Developing Mass that “Stands Out” from the Crowd Tim Belknap - seen here on a 1982 cover of IronMan  - definitely had the "look of power."       “When you see an individual who has built his or her muscle mass to an advanced degree, and has done it with basic, heavy exercises, they have a certain look about them.  It is hard to describe in words, yet everyone knows it when they see it.  Extremely developed bodybuilders, however, often lack this ‘look,’ despite having a high level of muscle tissue, and having perhaps very large muscular measurements.  Still, they look, as my younger brother once noted, ‘like a bunch of body parts strewn together.’  One who has predominantly utilized the ‘basics,’ and is capable of using relatively heavy weights for moderately high repetitions, looks powerful and strong.  Again, it is an almost undefinable, yet undeniable truth.”       ...

      Doing a high rep set of squats or deadlifts with a heavy poundage is one of the toughest, most demanding, most painful, and most brutal things you can do.  It is a training principle that has built tons of muscle and it is a training principle that has been endorsed by many of the most knowledgeable and influential writers to ever grace the game.  Dr. Ken Leistner, Peary Rader, Dr. Randall J. Strossen, John McCallum, Mark Berry, Joe Hise, Arthur Jones, and Bradley J. Steiner all have written at length about the almost uncanny ability of heavy, high rep leg and back work to transform a bag of bones into a human gorilla. ~Brooks Kubik in Dinosaur Training (1996 ed.) Kevin Tolbert (adopted son of Ken Leistner and current head strength coach at Michigan) seen here in his younger days.  He was massively strong, and used the sort of workouts described here.      After my brief essay at the beginning of the month on a basi...