C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

       If you have been involved in the iron game for even a little while, you probably know most of the “get big advice.”   Stuff such as “eat a lot of protein and calories,” “train heavy on the big lifts,” “get plenty of rest and recovery,” and other such “basic” advice can be found in any number of articles, YouTube videos, or Facebook posts.   And most of it is pretty good and fairly sound—I’ve written plenty of such articles covering similar material here on the blog and I will continue to do so.   But in this essay, I want to do something just a little bit different.   Here, I want to look at some various tips, training ideas, and nutritional hacks that are not your run-of-the-mill suggestions.   Most of these are not to be used long-term, but they can be quite useful when utilized over a short period of time, such as one training cycle or even over the course of only a few weeks.      Before we get starte...

     For the last few days, I've been working on a post/article on the original Muscle Beach Iron Guru Vince Gironda. That piece will be much more extensive than this one, but it will also be largely about his training principles, revolutionary as they were at the time Gironda unleashed them upon the bodybuilding world. But in rummaging/scouring through old Ironman and MuscleMag International articles, I came across an article in the October '95 Ironman where Gironda listed his weight-gaining suggestions. Gironda at his peak      Gironda had so many innovative - not to mention downright cool sometimes - training ideas that it would be almost impossible to discuss them in one article, but I will discuss a couple of other additional nutrition ideas he had at the end of this post. But first, the tips! Here they are*:Drink water during your workout. Drink at least one pint after each muscle group worked, but dont' drink out of a fountain, because you swall...