C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Some Thoughts on Hard Training, Challenges, and Other Such Stuff      In my last essay on “ Outdoor Workout Challenges ,” I mentioned the body’s need for challenges on occasion, and gave some workout ideas for loaded carries and odd lifts.  In this essay, I just want to discuss hard training in general, and give some thoughts on when—and when not—to use challenges and other hard forms of training.      First, the body does need to be challenged constantly in some way.  But this doesn’t mean that one has to always go “all out” at each session, much less on each and every work set.  For instance, the act of working out on a regular basis is itself a challenge to the body.  Your body grows bigger and/or stronger—or fat loss occurs—through adaptation and accumulation.  Without pushing your body to do more and more on a regular basis, this won’t transpire, and results won’t happen.      Our body doesn’t just need to be challenged through training.  It also needs to be disciplined through

Occasional All-Day Training Challenges for New Gains in Size and Strength      In his book The Education of a Bodybuilder , Arnold Schwarzenegger discussed the fact that, on occasion, he and a training partner would take some weights into the woods and do endless sets of squats or other exercises.  He said the first time they did this bit of insanity, he did something like 55 sets of high-rep squats with 250 pounds, and couldn’t walk correctly for over a week.  He said it became a regular part of his training at the time.  Eventually, it turned into several workout partners, women who would come along for some lovemaking, grilled meats for an all-night barbecue, and an endless amount of beer and/or wine-drinking.  If I remember correctly, they would even swim naked in lakes and carry on as if they were gladiators or Vikings from centuries ago.  When I read that as a teenager, crazy as I might have thought it to be, it also sounded like pure bodybuilding Valhalla—weights, wine and wome