C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

In the latest issue of Planet Muscle (July, 2013), I have an article that deals with what is commonly called the "Bulgarian method" of high-frequency training.  To be honest, it's probably one of the most "non-bodybuilding" pieces I've ever written for any of the major muscle magazines.  I'm glad Jeff Everson actually printed it (I had my doubts when I sent it to him.) To whet your appetite, here's a portion of the article where I discuss the three factors of frequency, intensity and volume:      "Any well-designed program must take into account three important variables: frequency, intensity, and volume.   Programs that fail are ones that don’t properly manipulate and control these variables.   For instance, if you were to perform a program for lots of sets, lots of reps, and lots of intensity multiple times per week, you would be setting yourself up to fail – and would surely do so.   If any two of the variables are high, then the oth...

High Frequency Training for Strength and Power Part One: The Basics      This is the first of what will be a multi-part series on “high frequency training” geared specifically for building strength and power.   High frequency training – training not just multiple times per week, but training each muscle group multiple times per week – has become more popular in recent years.   I’ve been touting its benefits for almost a decade, but so have other strength trainers/writers such as Pavel Tsatsouline and Dan John.      High frequency training (henceforth just “HFT”), however, is nothing recent nor is it particularly innovative.   If you read my last couple articles on the training of Anthony Ditillo you should know that.   Before Ditillo there was “Big” Jim Williams.   (My first post on this blog a few years ago was related to Jim Williams training.   If you haven’t done so, please read it.)   And before...

      I’ve always enjoyed activities that had a sparse, Zen-like quality to them.   My first love of this kind was martial arts.   I was nine or ten when my father agreed to let me take Karate – Okinawan karate-do to be precise (Isshin-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, Goju-Ryu). [1]   At first, I think he was reluctant.   This was probably on account of the fact that I had quit other “sport” activities that I was involved in.   I could hit a baseball hard, and had a good arm, but I hated the monotony of America’s pastime.   I played football some, but didn’t care much for it either.   But when I encountered martial arts, I encountered something entirely different.   Although I trained with others, and fought with others, the only real competition was with myself.   Okinawan karate-do focuses on very basic movements, but they must be done with precision, perfect technique, and impeccable timing.   And the only way to achieve that...

     After yesterday’s post – Anthony Ditillo on Adaptability – I received an email from a reader.  The reader – new to this idea of frequent, intense [1] training – wanted to know what a program would actually look like if he were to follow Ditillo’s advice.  At first, I thought, “Well, I would rather not give a more detailed plan.  Part of what makes someone a successful lifter is actually learning how to lift.”  But then I thought better of it, and decided to write this post.      What follows is some advice and a week of sample training.  Keep in mind that this is just an example program.  If you are going to become a skilled lifter – and lifting, bulk-building, power training are skills – then you need to practice, you need to experiment, and you don’t need everything laid out for you in complete detail – hence, my initial reluctance at wring this piece.      First off, I recommend...

     A little more than ten years ago, or thereabouts, I made a change in how I trained.  I switched over from heavy, full-body infrequent routines to heavy, full-body, frequent training programs.  I’m not going to get into all of the details here as to why this happened – you can read past posts about my success with the powerlifting programs of Boris Sheiko if you desire to know more.      Once I had success with Sheiko’s programs, however, I wanted to try more routines, so I voraciously read everything I could get my hands on from knowledgeable lifters/writers who had espoused such forms of frequent training over the years.  Some writer/trainers (whether they were bodybuilders, powerlifters, or Olympic lifters) were better than others.      Bill Starr, of course, was one of the best.  (And he still is.)  But I had been doing Starr’s routines – or stuff similar – for quite a long time before ever at...

     “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to contemplate, to enjoy, to love.” – Marcus Aurelius      The Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius, of Seneca, of Musonius Rufus, and – yes – of Epictetus is a philosophy of life.  As William Wallace says in the movie Braveheart, “Every man dies, but not every man really lives.”  How many people do you know who waste their lives on things that have no purpose?  The truth is this: the vast majority of the people of this world waste their lives on trivial matters, on concerns with “fun”, on things outside of their own lives.  Let us not do this – let us return to Epictetus so that we may learn how to live, and how to imbue our training with philosophy itself, let our training be a place where we can apply philosophy so that it carries over into all of our life outside of training. Epictetus on the Importance of Training Our Minds: ...

The 30 Rep Workout      A few weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch watching television.   (I don’t usually sit on the couch and watch television.   Typically, I sit on the couch and either read a book or write in one of my notebooks—or if I have enough free time, I spend it in meditation, prayer, or a bit of lectio divina.   But my workout partner, Jason, was about to show up for a workout, and so I wanted something trivial to pass the time.)   Anyway, I turned it to ESPN, only to see that the Women’s Crossfit World Championships (did I even say that right?; not a big Crossfit fan, so anyone feel free to correct me if I need correcting) was on the tube.   The women were engaging in a competition that involved nothing more than doing 30 snatches—apparently they can either do power snatches or full snatches; whatever it takes to get the bar up—as fast as possible.   I think they were using 90 pounds, maybe 110, I can’t really reme...