C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

      The following article is a combination of a couple of different articles I wrote for some different magazines, and a few brief posts that I've written on this blog in years' past.  I hope you enjoy the outcome—and find that it offers some valuable insight, AND a kick-ass training program for packing on the mass! Old School Muscle Training Strategies of the Classic Bodybuilders      Most bodybuilders today think that newer is always better; doesn’t matter if it’s the latest pill, protein powder, diet, or workout program.   Well, I’m here to tell you that’s not always the case.   I think it’s time some of the old-school training strategies once again saw the light of day.   In fact, I think if you combine many of the ideas of the “old-timers” with today’s state-of-the-art supplements, the results could be amazing.       In the following article, I’m going to outline many of the best strategies the old-time bodybuilders had for building slabs of

Three On/ One Off Redux A New Twist on an Old Classic      When I began lifting weights – sometime in the late ‘80s – there was really only one training split that most bodybuilders used: the three on, one off scheme.  For any of you unfamiliar with this split, it works like this: You split your body three ways, and then you train for three days straight before taking a day off.  After your day off, you begin the split over again.      Most bodybuilders of that era trained legs on one day, and then split their upper body into two sessions; some lifters trained antagonistic bodyparts together on one day – chest and back, or biceps and triceps – while others would train all of their push muscles on one day – chest, shoulders, and triceps – and their pull muscles on the other day – back and biceps.      But the three on, one off split eventually fell the way of the dinosaurs.  In the early ‘90s Dorian Yates entered the scene, bringing with him his “blood-and-guts” style of train

     Sorry for the long delay in posts.  I will try to make up for it this month by publishing numerous posts/articles.  Here's the first:       For years—back when I was writing almost monthly for IronMan magazine —IM’s editor-in-chief, Steve Holman, penned many articles on his personal brand of high-intensity, briefer-is-better, training: something Holman called “positions-of-flexion” training, or just POF for short.      Holman first revealed this “new” form of training sometime in the mid ‘90s.   I can’t remember the exact year, but I think it was sometime in ’94 or ’95, and it was highly touted by IM as a new “state-of-the-art” form of high-intensity training.   (IM took advantage, at the time, of the rising popularity HIT was experiencing, especially under the incarnation of it that Dorian Yates was espousing as the key to his Mr.O dominance.)      POF was based on something that I thought—and still do think—to be fairly inventive.   Holman’s thought was that

Happy July 4 th Weekend Ramblings      Yesterday was July 4 th , so my wife Tara and I traveled to my parents’ house to meet some of our family, eat a lot of BBQ—I smoked a butt, several slabs of ribs, and some sausage yesterday; all excellent mass-building, strength-inducing foods—and play a tournament of “washers [1] .”      On the way to my parents, Tara and I listened to XM radio, as we usually do.   My listening preferences are heavy metal and/or alternative music [2] .   Hers are stuff a little more mainstream—pop and country.   She tolerates, even likes, some alternative music, but doesn’t care one whit for metal, and so we decided on a compromise by listening to “the Pulse”, a station that plays some pop music and some radio-friendly alternative.   I immediately changed stations, however, once Maroon 5 started singing one of their recent releases, and one of their more popular hits.      “I thought you liked Maroon 5,” Tara said.   She was slightly anno

The Best Leg Workout You’ve Never Tried!      Two things work the best when it comes to moving massive amounts of weight, and/or gaining massive amounts of muscle: Simple work, combined with hard work.   Nothing else is going to cut it.      As Mark Rippetoe once remarked, “the most valuable lessons of the weight room: a simple, hard program works best, and that you get out of your training – and your life – exactly what you put into it.”      I could never have said it better myself.      I also have a good feeling that a whole lot of lifters know that simple, hard work is absolutely the best way to train for building slabs of muscle that is also capable of hefting ponderous poundages, but they don’t do it.   And I think they don’t do it for a couple of reasons.   First, either they’re lazy and/or have convinced themselves that fancier programs that don’t require hard work—brutally simple hard work—work just as well.   Or, second, sometimes they just want to do som

      Although my posts on Stoic philosophy are not as popular as those on lifting (or drinking beer, or good literature), I am going to continue with them nonetheless.      For those interested in lifting weights – whether you’re a bodybuilder, powerlifter, or just casual lifter (or, hell, even for you Crossfitters) – Stoicism is the philosophy par excellence.  Lifting weights, particularly hard and heavy lifting, can teach us a lot about how to live our lives, but we have to learn to listen to what our lives have to tell us.  For some, the art of listening is a little more difficult.  This is where philosophy comes in.      This particular piece comes from Seneca.  Seneca has long been my favorite of the Roman writers on Stoicism.  Perhaps this is because he is not just a Stoic, for he borrows on other philosophies of antiquity when they serve his purpose.      This piece on death, and how it’s one thing to live a life, and it’s another thing to just exist, is also one of my