C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

      I apologize for the delay in posts this month.  I just returned from a vacation to my home state of Texas and simply wasn't able to get the writing done out there that I had PLANNED on doing.  Anyway, I hope to post more frequently for the remainder of the month.  Also, be on the lookout for a new book (hopefully this week🤞) on heavy-light-medium training!  With that out of the way... Grip Work for More Mass, Strength, and Power If You Want to Get REALLY Big and Strong, Throw Away the Straps and Embrace HARD Grip Work        “When I made the decision to forego the use of straps and persevere until I could handle heavy weights without them, I surpassed previous bests.   In fact, the entire exercise (deadlifts) became much more intense and my overall gains in strength and muscular size were quite unexpected.   Perhaps my level of concentration was higher because I was so intent on maintaining my grip on the...

  Thoughts on Fasting, Training, Self-Sacrifice, and the Intersection of Religious Practice and Lifting     I am an Orthodox Christian.   I was baptized and chrismated in a “Slavic” Orthodox Church before Easter 2011.   I write that at the outset so that you will understand the next part, which is the fact that usually the date of Pascha (Easter) in the Christian East—Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, along with, I suppose, whatever remnants of Nestorian Christianity still remain—and Easter in the Christian West (Catholicism and Protestantism) fall on different dates.   (This is not the place to discuss why they are on different dates, but if you want to read more, here is an article last year from The Greek Reporter: “ Why Orthodox and Catholic Easterare on Different Dates .”)   But this year they fall on the same date later this month (April 20 th ), which means that all Christians worldwide are in the middle of Lent as I write these words. ...

  Minimalist Training for Maximum Gains      I made the mistake today of reading one of the popular bodybuilding websites.   Occasionally I do this, but almost always regret it shortly after.   Today was no different.   I write that it was a “mistake” only because reading these online “rags”—I suppose that’s the best term, though perhaps “zine” might be more apropos—almost always makes me want to beat my head into the wall of my dungeonous garage gym until I black out and (hopefully) forget everything I just read.      I always make my way to one of these websites in the hope, faint though it may be, that I might actually stumble upon an article or two with good training advice.   But, alas, to no avail.      I suppose you could argue that I’m being a bit too curmudgeonly.   Heck, you might be right.   Well, partially right.   Because, if I’m honest, there are some decent traini...

  Heavy/Light/Medium Training Part 6: Getting Bigger Starr in his competitive days A Sample Workout Program + Bill Starr’s Dietary Advice for Adding Bulk      Bill Starr had some damn sagely advice for getting bigger.   Heck, I suppose all of his advice was sagely, for that matter.   So, in this, the 6 th part of our ongoing series on Starr’s H/L/M training, I’m going to present that advice to you , dear reader.      We will cover both diet and training for getting bigger, because one won’t work without the other.      Before we go any further, this essay, just like the ones that preceded it, builds upon the other installments.   So, for the simple sake of clarification alone, it would be a good idea to read the parts before continuing here.   Here are the links: Part One – program design Part Two – upper body pressing power Part Three – building the squat Part Four – back and pullin...

  Real Bodybuilding: A Squat Specialization Program for Huge Gains in Mass and Strength      “I started Marvin on weights a couple of years ago as a bet.   It was a mistake.   He got to like it.   Marvin’s training methods are as simple as he is.   He went from a skinny nut to a bulky nut in no time flat by squatting three times a week and eating everything that didn’t bite back.      “Marvin avoids work like the bubonic plague.   His only other recreation is the beach.   He walks around with his chest stuck out, eats hamburgers, and kicks sand in everyone’s face.” ~John McCallum        For natural lifters, very few programs are as effective as a squat specialization program for packing on mass fast .   The book “Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks” is a testament to this fact.   It has been a perennial bestseller since it was first published in 1989...