C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

Zen Budo and the Path of Striving for Achievement      “Decay is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.” ~the final words of the Buddha       “The image of Buddhism has gone through quite a lot of change over the years. Nowadays people don't tend to associate Buddhism with striving so much as with peace and withdrawal, with being rather than doing. Whatever would old Shakyamuni think of that?       “Buddha pointed out that things are impermanent and you might take it from that that he was suggesting that it is futile wasting effort on things that are not going to last. However, the original moral was probably just the opposite. Buddha put a new spin on the idea of karma, remember. Karma had been taken to mean that you are what you are because of what you did in your last life so there is nothing you can do about it. This logic underpinned the caste system and it still does. This was a ...

Approach Your Lifting as a Skill and Craft to be Honed      There is a certain science to lifting.  I won’t deny that.  But if we only approach training from a “science based” perspective, we won’t see the whole picture.  We’ll also miss out on what makes lifting one of life’s true joys.      Lifters who approach training as an art learn more than just how to build strength, power, and muscle mass.  A lifter whose art form is lifting itself learns about his body, particularly what kind of training works for him alone, but he also learns about life and all that lifting has to offer outside of just physical transformation.      How does one go about the art of training?  For the remainder of this essay, we will see what this might look like.      To start with, just as with any craft, you need a plan that focuses on the essence of the craft.  Begin with a bas...

On Striving to do Fewer Things Better      In my recent Go Heavy or Go Home essay, I discussed Pavel Tsatsouline’s “7 rules of Russian training.”  The last of the rules is “You must strive to do fewer things better.”  In this essay, we will look at the importance of this rule and some various training strategies to accomplish it.      I often write about the different reasons that lifters don’t get the results out of their training that they’re looking for.  Not using the right movements, following so-called bro-split routines that are also coupled with too many machine and cable exercises, along with jumping from program-to-program are just a few of the workout ideas that I’m apt to rail against.  For these reasons and some others, there are a lot of average gym-goers—even ones who have been “training” for years on end—who don’t look like they lift.      The best programs often involve doing...