[Beelzebub]

Some may find this helpful, others may not. This is my routine to a T, similar to the routine that DC advocates but I've made a few modifications of my own that make it not so "DC" incorporating principles from SB, goldenear, etc. So, to coin a phrase from a certain clown "this is mine b!tch, so **** off".

Upon request from SB, I’m writing this for anyone that may be curious about my routine and the continued success I’ve had with it. First off, let me start by saying that I am ‘on’ but the dosages I’m running are lower than they were during my first cycle, so gear cannot account for all of the gains, although they most assuredly did not hurt. As most of you know, I follow a self-modified DC program. Some DC advocates would bash me here saying that if I’ve modified it, then it’s not DC – to which I would reply '**** you and the horse you rode in on’, it’s closer to DC than anything else so by all means refer to the previous statement. Anyhoo, for those not completely spun up on how this program is designed – here is my simplistic breakdown: you choose your 3 favorite exercises for each bodypart and assign them to different days thereby with an end result of 3 different workouts. The body is broken down into two days – Day 1: chest/shoulders/tri’s/back width/back thickness and Day 2: bi’s/forearms/calves/quads/hams. Here comes my first modification: since my arms have always been my ‘forte’ and larger than any other bodypart while legs have been left behind due to inadequate training in my younger days, I decided to change up the order on Day 2 – quads/hams/forearms/bi’s/calves. Nothing major but as discussed previously, the DC nazi’s would be quick to point that out. With each bodypart, you’re only doing one exercise per day and saving all of your energy for that last ‘all-out’ set where you go until you can’t possibly go anymore. All sets before the last one are nothing more than warm-up sets to prepare you for the biggie. Here’s a cutout from my last squat day as an example:
(2) 135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 3
belt
405 x 1
495 x 1
Belt/wraps
585 x 2

As you can see, as the weight increases, the reps are cutdown in an effort to conserve all energy and strength for the last set. Immediately following the last set, a stretch is performed. The easiest way to visualize the stretches is to venture over to intensemuscle.com (DC’s board), subforum ‘dogg pound’, sticky entitled “extreme stretches with inhuman” or something to that effect. The stretch is held for a minimum of 60 seconds, I prefer 90 when pain allows it, and some even go for 2 minutes but I’m convinced these people are clinically insane. As for choosing exercises, I would recommend choosing 3 that are compound movements whenever possible as these provide the most benefit in terms of strength and mass gains, IMO of course.

DC advises that most trainees should start out with a M/W/F routine. Meaning if you did chest/shoulders/tri’s/back on Monday, you would follow up with quads/hams/forearms/bi’s/calves on Wednesday with Friday bringing on the 2nd day of chest/shoulders/tri’s/back. The following week would begin with quads, etc. on Monday – chest, etc. Wednesday – quads,etc. Friday. I bumped this up to a M/T/T/F routine for myself in an effort to see how fast I recovered which has yet to fail me so I have not changed it since starting this. DC adamantly advises against most trying this as he believes most will overtrain rather quickly with anything more than a M/W/F scheme and I agree. As stated, I just wanted to see how it worked for me and it never stopped, so I didn’t either.

Now, this is where the program would end if we all had unlimited genetic potential and could continue growing with the same 3 favorite exercises forever. Unfortunately, this is not the case nor will it ever be. Eventually, you’re going to stall out on certain exercises, the question is not ‘if’ but ‘when’. Let’s say you’ve been using incline bench press for about 3 months now, you’ve been improving every workout by at least a rep or two, sometimes adding new weight but today you hit 225 for 13 reps where as last week you hit 15 reps. This means it’s time to replace it with something else. This is very difficult for most to do as they believe that it’s simply a bad week (which is possible but the point remains) or that they are different than 99.9% of other trainees. YOU CANNOT UTILIZE THE SAME MOVEMENT FOREVER. It just doesn’t work that way. If it did work that way, I’d easily be raw benching over 1K by now. Again, when that time comes, drop it and replace it with something else so you can eventually max out on that as well. Here enters my little modification that DC doesn’t mention in cycles for pennies. Progressive overload. The one exercise that I refuse to drop is squats. Blame it on the fact that squats were my weakest lift a little over a year ago and it is my neuroticism that keeps me from dropping them completely. Whatever the case may be, I picked up this little tip from Goldenear when he was referencing deadlifts. When you reach your 1RM on whatever lift you’ve stubbornly chosen to keep (like me), take it back to 75% and work your way back up by 10lbs every week. An example from my squat routine just so recently reset, I had just hit 585 x 2 last week and was guesstimating to hit 605 x 1 but the voices in my head told me to let it go and just reduce to 75% and work my way back up as to avoid a possible injury. So, 75% of 605 is ~455lbs. So, this past squat workout, I hit 455 for a max set and next week I will hit 465 for a max set, so on and so forth. When I eventually get up to 585 again, I will most likely hit 4-6 reps and perhaps continue onward until I max out around 635 or so. Again, these are just estimates but I’m sure you see the point. I wouldn’t advise utilizing progressive overload for every exercise, just the big 3: squats, deads, and flat bench (which DC hates but until competition changes it to incline dumbbell, we’re kinda locked into it).

Calves: courtesy of SB. (you’ve been warned)

Leg Day 1—Donkey/Leg Press Raises, 2/3 tempo.
Go for one minute straight, THEN bend your knees and continue for another minute.
Rest three minutes.
Repeat.—drop weight if you have to.
Rest Three minutes.
Repeat.—drop weight if you have to.

Leg Day 2—Standing Calf Raises
Moderate Weight, usually ¾ of the stack
3 sets of 10 reps, in a 2/4 tempo, stretching at the bottom, contracting at the top.
Reverse Raises—sit on a lying leg curl machine backwards and put your feet under the pad. Roll the pad up and down working your “front” calf muscles.
3 sets of 12 reps, in a 2/4 tempo, contracting at the top.

Leg Day 3—Donkey/Leg Press Raises, ½ tempo.
Go for thirty seconds straight with your knees locked, THEN bend your knees and continue for thirty seconds, THEN do thirty seconds of calf squats. Calf squats/presses are kind of cheat movement where once your calves are fried, you continue going by doing a quarter squat. This is done easiest on a leg press machine. Move the sled about 8 inches. You will find the burn becomes more intense because of the forced stabilization that the calf has to do with the calf squats. These are done as a quick pumping movement.
Rest three minutes.
Repeat.—drop weight if you have to.
Rest Three minutes.
Repeat.—drop weight if you have to.

Rest pausing and static holds. I’ve yet to try static holds but they’re rumored to be quite effective among the DC community. An example of a static hold on last set of flat bench would be after you’ve achieved your last rep, hold the bar in the top position for as long as possible then racking it, you’re done (might be an over simplistic way of looking at it but that’s the gist of it). As for rest pausing, I’ve grown to love it on certain movements. An example of rest pause would be: standing alternating dumbbell curls. Do as many as you can with your last set, set them down for 15 deep breaths, pick them back up and go again (most likely getting 3-4 reps), set them down again for 15 deep breaths and go one more time for a total of 2 rest pauses. It would be impossible to utilize RP on squats purely for safety reasons alone so choose where you want to use these wisely. Common sense plays a factor here.

Time off. Necessary? Definitely. DC protocol requires a 4 week blast period followed by a 2 week cruise period where weights and volume are reduced and is considered somewhat of a deload period. Yeah, I didn’t like that. So, I go for 6 weeks of balls to walls training followed by 1 week off of everything. I know me and I know I cannot come into the gym and piddle around with some light bullsh!t in an effort to ‘deload’. In a matter of sets, I’d be going for a PR of some sort convinced that I had evaded the system. So, I alleviate this problem by not going at all. No cardio, no weights, no gym, nada. During this week, my diet remains unaltered as I believe that my body needs the same amount of nutrients as before only now they’re being used to recuperate the hellish 6 weeks that preceded it. Try to get more sleep during this period as well, after all, it’s rest week.

Cardio – Low intensity for 20 mins after each weight session to avoid excess fat gain and for overall health. If you’re looking to drop some additional fat, bump up cardio to ED trying to perform at least a 20-30 minute session every morning on an empty stomach.

Carb cutoffs – Once again, goal depending. If you’re looking to drop some additional fat and/or are carb sensitive, have a carb cutoff after your PWO shake. Replace them with healthy fats such as flax oil, almonds, etc.

Review of my modifications:
1) Order of exercises on day 2 switched to quads/hams/forearms/bi’s/calves
2) Most, if not all, that try this should stick with M/W/F. Many have tried more frequency and ended up overtrained.
3) Progressive overload. When a movement stalls out, DC says ‘drop it’. I say ‘not so fast’. If it is a great compound movement that you just can’t simply live without, then try progressive overload.

Conclusion: This has worked great for me as I’m still consistently hitting PR’s every workout. I believe DC is one of the most effective programs out there but I just happened to make a few adjustments of my own that are customized to my needs. I’ve had two guys follow my version to a T and they are having the same continued success as I have. One of which is el naturale and the other ‘not so much’. One thing is for sure, this program is fun and it’s the change that keeps it interesting. Coming into the gym knowing that today I will be stronger is all the motivation I’ll ever need. If you’re not in there for that, then why bother? Take up golf and quit doing curls in the squat rack – we’ve got work to do.

[myfathersboy]

Great information as always Beez.....

I'm due for a routine change in about 6 weeks, Maybe I'll try this...It's just so far removed from everything I've done in the past...Kinda worries me to make such an extreme change, even though I know it needs to be done....

[Beowulf]

Awesome post Beelz

I'd rep ya if I could

I'm gonna start DC in probably 6-8 weeks, so this post is perfect. BTW, I love the Progressive Overload idea. I think I'll try to maintain the emphasis on arms, though. Mine aren't exactly my forte. More like my weakte

[Jayhawkk]

Ya man, lots of workouts get posted on sets and reps but not how they are done.

[FitnFirm]

WOW!!!!!!!!!! Beelze you ROCK!!!!!!!!!!

You better go take a little nap after all that typing !!!!!!


LOL, Ill be on your tail making sure you stay on track

[Beowulf]

Good call sticking this one!

[Mulletsoldier]

Good job Big Fella. I'm glad you decided to post everything I taught you!!!....

[motiv8erJR]

Shiot... how much did you pay SB to let you post the super secret calf routine?


Thanks brother of skinny calves.....

~Mk

[brickt.]

Beelze for president !

[myfathersboy]

Beelz,

This type of Training seems like it would be geared more towards strength rather than hypertrophy, would you agree or disagree? Also, what do you think of incorporating some TUT principles into a routine like this? If so, how?

[Beelzebub]

myfathersboy. the word that is used to describe it is called 'powertraining'. the theory behind it is, the heavier the weight - the larger the muscle. to coin another phrase, it would translate into "talking the talk and walking the walk." while you look like you can squat 600, can you really? you get the idea i imagine if you incorporated TUT principles into the program, it would switch more to a hypertrophy workout with less emphasis on strength. although, it would still work well.

fitnfirm on my tail? this sounds.......intriguing

motiv8tr, being this was SB's idea in the first place - free of charge.

glad ya'll like. it's a good change for those looking for some variation.

[goldylight]

who is SB LOL?????

[Beelzebub]

scott bakula from quantum leap

[Yukon Cornelius]

Originally Posted by myfathersboy

Beelz,

This type of Training seems like it would be geared more towards strength rather than hypertrophy, would you agree or disagree? Also, what do you think of incorporating some TUT principles into a routine like this? If so, how?

It already is. What do you think static holds and and rest pausing does?

Fancy names, simple concepts Strongmen been doing it since the 50's.


Every routine has TUT. If it didn't, you wouldn't be lifting weight.


"Carb cutoffs – Once again, goal depending. If you’re looking to drop some additional fat and/or are carb sensitive, have a carb cutoff after your PWO shake. Replace them with healthy fats such as flax oil, almonds, etc."

Better yet, drop the fats and eat smarter carbs. Then slowly reverse this trend over a period of time once bf% levels become lower.

[guyfromkop2]

Originally Posted by Beelzebub

myfathersboy. the word that is used to describe it is called 'powertraining'. the theory behind it is, the heavier the weight - the larger the muscle. to coin another phrase, it would translate into "talking the talk and walking the walk." while you look like you can squat 600, can you really? you get the idea

post of the year right here