I've been debating DC training for years, and I'm finally going to give it a go next month. I've tried the workouts on occasion over the past few months, and they are indeed more brutal than they look on paper.
As wrkn4 stated above, intensemuscle is the best board for DC information.
This link is useful as well -
All about Doggcrapp and DC Training
I'll put pretty much everything you need to know here for you though...
DOGGCRAPP TRAINING MANUAL
Introduction to Philosophy:
My whole goal is to continually get stronger on key exercises=getting continually bigger. I will state this, the method I am about to describe is what I have found that makes people grow at the absolutely fastest rate possible and why I am being inundated down in this area to train people. It's going to go against the grain but I'm making people grow about 2 and a half times as fast the normal rate so bear with me. A typical workout for the masses is (lets use chest for an example) doing a body part once every 7 days (once a week)and sometimes even once every 9 days or more. This concept came to the front due to
recovery reasoning and I agree with most typical workouts your going to need a great deal of recovery. Here's the problem---lets say you train chest once a week for a year and you hypothetically gain 1/64 of an inch in pectoral thickness from each workout. At the end of the year you should be at 52/64 (or 13/16). Almost an inch of thickness (pretty good). To build muscle we are trying to lift at a high enough intensity and load to grow muscle but with enough recovery so the muscle remodels and grows. The problem is everyone is loading up on the volume end of training and its taking away from the recovery part of it. You can train in a way so you can train chest 3 times every nine days and you will recover and grow faster than ever. If you train chest 3 times in 9 days
you are now doing chest roughly 136 times a year! So instead of 52 growth phases you are now getting 136 growth phases a year. I personally would rather grow 136 times a year than 52. At a hypothetical 1/64th of an inch per workout you are now at 136/64 (or roughly 2.1 inches of thickness). So now your
growing at roughly 2 and a half times as fast as normal people who are doing modern day workouts are. Most people train chest with 3 to 4 exercises and wait the 7-9 days to recover and that is one growth phase. I use the same 3 to 4 exercises but do chest 3 times during those 9 days and get 3 growth phases. Everyone knows a muscle either contracts or doesn't--you cannot isolate a certain part of it (you can get into positions that present better mechanical advantages though that put a focus on certain deep muscle fibers)--for example incline presses vs. flat presses. One huge mistake beginning bodybuilders make is they have a "must" principle instilled in them. They feel they "must" do this exercise and that exercise and this many sets or they won't grow.
Base Program:
How I set bodybuilders workouts up is I have them pick either their 3 favorite exercises for each body part or better yet the exercises they feel will bring up their weaknesses the most. For me my chest exercises are high incline smythe machine press, hammer seated flat press and slight incline smythe press
with hands very very wide----this is because I look at my physique and I feel my problem area is upper and outer pecs---that is my focus. Whenever I train someone new I have them do the following --4 times training in 8 days---with straight sets. Sometimes with rest pause sets but we have to gauge the recovery ability first.
Day one would be Monday and would be:
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
Back thickness
Day two would be Wednesday and would be:
Biceps
Forearms
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
Day three would be Friday and would be:
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
Back thickness
(Sat+sun off)
Day four would be the following Monday and would be
Biceps
Forearms
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
And so on Wednesday Friday Monday Wednesday etc.
Stay with me here--You're only doing one exercise per muscle group per day. Your doing your first favorite exercise for chest on day one--your doing your second favorite exercise for chest on the next chest workout and your third exercise for chest on the next. You're hitting every body part twice in 8 days. The volume on everything is simply as many warm-up sets as you need to do- to be ready for your ONE work set. That can be two warm-up sets for a small muscle group or five warm-up sets for a large
muscle group on heavy exercise like rack deadlifts. The ONE work set is either a straight set or a rest pause set (depending on your recovery abilities again). For people on the lowest scale of recovery its just that one straight set---next up is a straight set with statics for people with slightly better than that recovery----next up is rest pausing (on many of the of movements) with statics for people with middle of the road recovery on up.
Three key exercises are picked for each body part (hypothetically we will use flat dumbell bench press, incline smythe bench press, and hammer press) ---USING ONLY ONE OF THOSE EXERCISES PER WORKOUT you rotate these in order and take that exercise to it's ultimate strength limit (where at that point you change the exercise and get brutally strong on that new movement too). That can happen in 4 weeks or that can happen 2 years later but it will happen some time (You cannot continually gain strength
to where you eventually bench pressing 905 for reps obviously)---Sometime later when you come back to that original exercise you will start slightly lower than your previous high and then soar past it without fail---
As you progress as a bodybuilder you need to take even more rest time and recovery time. READ THAT AGAIN PLEASE: AS YOU PROGRESS AS A BODYBUILDER IN SIZE AND STRENGTH YOU
NEED TO TAKE EVEN MORE REST AND RECOVERY TIME. Example: My recovery ability is probably slightly better now than when I started lifting 13-14 years ago but only slightly...but back then I
was benching 135lbs and squatting 155lbs in my first months of lifting. Now I am far and away the strongest person in my gym using poundages three to six times greater than when I first started lifting. With my recovery ability being what it is both then and now do you think I need more time to recover from a 155lb squat for 8reps or a 500lb squat for 8reps? Obviously the answer is NOW! This past year I have been really pounding the slag iron as heavy and hard as I can in preparation of trying to get onstage at about 252lbs early next year. That means a hard 300lbs to me off-season and I'm pretty **** close to that right now. The gains I have made in strength this past year even at my lifting level are nothing short of phenomenal (in my mind). With those strength gains comes the ratio of recovery factor. Whereas a year ago I was training 2 on one off 2 on one off and getting away with it with extreme stretching etc....about 2 months ago I took an extra day off on the weekend because of work obligations and I just started to feel somewhat tired because of how heavy my weights were. If my strength keeps progressing at this level I am eventually going to have to train Monday Wednesday Friday Monday Wednesday Friday like outlined above simply because I am reaching poundages that are so far and away above my beginning weights-I have to take the necessary recovery precautions. I am still training as often as I
possibly can per body part--that's key to me. The more times I can train a body part in a year's time and recover will mean the fastest growth possible! I've done the training a body part every 10 days system in the past and while recovering from that--the gains were so slow over time I got frustrated and realized the
frequency of growth phases(for me)was to low. I want to gain 104 times a year instead of 52--the fastest rate that I can accumulate muscle (YET AGAIN WITHIN ONES RECOVERY ABILITY-I CANT SAY THAT ENOUGH)
In the past 4-5 years that I have been slowly changing my philosophies of training I've been gaining so fast the last couple of years it's been pretty amazing. I've got my training down to extremely low volume (a rest pause set or ONE straight set) with extreme stretching, and with recovery issues always in the back
of my mind. I realize the number one problem in this sport that will make or break a bodybuilder is overtraining. Simply as this--you over train you're done as a bodybuilder gains wise. Kaput. Zip. A waste of valuable time. But I also think there is a problem with under frequency (only if you can train hardcore enough with extremely low volume to recover)--As stated in an earlier post I skirt right along the line of overtraining--I am right there...I've done everything in my power (Stretching, glutamine, "super
supplements", sleep)to keep me on this side of the line and its worked for me. I believe everyone has different recovery abilities--the job of a bodybuilder is to find out what their individual recovery ability is and do the least amount of hardcore training to grow so they can train that body part as frequently as possible. For anyone who wants to follow my lead that would mean starting out with straight sets training 4 times in 8 days and strictly gauging yourself recovery wise with every step up you take (statics, rest pauses)
Alternate Programs:
MON TUES THURS FRI- For people who have (above normal) recovery ability (hitting body parts twice in that time-or twice in 7 days)
MON WEN FRI MON- For pretty much the norm of society with average recovery ability--hitting body parts twice every 8 days
MON TUES THUR FRI- With body split into three parts-for people with hectic schedules these are extremely short workouts yet stay roughly in the same scheme as the above.
On this schedule someone would group body parts like the following:
DAY ONE:
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
(Stretches)
DAY TWO:
Biceps
Forearms
(Stretches)
Back width
Back thickness
DAY THREE:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quads
(Stretches)
In the first week of doing this, day one would be hit on Friday again and then the Monday of the following week would be Day 2 again, Tuesday would be Day 3, Wednesday off, Thursday-day one again etc. You would still be hitting body parts twice every 9 days and these workouts would be about 35 minutes tops.
Set & Exercise Examples:
Example Day One:
First exercise smythe incline presses (ill use the weights I use for example) 135 for warm-up for 12--185 for 8 warm-up--225 for 6-8 warm-up-----then 375 for 8 reps to total absolute failure (then 12-15 deep breaths) 375 for 2-4 reps to total absolute failure (then 12-15 deep breaths) 375 for 1-3 reps to absolute total failure (then a 20-30 second static hold) DONE!--that's it 375lbs for 8+4+3= 375 for 15 reps rest paused..... next week I go for 385 (again rest paused)-----directly after that rest pause set I go to extreme stretching flyes and that's it for chest and on to shoulders, triceps and back........the next day I come in to
do chest would be day 4 and I would do hammer flat presses in the same rest paused manner (and then extreme stretching again)---the next day I come in to do chest is day seven and I would do my third favorite exercise rest paused and then the cycle repeats. Three chest workouts in nine days with low
enough volume to recover in between workouts and high enough intensity and load to grow rapidly--my workouts last an hour—I'm doing one exercise for one all out balls to the wall rest pause set (I don't count warm-ups only the working set) ---so in simple terms I am using techniques with extreme high intensity(rest pause) which I feel make a persons strength go up as quickly as possible + low volume so I can (recover) as quickly as possible with as many growth phases (damage/remodel/recover) I can do in a years time.
Just in case any of you were confused every body part is hit 3 times in 9 days and advanced techniques such as rest pause is used (if it can be used)....Some exercises like hack squats and some back rowing exercises don't allow themselves to rest pausing too well. A sample couple of days for me would be the
following (I'm not including warm-up sets--just working sets):
Day One:
Chest- Smythe incline 375 x 15 reps rest pause (RP) and 20 second static rep at end
Shoulders- Front smythe press-330 x 13RP
Triceps- Reverse grip bench 315 for 15-20 reps rest paused
Back width- Rear pull downs to back of head 300 x 18RP (20 second static at end)
Back thickness- Dead lifts straight set of 12-20 reps
Day Two:
Biceps- Dumbbell curls rest paused for 20 reps
Forearms- Hammer curls rest paused for 15
Calves- On hack squat straight set for 12 reps but with a 20 second negative phase
Hamstrings- Lying leg curl rest paused for 15-20 reps and then 20 second static at end
Quads- Hack squat straight set of 6 plates each side for 20 reps (of course after warming up)
DAY Three: Off
Day Four & Five: Same as day one with same concepts but different exercises (and again the same with days seven and eight)
Every exercise is done with a controlled but explosive positiveand a true 6-10 second negative phase. And the absolutely most important thing of any of this is I write down all weights and reps done from the working set on a notepad (and every time I go into the gym I have to continually look back and beat the previous times reps/weight or both)---If I cant or I don't beat it, no matter if I love doing the exercise or not, I have to change to a new exercise. Believe me this adds a grave seriousness, a clutch performance or imperativeness to a workout. I have exercises I love to do and knowing I will lose them if I don't beat the
previous stats sucks! But there is a method to this madness because when you get to that wall of sticking
point of strength (AND YOU WILL, THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN HACK SQUAT UP TO 50 PLATES A SIDE) that is when your muscle=strength gains will stop.....and you must turn to a different exercise and get strong on that one. And then someday you will peak out on that one too. You can always come back to that loved exercise in the future and you'll start somewhat low and build up to a peak again- and trust me that peak will be far more than the previous one. Some exercises you'll stay with and gain strength at for almost up to a year and some exercises you'll be at the limit in 4 weeks and lose them but its all in the plan. I love reverse grip bench presses--knowing that I have to beat 315 for 17 reps rest paused or else I have to change to maybe dips next time puts a serious sense of urgency into workouts. I
either have to beat it by doing something to the effect of 320 for 15 rest paused or if I stick with 315, I have to get at least 19 reps rest paused or so. If I'm feeling crappy or having an off day I might give myself a little leeway and allow myself another go at it next time around but that's it. The notepad is your intensity level, how badly you want to keep doing an exercise will be how hard you push to beat the previous. Looking at that piece of paper knowing what you have to do to beat it will bring out the best in
you. Again it's all in the plan to make you the strongest bodybuilder possible which will equal out into the biggest bodybuilder possible
