Article on DC training

[R1balla]

I found this article and it pretty much sums it up. anybody who is having a hard time understand it, this is for you. feel free to comment on it or add any suggestions. again, i did not write this, but i find it very informative and i follow this article pretty much

Preface:
Before I begin, I want to briefly clarify a few points. Firstly, this article is intended to provide an overview of DC training in addition to my personal experience with this system. I am not claiming to be an authority on DC training, merely a practitioner hoping to inspire others to try this unique training program.

Introduction:
Since the 1970s, many strength athletes have utilized high intensity training principles in order to maximize muscle stimulation and recovery. Old-school bodybuilders such as Mike Mentzer have argued that high intensity, low volume routines are the most efficient way to build muscle; yet, many modern bodybuilders still perform marathon routines with laughable intensity. Dante Trudell, founder of DC training, enters the scene providing an alternate program focusing on heavy poundage and progressive intensity in order to achieve maximum muscle stimulation.

Assumptions:
DC training can only be understood after outlining the assumptions behind its methodology.


1) Muscular strength is a prerequisite to muscular size.
2) The human ability to recover from exercise is limited.
3) Higher training frequency leads to higher growth. In other words, a body part that is trained more frequently will grow more quickly.
4) A body part should only be trained after it is fully recovered.
5) Training with maximal intensity is the most efficient way to build muscle and increase strength.
Program:
DC training is a deviation from traditional high volume routines. The program incorporates advanced lifting techniques such as rest-pause sets and stretching. Traditional DC routines are broken into two groupings of workouts. For simplicity, we will call these groupings A & B respectively. The design of these groupings promotes high work frequency while ensuring muscular recovery. There are many variations of DC training splits, but for the purposes of this article we will assume 3 workouts per week.
“Group A” workouts focus on developing the following: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, Back Width, and Back Thickness.
“Group B” workouts focus on developing the following: Biceps, Calves, Forearms, Quads, and Hamstrings.
The first step to developing a DC training program is choosing three exercises for each of the body parts listed above. Here are examples of the exercises I frequently use:
Group A

Chest	Shoulders	Triceps	Back Width	Back Thickness
Flat Bench	Smith Shoulder Press	Skull Crushers	Wide Pullups	T-Bar Rows
Incline Bench	Military Press	Close-grip Bench	Lat Pulldown	Deadlifts
Wide Machine Press	Arnold Press	Triceps Pressdown	Close Pullups	BB Rows

Group B:

Biceps	Forearms	Calves	Quads	Hamstrings
Barbell Curls	Rope Curls	Leg-press Calf Raises	Wide Leg Press	Seated Leg Curl
Cable Curls	Hammer Curls	Donkey Calf Raises	Barbell Squat	Stiff Deadlift
Preacher Curl	Reverse BB Curl	Standing Calf Raises	Front Squat	Lying Leg Curl

The program incorporates a rotation between all the A & B exercises. The entire cycle (lifting A1-3 & B1-3) should take 2 weeks. On a Monday, Wednesday, Friday training split, the workout schedule should look as follows: Monday- A1, Wednesday- B1, Friday- A2. The following Monday would resume with B2. This program incorporates variety, providing many movements and opportunities for muscular stimulation. The DC lifter does the same workout every two weeks; therefore, frequently alternating workouts helps slow the body’s tendency to stagnate on repeated training programs thereby avoiding plateaus.
Specifics (Rep Ranges, Rest-Pause, Static Holds, and Stretching):
At this point, the basic structure of DC training has been outlined; however, the true essence of the training is still missing. DC training is by nature high intensity, and consequently it utilizes various techniques to make sure workout intensity remains high. Firstly, DC training incorporates different rep ranges to maximize the effectiveness of each set. As a rule of thumb, most DC sets are performed within the 8-25 rep range. This may seem like a wide range, but after understanding how higher rep ranges are incorporated with rest-pause training it will make more sense. Generally work sets on legs fall on the higher end of the rep range whereas compound upper body movements tend to fall on the lower end of the spectrum. Secondly, almost every DC exercise incorporates rest-pause sets. If you are unfamiliar with rest-pause techniques, look it up on youtube or something. It is important to note that the DC lifter only performs one exercise per muscle group on a given day. Each exercise has one work set that exercise incorporating rest-pause techniques. For example, on the flat bench press the lifter will attempt to press 225 for 12 reps to start his set. After completing his first “set” the lifter will rest thirty seconds and press 225 for an additional 6-8 reps. After completing his second “set” the lifter takes another thirty seconds of rest before performing his final press at 225 to failure (around 2-4 reps). It is important to note, that rest-pause “drop-offs” from set to set will vary between people. Some people tend to recover quickly in between sets, and will consequently hit the higher end of the rep range on the second and third rest-pause sets. The number of reps performed is not important; it is the intensity of the rest-pause sets that really counts. Thirdly, after finishing the final rest-pause set, many DC lifters incorporate a ten second static hold into their final rep. The intention of the static hold is to completely overload the muscle group. Static holds are extremely difficult after finishing the rest-pause sets, and are consequently only advised for lifters who have been training DC style for a few weeks. Finally, after performing the “giant rest-pause” set and static holds, the lifter immediately begins to stretch the given body part. The stretching in DC training is extremely painful. Who would have guessed right? Stretches are often performed with weights, and are intended to loosen the fascia surrounding the muscle tissue to increase the room for new muscle growth and increased blood flow. Stretching will also help induce the recovery process for the muscle. I will explain the specifics of each body part stretch later. Right now, the important thing to understand is that static stretches are performed for each body part immediately following the work set.
Stretches Explained:
Chest: Hold a pair of dumbbells while lying on a flat bench. Lower the dumbbells to the bottom of a dumbbell bench motion and hold them slightly outside the chest. Allow the dumbbells to deeply stretch the chest, and maintain proper breathing. The dumbbells should be heavy. I recommend choosing 65-70% of your 6-8 rep range weight. Towards the end of the sixty seconds, the stretch should become difficult. It is important to remember to relax, allowing the dumbbells to really stretch the chest.
Shoulders: Place a barbell in a power/squat rack around shoulder height. With your back facing the barbell, reach back with both hands grabbing the barbells with palms facing upward. Both hands should be gripping from the bottom of the bar. Begin to slowly sink your hips while keeping your arms straight until you can feel a deep shoulder stretch. Rotate shoulders downward, holding the stretch.
Triceps: Hold a heavy dumbbell, once again about 60-70% of your 6-8 rep range, and sink the dumbbell behind your head exactly like an overhead dumbbell extension. Allow the dumbbell to stretch both triceps while maintaining proper spinal positioning.


Back Width/Thickness: Grab a pull-up bar with a wide grip. Allow both arms to be fully extended, really sinking into the bottom position of the pull-up. Hold for sixty seconds. Weight may be needed in order to make this stretch effective. I recommend wrist straps to maintain grip when adding weight in between your legs. This stretch may be performed after both back width and thickness exercises have been completed.
Biceps: Much like the shoulder stretch, place a barbell in a power/squat rack around shoulder height. With your back facing the barbell, reach back with both hands grabbing the barbells with palms facing downward. Both hands should be gripping from the top of the bar. Begin to slowly sink your hips while keeping your arms straight until you can feel a deep biceps stretch.
Hamstrings: Place a single leg on a waist height platform/barbell etc. Keep the extended leg straight and reach with same side arm attempting to touch your toes. This is a typical hamstring stretch—nothing fancy here. Hold each leg for sixty seconds.
Calves: In this section I plan to explain both how to perform DC Calves work sets as well as stretching, because the two are really one in the same. Unlike the other DC work sets, calf work incorporates stretching into the exercise. There is no rest-pause lifting for calf work. The work set, however, is still unbelievably difficult. Each set consists of fifteen reps. At the bottom of each rep, allow both heels to fall into a deep stretch for a slow fifteen seconds. That’s right. Every rep in the DC calf work set takes over fifteen seconds including the contraction. After the fifteen seconds, explode up to peak contraction, hold momentarily, and slowly lower to the bottom of the motion for another fifteen second stretch. Fifteen reps are performed. Trust me, you will not need a stretch after this set.
Quads: Place a barbell/platform at hip height. With your back facing the barbell/platform, put a single leg over the barbell/platform while sinking your hip/leg into a deep quad stretch. This is a typical quad stretch; it is similar to pulling a single leg backwards except you are utilizing a barbell/platform to elicit a deeper stretch. As always, hold each leg for sixty seconds.
Final Program:
Although this information may seem very overwhelming at first, DC training is very simple once all aspects of the methodology are working simultaneously. DC workouts are intense but very rewarding. The following are sample A1 & B1 workouts with stretches and static holds incorporated to help solidify the structure of the workout.
A1*
Flat Bench: 245-(12-15) rest pause (6-8) rest pause (2-4) static hold, chest stretch
Smith Shoulder Press: 200-(10-12) rest pause (6-8) rest pause (2-4) static hold, shoulder stretch
Skull Crushers: 100lb bar-(10-12) rest pause (6-8) rest pause (2-4) no static hold, triceps stretch
Pullups: +35-(12-15) rest pause (6-8) rest pause (4-6) static hold, back stretch
T-Bar Row: +5plates –(15) straight set (no rest pause), optional back stretch
B1*
EZ-Bar Curl: +45/side-(8-10) rest pause (4-6) rest pause (2-4) static hold, biceps stretch
Reverse Barbell Curl: 95-(20) straight set (no rest-pause)
Leg Press Calves: +4+25/side –(15) with 15s stretch
High & Wide Leg Press: +9/side-(20) rest pause (10-15) rest pause (6-8) static hold, hamstrings stretch
Hack Squat: +6-(10) straight set then +4+25-(20) straight set, quad stretch

*Note: this is a balanced DC routine; yet, not every set is rest-paused.


My experience/application:
DC training is not for everybody. It is mentally and physically taxing, and it requires an extreme amount of concentration and determination. During each workout, you only get one chance to blast a body part to its fullest. There is no second set. There is no excuse for sub-maximal intensity. I don’t mean to sound like a drill sergeant; I am merely being realistic. For this training to be effective, you need to push your intensity to uncharted territories. Since DC training is so taxing, I recommend it primarily for off-season mass-gaining endeavors. After my last bodybuilding contest I began DC training for my off-season and went from 195lbs to 230lbs. Granted, a good portion of this was “off-season” weight, but I can honestly say I gained a lot of mass and have never been stronger. At the peak of my off-season I rack dead-lifted 505 for 9 reps. I had never been this strong before. Now that I am dieting for another show I am taking a break from DC training. I continued to DC train from 13-7 weeks out, but after that point I found the training too difficult to maintain with my pre-contest schedule. For those looking to gain a lot of strength and size, I recommend giving DC training a try. Chances are it will be a big change from your current training, but if your adventurous give DC a try and let me know how it works for you.

 

[JoHNnyNuTZ]

Thanks man..subbing for a later read. But Ive read numerous things which made me awful confused...thanks for the simplification

 

[R1balla]

yeah this is basically it. it explains the rest pause, extreme stretching and how to do it...etc im sure people who have mastered DC will chime in on here, but this is what i basically follow

 

[fadi]

I have the DC DVD. This pretty much sums it up.

 

[Torobestia]

One thing this doesn't really hit on specifically is when to use rest-paused and negatives vs straight set for different exercises. Rule of thumb is basically if it involves the lower back, you don't rest-pause or use negatives; you do straight sets. This is an issue for certain back exercises and certain leg exercises.

When a back width or depth exercise involves the lower back, you would normally do 2 straight-sets, one with heavier weight for lower reps, another with lighter weight and more reps.

For quads, almost all quad work is never rest-paused or done with negatives. Instead, you do a widowmaker set, which is ideally doing the weight for 20 reps. Some people do a "strength" set before hand as well for like 4-8 reps. Hamstring work is usually rest-paused and done with negatives unless you're doing a deadlift variation or goodmornings (though I've honestly never heard of anyone physically big, or important, doing good mornings in DC [not saying it doesn't happen, though!]).

 

[R1balla]

One thing this doesn't really hit on specifically is when to use rest-paused and negatives vs straight set for different exercises. Rule of thumb is basically if it involves the lower back, you don't rest-pause or use negatives; you do straight sets. This is an issue for certain back exercises and certain leg exercises.

When a back width or depth exercise involves the lower back, you would normally do 2 straight-sets, one with heavier weight for lower reps, another with lighter weight and more reps.

For quads, almost all quad work is never rest-paused or done with negatives. Instead, you do a widowmaker set, which is ideally doing the weight for 20 reps. Some people do a "strength" set before hand as well for like 4-8 reps. Hamstring work is usually rest-paused and done with negatives unless you're doing a deadlift variation or goodmornings (though I've honestly never heard of anyone physically big, or important, doing good mornings in DC [not saying it doesn't happen, though!]).

yeah not a good idea to do rest pause with squats or deads. so taxing on the body.....i love the stretching btw.

one thing i do different is for the chest, i dont do the machine on A3. i will do DB Incline with a superset of flys

 

[R1balla]

bump

 

[Doss]

I think anyone can benefit from the stretches recommended above. I typically use higher volume throughout my workouts, but I found that doing the DC stretches every other week helped me a lot. I'm not sure if it was because I was lifting heavier than I'd ever been, or if it was the stretching, but over the course of the last few months I've acquired my first stretch marks (quads/glutes/outer chest) and I'm proud of them. The stretches feel great once you're done, too.

 

[D to the Z]

dc training POV

As a pretty serious 44 year old lifter, DC Training DID pay off with strength gains. When I took a break from dogg crapp and went back to "normal" training, my max lifts on Bench, Deads, etc were up substantially. Honestly, it was pretty awesome! But I don't know how long I could continue to follow DC schedule realistically. It takes A LOT OUT OF YOU. If you look at the DC workout plans, hitting chest, shoulders, tris and back on the same day.... man, that's a ton of energy expended. My fear was that I was overtraining when I stayed with that program. So basically what I did was to break it up even further. So rather than hit 4 or 5 muscle groups in one session, I would only work 2 or 3 and still use DC techniques with rest pause, stretching etc. and this works much better for me. Maybe it's because I'm 44?? If I were in my twenties, it might be a different story. Long story short, DC does work, but it's hard on the body and may be too much for some.

 

[Torobestia]

As a pretty serious 44 year old lifter, DC Training DID pay off with strength gains. When I took a break from dogg crapp and went back to "normal" training, my max lifts on Bench, Deads, etc were up substantially. Honestly, it was pretty awesome! But I don't know how long I could continue to follow DC schedule realistically. It takes A LOT OUT OF YOU. If you look at the DC workout plans, hitting chest, shoulders, tris and back on the same day.... man, that's a ton of energy expended. My fear was that I was overtraining when I stayed with that program. So basically what I did was to break it up even further. So rather than hit 4 or 5 muscle groups in one session, I would only work 2 or 3 and still use DC techniques with rest pause, stretching etc. and this works much better for me. Maybe it's because I'm 44?? If I were in my twenties, it might be a different story. Long story short, DC does work, but it's hard on the body and may be too much for some.

It's funny because so many people initially read a proposed workout split for 2 weeks, and they always complain that it isn't enough volume to grow, or rather that it wont be rough enough on your body. People who are experience enough to push themselves mentally for this training and follow it correctly will be surprised at how much it does take out of you. Physically, I haven't really noticed any difference, but from a nutritional standpoint my BMR is ~60% higher when on DC. I think that says a lot about the program.

 

[live to lift]

I have the DC DVD. This pretty much sums it up.

I need to get this

 

[R1balla]

bump

 

[R1balla]

bump

 

[Newtonselite]

Not trying to steal the thread off ya here balla, Its just i got all the books and DC vids ect soooo i thought id add to the thread, Now as you said You post sums it all up which it does, so they may be alot of the same read but yea if anyone finds it of value, well thats what matters.


All about Doggcrapp and DC Training


A guide to DC training.

Welcome. This is an UNOFFICIAL beginner's guide to the advanced bodybuilding routine known as DC training, created by Doggcrapp, taught by Doggcrapp and In-Human. If you want to talk to DC and IH, go to http://www.intensemuscle.com. DC offers a personal training program for only the most dedicated bodybuilders who wish to become the world's greatest.

This is for advanced lifters ONLY! If you do not yet have at least two years of lifting under your belt, you can still apply principles of DC training here and there. Read this if you are a beginning lifter (note: this is good reading for both beginning and advanced lifters).


Dogg Pound Training

by Dogg

Now to get into specifics regarding training. Stay with me here. You are only doing one exercise per muscle group per day. You are doing your first favorite exercise for chest on day one, you're doing your second favorite exercise for chest the next time chest training rolls around and then your third favorite exercise for chest the time after that when chest training rolls around. Then you repeat the entire sequence again. You're doing the same exercises you would be doing anyway in a 7-14 days time and training chest 3 times in that same period with minimal sets so you can recover. You cannot do a 3-5 exercise, 10-20 set chest workout and recover to train chest again 3-4 days later. It's absolutely impossible!! But you can come in and do 2-5 warmup sets up to your heaviest set and then do ONE working set (either straight set or rest paused) all out on that exercise then recover and grow and be ready again 3-4 days later. This kind of training will have you growing as fast as humanly possible. Again the simple equation is "the most times per year you can train a body part incredibly heavy, with major strength gains, and recover will equal out to the fastest accumulation of muscle mass possible".

Why don't most pros do this kind of training? Why don't you?!?! Because every form of training has been taught to someone, passed down from the magazines for decades with no thought out rhyme or reasons. Every form of modern day training stems from what the guys in the 60's and Arnold was doing. Finally Yates and some others got people thinking about what truly is working when it comes to training. If you think about it-it's ridiculous some of these recommended routines in the magazines. Most training comes from peoples egos. People are so driven and desperate to get big that they believe they MUST do this and MUST do that every workout. Thirty sets here, with multiple exercises to hit every angle there. You know what that does? It dramatically cuts into your recovery ability (never mind amino acid pools and glycogen stores) so you cannot train that body part again in a couple days time. That defeats the purpose of rapid accumulation of muscle mass. I'll state this as a matter of fact because I believe it's true. I believe if you, the person reading this, trained the way I am recommending, you will be 20-40lbs of muscle larger in 3 years than if you kept training the way you are presently training. If that offends you or seems ballsy to state-SO BE IT!!! I've done enough studying and real life experimentation on aspiring bodybuilders to state that.

To start-Three key exercises are picked for each body part. 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 certain point you change the exercise to a new one 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 are 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.

Some principles I believe in:

A) I believe rest pausing is the most productive way of training ever. I've never seen a way to faster strength gains than what comes from rest pausing. I'll use an incline smith bench with a hypothetical weight to show you my recommended way of rest pausing.

Warmups would be 135x12, 185x10, 250x 6, 315x4 (none of these are taxing--they are just getting me warmed up for my all out rest pause set)

MAIN REST PAUSE SET-375x8 reps (total failure) rack the weight, then 15 deep breathes and 375x 2 to 4 reps (total failure) rack the weight, then 15 deep breathes and 375x 1 to 2 reps. I personally do a static right after that but I'll explain that later. Remember every time you go to failure you always finish on the negative portion and have your training partner help you or rack the weight yourself. To explain further on my first rest pause above I struggled with every iota of my strength to get that 8th rep up. At that point instead of racking the weight up top I brought the weight down to my chest again slowly (6 seconds) and had my training partner quickly help me lift the weight back up to the top to rack it. That "always finishing on the negative rep" will accrue more cellular damage over time and allow for even greater gains.

B) Every exercise is done with a controlled but explosive positive and a true 6-8 second negative phase. The science is there just read it. Almost every study states an explosive positive motion is the priming phase and the negative portion of an exercise should be done controlled and slowly. I have the mindset that I hope you guys develop. I try so hard to get the weight up only for the sole reason I can lower it slowly to cause eccentric phase cellular damage.

C) Extreme Stretching: it must be done, it's imperative. It stretches fascia and helps recovery immensely. It will dramatically change your physique in a short amount of time if done right, trust me on that. I hit on it in the first article of this series.

OK you guys have to use some deductive reasoning here. If I do a 375 or so LB smith incline press rest paused for 10-15 reps with statics on Monday morning (which is the time of day I lift) by that same Monday night, 12 hours later I am viscously sore. By Tuesday morning I am still pretty sore but to a lesser degree. By Tuesday night I have very little soreness. By Wednesday morning I have absolutely no soreness and Wednesday night the same, so I could probably train chest again on Thursday no problem but I currently wait till Friday and train chest again. If your training chest on Monday and on Thursday your still pretty sore, a couple things are happening--either you're training with more volume than I recommend, or you're not extreme stretching (as recommended in my first article for AE), or more likely your recovery ability is not your greatest asset. If the last one is true you are going to have to take note of that and broaden the workout days between bodyparts hit. Most of you reading this (90%) will be able to go the Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Monday again route hitting bodyparts twice in 8 days. A chosen few might be able to go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday especially if they really work their extreme stretching and get the proper rest. That's very rare though that someone can recover that quickly even from one working set per bodypart. My recommendations are to start out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Monday first and gauge how that goes. I am currently seeing that most people go best with that protocol. I know some of you want to train a bodypart as many times as possible in a weeks time, hell I would love to be able to train a bodypart 4 times a week and grow but it can't be done. So this is something I can't help you on.....you need to check yourself and find out where you are recovering and then work with that. I can do a 20 plate leg press for reps and be sore for the next day and a half and feel fresh and ready to go on my next leg day. High dose glutamine has been a godsend to my recovery ability as has extreme stretching. My training weights continue to rocket upward on everything. What I cannot do is 3 leg exercises for multiple sets in a workout session and recover 3-4 days later to do legs again. I think you're begging for injury if you are still very, very sore the next time a body part comes up.

Example Day one
First exercise smith incline presses (I'll use the weights I use for example)
135 for warmup for 12
185 for 8 warmup
250 for 6 warmup
315 for 4 warmup
Then all out with 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 as described earlier and then that's it for chest and on to shoulders, triceps and back. The next time I come in to do chest I would do hammer flat presses in the same rest paused manner (and then extreme stretching again)---the time after that I come in to do chest I would do my third favorite exercise rest paused/stretched and then the cycle repeats.

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.

Some exercises involving legs and some back rowing exercises don't allow themselves to rest pause too well. A sample couple of days for me would be the following (IM not including warmup sets--just working sets).

Workout 1
CHEST: smith incline 375 x 15 reps rest pause (RP) and a 30 second static rep at the end (then stretches)
SHOULDERS: front smith press-330 x 13 RP and 30 second static (then stretches)
TRICEPS: reverse grip bench press 315 for 15-20 reps RP-no static (then stretches)
BACK WIDTH: rear pulldowns to back of head 300 x 18 RP (20 second static at end)
BACK THICKNESS: floor deadlifts straight set of 8-20 reps (then stretches for back)

The information below is from Peter O'Hanrahan's "Body Types, Part 1". It is a brief and incomplete description of the mesomorph's temperament.

Workout 2
BICEPS: preacher bench barbell curl RP for 14 reps and 30 second static
FOREARMS: hammer curls straight set for 15 reps (then stretches for biceps)
CALVES: on hack squat straight set for 12 reps but with a 20 second negative phase
HAMSTRINGS: Cybex hamstring press (pressing with heels up top) RP for 20 reps
QUADS: hack squat straight set of 6 plates each side for 20 reps (of course after warming up)

Then stretches for quads and hams.

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. So every time I go into the gym I have to continually look back and beat the previous times reps/weight or both. If I can't 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 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. At that point you must turn to a different exercise and then get brutally strong on that one. 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 lower 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. For example-- I love reverse grip bench presses, knowing that I have to beat 315 for 17 reps RP 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 RP or if I stick with 315, I have to get at least 19 reps RP 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.

I find myself irritated now when people look at me and say "genetics" or something to that effect--its amazing to me that at 19 I was 6 foot and 137lbs (yes 137) and eating 6 meals a day and people would chuckle at me the stickboy trying to be a bodybuilder. I seriously did not miss a meal for my first 3 and a half years, I would set my alarm at 2am and wake up and eat scrambled eggs and pancakes if I missed a meal during the day. Two years later I looked "normal" at 196lbs or so. Two years just to look like a normal person! I kept bombing away, eating and not taking no as an answer and now I am up at 300lbs and people say "you must have always been big" and genetics. That's tough for me to hear thinking how psyched I was to weigh more than 170 at one point. I've only trained one true mesomorph. Mesomorphs don't need trainers usually. I train ectomorphs and endomorphs. The last 3 people I've trained have been a pudgy Mexican who was 172 (now 258lbs hard)--a skinny marine, and a guy stuck at 188lbs for many years (now 260). These people all thought the same thing seeing how my workouts were set up-"am I doing enough?"--If you can show someone how to train so hard that they realize they were holding back tremendously during their 8-20 set workouts, that's half the battle. The other half is making them realize how impossible it is to do 8-20 sets per bodypart if you truly, truly train balls to the wall hard. Personally, if I do a 20 rep hack squat with slag iron heavy weights....at 10 reps I am seriously doubting I am going to make it---at 14 reps IM seeing colors---at 17 reps IM asking God for help--and the last 3 reps are life, death, or rigor mortis---I know for a fact that there is no way in hell I could do another 4-5 sets of hacks like that. I gave everything I had right there on that set. If I can do another 4-5 sets like that I'm cruising at 70% at the most. If all you get out of my articles is the mindset of heavy weights, low volume, stretching, and frequency of body parts trained-I would be very happy because then I would have you on the right path to get you where you want to be.

Dogg is presently training people online with daily emails to them and an A to Z approach with diet supplementation training and recovery. He is expensive but he wants to be because he doesn't want to train a lot of people at once (Four at once is his limit). His first client has been lifting for 3 years with limited success but in 7 weeks with Dogg has gone from 183lbs at 7.5% bodyfat to 205lbs at 7.7% bodyfat. At the end of 10 weeks he should be around 216lbs or so and onward. Dogg is also online training 2 superheavyweight national competitors who came to him to put on pro size muscle. They will make an even bigger splash than what they already have accomplished. His flat fee is 400 dollars for everything designed (diet, training, supplementation) and then constant emails to you for at least 2 months monitoring and adjusting your progress. He does a strict interview first to see if you have the makeup and mindset of the person he wants to train. He turns away people who he doesn't believe will go at it or listen to him 100 percent. If 400 dollars equals out to the 40-60lbs of muscle Dogg puts on people repeatedly to you-- then you can contact him at [email protected] (minus the nospam)

Cycles For Pennies Continues

 

[Newtonselite]

by Dogg

It is so tough to talk about training when I am not in front of someone. In real life or at my gym people will see me or someone I train and be convinced that my system works very well. And in person I can explain how it all fits together. But for some reason giving an opinion on training online offends a lot of bodybuilders. It is like a blow to their ego as if your putting them down or telling them they don’t know how to train. And then you get every HIT, periodization, and brainwashed Wieder principle disciple arguing with me why their method is the best and I am wrong. People get pissed if they think what they might be doing training wise is wrong or not the most productive. It's human nature.

I can continually turn 170lb guys (who go along with me 100%) into 260lb plus monsters over and over but I cannot help guys who are 190-230lbs who are stuck in their ways. Those guys can continue to take the long road or never get there. In the past months since I’ve put my methods out there to view, I continue to hear different arguments against my way of training. Hey it’s radically different than the norm and like I said people can’t stand to think what they are presently doing training wise isn't the best! So far I’ve heard the usual gamut (overtraining, undertraining, undervolume, CNS saturation). One guy who said "not enough stimulation per workout"-sadly he has confused volume to equal gains. WRONG!!! If volume = gains go head and do 100 hard sets per bodypart and do each bodypart once every 3 weeks. Please tell me what incredible gains you get.

To me all this is an egotistical way to debunk a radically different method because you don’t want to believe what your presently doing is incorrect or 'slower gaining'. No one is overtraining or undertraining that I train. Every bodybuilder that I have trained has gained at least 47lbs! This sport is full of fragile egos, pseudo-experts, armchair bicep curlers. I am a very advanced bodybuilder but the only thing I am conceited about is I truly believe I could take anybody reading this and turn them into a 4.0lbs per inch bodybuilder. I love taking a humble bodybuilder who doubts his genetics and making him the largest guy in his gym. That is so fun for me. I love the people who whisper in the corners that "he must be loaded to the hilt" yet he is on the same things they are. I love hearing the petty jealousy and anger that comes over other bodybuilders now that the guy I trained is the big boy on the block. I’m not pushing my methods on anyone. I want you to decide for yourself with deductive reasoning. But if you have been lifting for 4-5 years and people aren't commenting, stating or asking questions about you being a bodybuilder on a daily basis-I think that’s embarrassing and you might want to question if what you are doing training wise has merit to it. I only train hardcore bodybuilders (and some fitness girls) down here in So Cal. (its not my main job--I turn down about 90% of people due to my own personal reasons--which are mostly after interviewing them I feel they wont do what I say 100%) I am very, very good at turning normal people into the biggest bodybuilders in their area. I’ve trained 7 people bodybuilding wise in the last 4 years (5 used super supplements 2 were clean). Every one of those people gained at least 47lbs on their bodyweight at roughly the same or less bodyfat.

1)188 to 260(2.5 years)

2)172 to 254 (3 years)

3)208 to 261(clean! genetic mesomorph 1 year)

4)218 to 275 (cut his juice in half, doubled his protein, showed him how to train correctly-2 years)

I don’t like to comment on others training philosophies directly because they get so offended if you don’t agree with them. I believe when you make something too complicated or hard people don’t want to follow it. I believe the baseline training protocol for bodybuilding is "progression" and whatever training is needed to get stronger (and therefore bigger). Here is my personal opinion on volume training...it’s a way for people who cannot generate inhuman intensity during a set to make gains. If that seems like a "putdown" so be it, I am sorry. Volume training to me is the long way to achieve trauma whereas there are shorter more productive ways of going about it.

If you were a world class sprinter with a time a couple tenths off the world record what would you do to break the mark? Would you run 5k races and repeated sprints at 60% intensity for hours at a time? Would that make you any faster? Or would you push the intensity limits with a wind bearing running parachute and do explosive sprints as hard as you can? You tell me.

I say 60% intensity with volume training because I know this: You cannot do 20 sets for a bodypart at a balls to the wall all out intensity-it’s impossible. I know this about myself, if I truly squat with everything I have (where its rep or death), with an extremely heavy weight and at 12reps I want to quit.....but somehow, someway I make myself do 13, then the 14th, the 15th--my face is now beet red and I’m breathing like a locomotive yet I 'will' myself to do another rep, another, another---with two more reps to go till 20, I feel faint but I am going to ****ing do it because "I am not driving my car home thinking how I pussed out and didn’t make it"....19.....and 20 goes up agonizing slow and I am thinking to myself "oh please, please go up"----done! Ten minutes later I couldn’t even attempt to try to duplicate that. Not even close. I bet I would make it to maybe 14 reps tops. If you could duplicate that same set you are a robot.

Ninety percent of people in gyms around the world are doing some form of volume training but besides the rare genetically elite and heavy steroid users, why does everyone stay the same size year after year? (With volume training you see a lot of overtraining, joint injuries and people who are burning up all their energy stores) If you can't train at above normal intensity levels I feel volume training is beneficial to cause trauma (hey it works for genetic freaks like Flex Wheeler and Paul Dillett--two half-ass 60% trainers if that). Too bad with their incredible genetics that they don’t have the hardcore mindset of a Yates or Coleman who bypass them by force of willpower and effort. Personally I like the shortest route at the shortest time possible to get someplace. Do I think my way of training is the best? For myself and the people I train-yes. I have no way to gauge others intensity levels online. Someone training at 90% intensity for 6 sets is going to get more out of it than Joe Blow who is doing 20 sets per bodypart at forty percent. In the simplest terms, no matter what way you train-if you are way stronger than last year, 6 months ago, 3 months ago, last month, last week you are getting continually bigger no doubt about it. A lot of modern day training has been evolved pretty much from what Arnold and bodybuilders of the 60's did---and Arnold just winged it--there was no thought provoking science there. I want people to think their training out.

1)If you train a bodypart every day you will overtrain and not get larger

2)If you train a bodypart once a month you will not overtrain but you will only be growing 12 times a year besides the atrophy between workouts (pretty much a snails pace)

3)If you train with 30 sets a bodypart it will take you a great deal of time to recover from that besides using up a great deal of energy and protein resources doing it (and maybe even muscle catabolism will take place)

4)If you train one set for a very easy 8 reps per bodypart you could train that bodypart more often but you didn’t tax yourself to get larger.

So what is the answer? I’ll tell you the answer! The answer is doing the least amount of heavy intense training that makes you dramatically stronger (bigger) so you can recover and train that bodypart the most times in a year (frequency). If you can train/recover/GROW, train/recover/GROW, train/recover/GROW as many times as possible in a years time--you will be essentially gaining twice as fast as the bodybuilders around you.

Ok back to my training concepts—I’ve stated how my whole goal is to continually get stronger on key exercises which equals getting continually bigger. I will state this, the method I am about to describe to you 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 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 bodypart once every 7 days 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. Incredible strength GAINS will equal incredible size GAINS. And you sure as hell don’t need to do 3-5 exercises and 10-20 sets per bodypart to do that! In actuality you really don’t need to do much to grow. As long as your training weights continue to rocket upward you will always be gaining muscle. If you go in and do squats using your ultimate effort with 405lbs for 20 reps are you going to say you’re not going to grow from that? If you went all out on that effort, I'm sorry but throwing hacks, leg press, leg extensions and lunges into that same workout is going to do nothing but royally lengthen your recovery process when you were already going to grow in the first place.

You can train in a way so you can train a bodypart 3 times every nine to fourteen days and you will recover and grow faster than ever before. If you train chest 3 times in 9-14 days you are now doing chest roughly 91-136 times a year! So instead of 40-52 growth phases with regular once a week training you are now getting 91-136 growth phases a year. I personally would rather grow 91-136 times a year than 40-52 times a year. 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 you’re growing at roughly two 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 three exercises in that same 9-14 days but do chest 3 times during that (instead of once) and get 3 growth phases. How? Super heavy weights for low low volume so you can recover and train that bodypart again as quickly as possible.

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 puts 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 or they won’t grow.

This is how I set bodybuilders workouts up. I have them pick either their 3 favorite exercises for each bodypart or better yet the exercises they feel will bring up their weaknesses the most. For me my chest exercises are high incline smith machine press, hammer seated flat press and slight incline smith 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. What you do is take these three exercises and rotate them, using only one per chest workout. I would do high incline smith on my first chest day, then 3-4 days later I would do hammer seated flat press on my second chest day. Three to four days after that wide grip slight incline smith press would be done and then the whole cycle is repeated again in 3-4 days.

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

hams

quads

Day three would be Friday and would be the same as day one but with different exercises

chest

shoulders

triceps

back width

back thickness

(sat+sun off)

Day four would be the following Monday and would be the same as day two but with different exercises

biceps

forearms

calves

hams

quads

and so on Wenesday, Friday, Monday, Wenesday etc.

You’re hitting every bodypart twice in 8 days. The volume on everything is simply as many warmup sets as you need to do- to be ready for your ONE work set. That can be two warmup sets for a small muscle group or five warmup 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.

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 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 8 reps or a 500LB squat for 8 reps? Obviously the answer is NOW! Yet remember this-the more times you can train a bodypart in a years time and recover will mean the fastest growth possible! I’ve done the training a bodypart 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 upwards of 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)

I have been slowly changing my philosophies of training over the past 13 years to where I am now. 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 overtrain your done as a bodybuilder gainswise. Kaput. Zip. A waste of valuable time. But I also think there is a problem with underfrequency (only if you can train hardcore enough with extremely low volume to recover). 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 bodypart 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)--I would rather you wait until my next article comes out to go over the details of this kind of training before you attempt it--as its important to me that everyone who wants to do this does it correctly.

Dogg is presently training people online with daily emails to them and an A to Z approach with diet supplementation training and recovery. He is expensive but he wants to be because he doesn't want to train a lot of people at once (Four at once is his limit). His first client has been lifting for 3 years with limited success but in 7 weeks with Dogg has gone from 183lbs at 7.5% bodyfat to 205lbs at 7.7% bodyfat. At the end of 10 weeks he should be around 216lbs or so and onward. Dogg is also online training 2 superheavyweight national competitors who came to him to put on pro size muscle. They will make an even bigger splash than what they already have accomplished. His flat fee is 400 dollars for everything designed (diet, training, supplementation) and then constant emails to you for at least 2 months monitoring and adjusting your progress. He does a strict interview first to see if you have the makeup and mindset of the person he wants to train. He turns away people who he doesn't believe will go at it or listen to him 100 percent. If 400 dollars equals out to the 40-60lbs of muscle Dogg puts on people repeatedly to you-- then you can contact him at [email protected] (minus the NOSPAM)

 

[Newtonselite]

List of approved exercises for DC

as compiled by Jeffro11821, losercore and egill.

CHEST
incline smythe
decline smythe
hammer strength press (incline and decline)
other good machine press
incline barbell
decline barbell
incline dumbbell press
flat dumbbell press
decline dumbbell press

SHOULDERS
smythe presses to front
smythe presses to back of head
hammer strength press
other good machine press
barbell press to front
barbell press to back of head
dumbbell shoulder press

TRICEPS
close grip bench in smythe
reverse grip bench in smythe
skull crushers
dips (in upright position)

BACK WIDTH
rack chins to front
rack chins to back of head
reverse grip rack chins (close grip)
assisted pullups
hammer strength "pulldown" machines
other good "pulldown" machines
pull downs to front
pull downs to back of head

BACK THICKNESS
deadlift
rack deadlift
T-bar rows
smythe rows
barbell rows

BICEPS
barbell curls
alternate dumbbell curls
barbell preacher curls
hammer strength machine curls
other good machine curls
cable curls
incline db curls
close grip ez-bar preacher curls
standing medium grip ez-bar curls

FOREARMS
hammer curls (alternated)
pinwheel curls (alternated)
reverse grip one arm cable curls

CALVES
calves on a leg press
standing calf raises
calves in hack squat
seating calf raises
any calf machine with a good range of motion

HAMSTRINGS
seating leg curls
standing leg curls
lying leg curls
stiff leg deadlift
sumo presses

QUADS
squats
smythe squats
hack squat
leg press

Extreme Stretching

by Jason Mueller

One must temper their newfound strength and appetite with the wisdom to apply
them properly, we’re certainly not advocating that one lift weights to the
point of injury or that an endomorph stuff themselves with everything in
sight. Both Dogg and I are major advocates of stretching prior to working
out and MORE IMPORTANTLY STRETCHING TO THE POINT OF THRESHOLDS AFTER working out. I (Meuller) even more so after having torn a triceps and having 200 cc’s of pus removed from a bicep in May of this year. At a bodyweight of over 310 lbs, I am the very definition of “muscle-bound” and find it very difficult to perform actions that most people take for granted (like tying my shoes, and I’m not joking). As such, I am routinely stretched every week by another trainer to try and maintain some modicum of flexibility, and stretch prior to and while working out to avoid further injuries (or exacerbate the ones I currently have). I happily take my hat off to Dogg and give credit where credit is due, the guy is an amazing trainer and showed a young and ****y
Jason Meuller what hardcore was really all about back in ’94. He believes like Jon Parillo did, that "extreme stretching" directly after a bodypart is trained is key for recuperation, recovery, and a primer for growth via fascial stretching and maybe even hyperplasia (more on that in a future article). He’s outlined a series of stretches that he finds extremely effective at both avoiding injuries and adding size during cycles. These
includes the weights he uses, which readers will obviously have to adjust (more than likely down) according to their own strength levels. Every extreme stretch is done right after that body part has been trained.

Chest

Flat bench 90lb dumbbells chest high--lungs full of air--first 10 seconds
drop down into deepest stretch and then next 50 seconds really push the
stretch (this really, really hurts) but do it faithfully and come back and
post on the AE message board in 4 weeks and tell me if your chest isn't much
fuller and rounder

Triceps

Seated on a flat bench-my back up against the barbell---75lb dumbbell in my
hand behind my head (like in an overhead dumbbell extension)--sink dumbbell
down into position for the first 10 seconds and then an agonizing 50 seconds
slightly leaning back and pushing the dumbbell down with the back of my head

Shoulders

This one is tough to describe--put barbell in squat rack shoulder
height--face away from it and reach back and grab it palms up (hands on
bottom of bar)---walk yourself outward until you are on your heels and the
stretch gets painful--then roll your shoulders downward and hold for 60
seconds

Biceps

Just like the above position but hold barbell palms down now (hands on top of
bar)--sink down in a squatting position first and if you can hack it into a
kneeling position and then if you can hack that sink your butt down--60
seconds--I cannot make it 60 seconds-- I get to about 45—it’s too painful--if
you can make it 60 seconds you are either inhuman or you need to raise the
bar up another rung

Back

Honestly for about 3 years my training partner and I would hang a 100lb
dumbbell from our waist and hung on the widest chinup bar (with wrist straps)
to see who could get closest to 3 minutes--I never made it--I think 2 minutes
27 seconds was my record--but my back width is by far my best body part--I
pull on a doorknob or stationary equipment with a rounded back now and it’s
way too hard too explain here--just try it and get your feel for it

Hamstrings

Either leg up on a high barbell holding my toe and trying to force my leg
straight with my free hand for an excruciating painful 60 seconds

Quads

Facing a barbell in a power rack about hip high --grip it and simultaneously
sink down and throw your knees under the barbell and do a sissy squat
underneath it while going up on your toes. Then straighten your arms and lean
as far back as you can---60 seconds and if this one doesn't make you hate my
guts and bring tears to your eyes nothing will---do this one faithfully and
tell me in 4 weeks if your quads don’t look a lot different than they used to Calves
My weak body part that I couldn’t get up too par until 2 years ago when I
finally thought it out and figured out how to make them grow (with only one
set twice a week too). I don’t need to stretch calves after because when I do
calves I explode on the positive and take 5 seconds to get back to full
stretch and then 15 seconds at the very bottom "one one thousand, two one
thousand, three one thousand etc" --15 seconds stretching at the bottom
thinking and trying to flex my toes toward my shin--it is absolutely
unbearable and you will most likely be shaking and want to give up at about 7
reps (I always go for 12reps with maximum weights)--do this on a hack squat
or a leg press--my calves have finally taken off due to this and caught up to
the rest of me thank God.

If you doubt the extra muscle growth possible with stretching I urge you
to research hyperplasia (and the bird wing stretching protocols) where time X
stretch X weight induced incredible hyperplasia. Our stretching is done under
much lower time periods but fascial stretching and the possibility of induced
hyperplasia cant be ignored. I’ve had too many people write me or tell me in
person that the "extreme stretching" has dramatically changed their physique
to ever doubt its virtues.

 

[Newtonselite]

[h=3]Random Thoughts by Dogg[/h]a)I have no problem with anyone on leg training switching the exercises they do from the 6-8 heavy set to the 20 reppers on as long as the 20 repper gets done. Alot of the super large guys I train (270-340lbers) have serious trouble breathingwise doing a 20 rep free squat. Hell I have trouble doing it myself. You are carrying alot of bodyweight, breathing like a locomotive and hey lets not die on leg training day-LOL. Ill give you an example--One of my guys does smythe squats, free squats and leg presses as his three leg movements. On leg press day he does the heavy 6-10 (I make him do 10 reps on it) and then does the 20 repper on the same leg press. On smythe day he does his heavy 6-8 and then does the 20 repper on a horizontal hack machine. On free squat day he does his heavy 6-10 and does the 20 repper on a Cybex (different) leg press machine at a slightly different angle than the other leg press day. I got no problem with any of you guys doing that especially you large beasts. Now if you start doing only leg presses with the same leg press machine for all your 20 reppers then Im going to call you on it that your taking the easy way out.

b)Alot of people ask me how I come to conclusions on things.....alot of all this you can deduct from what you see going on around you at gyms and from just watching people. Alot of what I do is "reverse engineering"--I think things out backwards to find out the reasoning. You can sit there and study medline all day long but until you have a practical brain to think how it pertains to bodybuilding, your not going to get very far in applying it. For example alot of people freak out about the controlled negative on reps in DC training and why the heck its done. Besides what science agrees with, think of certain instances or hobbies or jobs with repetitive movements with the repeated same load. Boat rowers, sawing lumberjacks and gymnasts. They all do repetitive movements with the same load, a boat or canoist rower is trying to power along a boat as fast as he can, a sawing lumberjack is using power to saw down a tree, a gymnast does repeated movements with bodyweight. All are pushing the limits trying to use as much power as possible for the task at hand. Which one of those three has a discernable musculature? Boat rowers dont have huge backs, sawing lumberjacks dont have huge arms but gymnasts always have that musculature. They sure arent eating to get huge and most likely they arent doing incredibly heavy weight training but you can always see the musculature on a gymnast. Why? Well which one of those three does controlled negative movements? The rowers and sawers are just using positive movements and it does virtually nothing for their musculature (science agrees with that theory-concluding that the positive movment is a strength/priming phase and the eccentric is where the magic happens)--the gymnasts on the other hand are all doing heavy eccentric and controlled negative work (iron cross/rings, pommel horse etc etc etc)--the moral of the story is your whole thinking in all this should get to the point where your curling a weight up just for the simple reason of controlling the descent downward so you can get bigger

c)There was a study some years back which included 3 groups--elite sumo wrestlers who did no weight training whatsoever, advanced bodybuilders and advanced powerlifters--about 20 in each group. Now there is a lot of variables here but they took the lean muscle mass of each group and divided it by their height in inches. Surprisingly the sumo wrestlers came out well ahead of the powerlifters (2nd) and the bodybuilders (very close 3rd). This is a group who did no weight training at all but engorged themselves with food trying to bring their bodyweight up to dramatic levels. How is a group that is doing no weight training having more muscle mass per inch of height than powerlifters and bodybuilders? For anyone that doubts food is the greatest anabolic in your arsenal, you better get up to speed and on the same page as what my trainees have found out. Gee now what would happen if you actually ate to get dramatically larger like a sumo, but actually weight trained like a powerbuilder (which is what we train like), and also did enough cardio/carb cuttoffs etc to keep bodyfat at bay while doing all this? Are you guys coming around to how I think yet....in how to become the biggest bodybuilder at the quickest rate but keeping leaness on that journey?

d)Something you guys might want to try for your forearm belly that has worked better for me than alot of other things is a (belly of the forearm) extreme stretch done exactly after biceps or wrist curls or whatever you are doing for forearms. Its as simple as this--once youve done biceps and forearms and have already stretched your biceps--or directly after your last rep of seated wrist curls...sitting on a seat with your forearms resting on your legs and the barbell in your palms face up...let your hands sag downward and let the barbell roll down the palm of your hand and hold onto it with your fingers until you feel that stretch and then the fun begins (30-90 seconds thats what your trying for)..dont let the topside of your hands hit your shin because that defeats the purpose....at about 30 seconds youll start shaking...45 seconds your head will be twitching from side to side because there is so much pain and it feels like your going to lose the barbell with your grip and if you make it to 60 YOU ARE THE MAN...but 90 seconds is the goal...(trust me you wont make it--its too ****ing painful)....youll get to the point youll have to drop the barbell on the floor and take 30 seconds just to get your wits about you. Be very careful with this movement, I dont want you tweaking your wrists here so be cautious. For those who do this, take a long look at your forearms the very next day in the mirror, flex your forearm and I think youll be very surprised at how different/swollen it is. Thats all that needs to be done---let me know 3 months from now how different they look

e)Its about time I start showing you guys some new exercises from the DC arsenal--I got about 50 you guys have never seen but Ill throw this one at you for now. Maybe Ill just have you guys throw out a bodypart one of these days in a post and ill give you new exercises you can do for that bodypart (time willing)
Pulley row high pulls-awesome for lat width here guys--this is going to be a pain in my ass to explain but lets see if i can do it--god its so much easier showing someone these in person. First up--do you know that position that is at the bottom of a stiff leg deadlift if you do it very deep (some people dont)--remember that position because that is key here ok?
Ok-Your on a seated cable row with a close grip parallel handle--your legs are slightly bent--your aiming for the greatest amount of stretch possible at the very beginning of the pull ok so remember that you should be in that "position" above or close to it (I talked about earlier) thruout this whole movement. With your back rounded and you leaning forward (huge stretch) you pull the handle to right about 3 inches above the kneecaps, thats it. At no point do you stick your chest out and arch your back and pull the handle into your midsection and sit straight up as in a seated pulley row, what you do instead is flare your lats at the stretch at the very beginning and keep your lats flared till you pull right over your kneecaps and then control the return to the stretch and repeat. Because your bent forward in a position that doesnt put your back in a precarious safety position you will have no worries with a rounded back. I guess a simple way i could describe it is
a)huge stretch at beginning
b)do half a pulley row movement but dont lean your torso backward or arch your back--keep it stabilized maybe only moving a few inches the whole movement
c)keep your lats flared outwards the whole way thru and dont crunch your scapula together--pull with your lats and pull the handle 2-3 inches over your kneecaps and return------15-30 reps rest paused is the deal on these and you will not be using the weight you use on seated pulley rows so wipe that from your memory banks

PAYING YOUR DUES

This post is for everyone in this forum--its very important to read over--VERY IMPORTANT. Want to know the average trainee that comes to me? He is 35-45 years old and after 10-15 years of lifting weighs 175 to 210lbs. He looks at me as the guy that somehow can pull a bunny out of a hat and make him that 250lb ripped bodybuilder walking the streets.... where he couldnt even get close to that level by himself. He is scrambling around because he doesnt want to get to 50 years old never feeling what it was like to walk thru a crowd and people gawk, stare, and point because he is a damn good bodybuilder. Well what the hell have you been doing all these years?!?!?! You should of put in your f*^&ing dues like the rest of us. These same guys think Im a miracle worker that can somehow add 80lbs of muscle mass on their frame while losing 30lbs of fat while keeping incredibly lean thruout the journey to get there. Well guess what? YOU ****ED UP. Want to know the fastest way to walk around at 250 ripped--THE ABSOLUTELY G'DAMN FASTEST WAY TO GET THERE? TAKE 2 YEARS AND EAT HUGE AMOUNTS OF FOOD, AND TRAIN WITH BRUTALLY HEAVY WEIGHTS, AND BECOME A BIG FAT OFFENSIVE LINEMAN LOOKING GUY AT 330LBS....AND NO IT WONT BE PRETTY...AT ALL. MOST OF ALL DONT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY EVEN IMPEDE THE SLIGHTEST IN MUSCLE MASS GAIN. Just eat copious amounts of food (up to 500-600 grams of protein) and bring your bodyweight up the charts which will allow you leverage and strength gains to allow you use the incredible weights you have to use in the gym to accomplish this. Then after being at that level for density reasons for awhile, you can slowly take it down and I mean slowly and most likely have the most muscle mass gain your genetics allowed in that time frame. That is the probably the fastest way in the shortest time to get there. But definitely not the most desirable but truth is truth. Am i recommending that approach--HELL NO, but if we are talking about getting this done as fast as humanly possible then I have to be blunt. Noone wants to look like a fat slob even if it means the end result will be much closer to their ideal. And these guys 35-45 years old want me to keep them pretty boy lean and wave the magic wand and make them into Milos Sarcev after they pretty much just wasted 10-15 years of training.
I dont like using myself for an example but I will here. I started training at about 20 at 137lbs and predominantly spent the next 15 years eating tremendous amounts of food, training with very heavy weights but keeping active so I am at a leaness I personally am satisfied with. I topped out at about 303lbs and but currently hang around 283-288 because thats what I like to be at. I put my dues in here. I might jump in a show if time allows but because of my schedule currently we will have to see how that works out. Mainly Im looking forward to the day I can kind of relax and not push the limits like I have all these years. The 6 meals a day every day, and the war with the logbook along with lugging around 285-300lbs sometimes becomes very tedious. I go to bed at nite thinking exactly what Im going to do and what all this hard work will easily allow myself to do when I decide to crank the dial downward. Cardio will be done 6 times a week for health and bodyfat reasons and that will take priority.
Back to the subject on hand here. So what will all this hard work for the past 15 years allow me to do? I'm in my mid 30's now so for the rest of my 30's and thru my 40' and 50's i can pretty much walk around at 250lbs hard as a rock at a very low bodyfat percentage. Ive set myself up so that will be very very easy. I actually have to do much less than everything I do now (except cardio) to be there. Ill use guys in this forum for examples, Inhuman and massive G are both around 5'9", 5'10" and are offseason 280 to 300. They have spent the time and food consumption and paid their dues to get there. Massive G I believe is mid 30's and Inhuman is early 40's I believe. Both these guys will be able to crank this down and enjoy walking around with full abs, hard as granite with veins everywhere at 240-260lbs. They have set themselves up and paid their dues in their 20's and 30's to do that. You guys that are 35-45 years old who want this but weigh 175-210lbs are playing catchup and are so behind the race its sad. My point of this post is to get guys in their early 20's to think, to get guys who just blew 10 years of training who are in their 30's to think, and to get guys who just blew 10-15 years of training who are in their 40's to think. Am I advising bulking up? No that was a hypothetical example. Im advising you get your freaking head on straight if you want this so bad. That means extreme food intake pronto, with the heaviest weights in good form that you can use progressively, extreme stretching and enough cardio (and bodyfat protocols) that it keeps you at a leaness your satisfied with as you get dramatically larger. This sport isnt unlike a career. You have to set yourself up early so you can be right where you want to be late. Theres alot of you guys 35-45 years old in this forum, some that I even train, that think they want it but really dont have what it takes to go get it. I see it in their workouts they send me (they take the easy comfortable road never pushing the limits) and for those that I dont train I sometimes see it in your posts---you just dont have what it takes. I can only provide a guide to get there, I cant create an inner drive for you.
You have to start thinking in terms of point B from point A. Do you really think that eating 3000 calories with 225 grams of protein and doing the Weider "confusion training principle" to keep your body offguard will somehow magically make your 175lbs into 250lbs of rock granite monstrosity? Every year of training is so damn important. If you just trained for a whole year and only gained 2lbs of muscle mass, you just pretty much wasted a productive year of training--its gone--its lost and you arent getting that year back. Three weeks ago I was contacted by someone in his early 40's who had been lifting for many years, weighed about 170lbs and showed me a picture of Geir Borgan Paulsen and said thats what he wanted to look like and can i get him there?!. Laughable. Geir Borgan Paulsen is 50 years old and looks freaking phenomenal. He is a tiny bit (and i mean every so slightly tiny bit smaller) than he was when he competed in his 30's. Instead of wasting years and years of lifting getting absolutely nowhere, Geir spent his 20's and 30's eating huge amounts of food and training with heavy heavy weights so that he could walk around all thru his 30's, 40's and now 50 years old jacked to the hilt. Not many people have a better front double biceps than Geir no matter what age they are.....here he is http://www.nutritionoutlet.nu/galler...02/borgan.html
What Im hoping to relay to you slackers and dreamers that are in this forum is that you have to put your time in and pay your dues in this sport. Your 2-3lbs gain a year arent going to get it done so unless you want to get to 55 years old and look back and think "wow besides the people I told and myself, noone even knew I was a bodybuilder and I never made it"....you better get your ass in gear and your head on right and get this done now. Gaining fat is easy but if you never lifted how long would it take for you to gain 80lbs of fat from 175 to 255lbs? Probably a year and you would have to forcefeed yourself to get there. Just think how long it takes to put on 80lbs of muscle mass which is an extremely "hard to come by" commodity. This sport is about extremes--using weights you havent used previously, taking in amounts of food to build greater muscle mass-in amounts you never have done previously, and GETTING THE CARDIO DONE to keep you at an acceptable offseason training bodyfat that keeps you happy. Get your act together and think this all out or quit your complaining and dreaming and take up tennis.

 

[Newtonselite]

OVERANALYZING

Im seeing a repetitive phenomenon with the people I train that I want to state here. Ive trained alot of people now in the last 2 years on the net and also in person previously. I keep noticing the same things-basically on how various trainees brain's work. When people contact me for training, the guys who have a big work ethic and believe in a system of training whether its mine or westside or 5x5 or whatever, and hammer it and hammer it hard come to me as big people already. These are the bodybuilders you see out there in the street. Big guys that you know lift, there is no doubt that they are bodybuilders. On the other hand I have gotten alot of guys who have been lifting 5-10 years and you would never know they lifted even once unless they made it a point to tell you about it (and many do--LOL). And Ill tell you what the overwhelming continual trait those guys have. THEY OVERTHINK THIS, OVERANALYZE, keep second guessing themselves, follow this routine this month and that routine the next, and Flex magazine the third month. It all depends on what they happen to read that week. HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT WORKS IF YOU SWITCH IT EVERY DAMN MONTH? Ive showed TPC some of these emails in the warehouse and he didnt realize the extent of what I was telling him about. Ive had a couple guys in the last 2 months who have been lifting for 5-10 years and by their pics it would be embarrassing to tell anyone that they actually lift. Both of these guys are sending me emails talking about iso-tension at the top of bicep curls, worrying up and down about the statics, should i flex the pinky finger inward to make more of a contraction on my alternate curl, should my forearm be perpendicular to the earths axis at the bottom of the shoulder press (you get the drift). I went off on one guy and felt bad about it after but he kept saying "well how I used to do it is..." and "well Ive always done it this way" My answer was "well why do you look like **** if your old way worked so well"? Noone will ever know who these trainees are because its my business only but I want them to read this to get it clear in their heads. If you double triple or quadruple your training weights in good safe form over the next year/s or so your basically (with diet) going to be double or triple your current muscular size. If your going to sit there and overanalyze this **** like its rocket science (which it isnt I dont care what anyone tries to make it out to be) and worry about things that really arent going to add up to pounds of muscle mass, then blame yourself when you never get there. Are you going to be a happy man at 50 years old when you look back and think "Wow I screwed up, I never looked like a bodybuilder, never achieved my goals, never got dramatically bigger, and its gone now.....IM too old to make up for that lost time" because thats where alot of you are heading if you dont get your heads on straight. I blame alot of the muscle magazines for this. Alot of articles are ghost written for pros or are solo articles by people who are 165lbs who never made a huge change in their physique themselves. They try to portray lifting weights as this huge science (and they splurge up their articles with 8 vowel words and searching thru the thesaurus to find a word that makes them look extremely intelligent)--I go back to the beggining of cycles for pennies on this---The absolute strongest you can make yourself in all exercises, coupled with food intake to eat your way up to the new musculature will allow you to hold the most muscle mass on your body that your genetics predetermine. You want to worry bout something? Worry about that damn logbook. Worry about staying uninjured in your quest. Worry about not missing any meals. Worry about somehow someway making yourself the strongest bodybuilder you can become. Im not talking singles here. Im talking 9-15 reps rest paused. A brute. A behemoth. A human forklift. I guess i had to use this post to vent because TPC saw me pissed off in the warehouse today after answering emails such as "Dante should I try to isolate the upper portion of the pec muscle and hold the peak contraction and flex hard at the top of every rep for about 5 seconds?" If you have been lifting many years with no muscle mass to show the last thing you need to worry about is peak contraction--GET THE DAMN WEIGHT UP AND BEAT THE LOGBOOK WITH BIG WEIGHT JUMPS (and then Ill and you will be happy)

MISCELLANEOUS

Someone asked about DC mods here in a post last week and I thought i would add my input here. I always stay in the scheme of things but I tune things to myself.
For example: I always look for ways to make an exercise harder and safer for myself. By safer-such as back thickness movements such as deadlifts, rack deads and rack drag deads....I have gotten very strong on these and now I will only do them with overhand grips instead of an over under. I dont want to be tearing a bicep due to the very heavy weight i have to use on these and going overhand forces me to lighten up somewhat and takes alot of stress off that undergrip bicep. (Ive gone as high as 765lbs on rack deads and really felt it pull there and will never tread those dangerous waters again)
Tricep exercises: i will not do any extension movements at any less than 15rp and ill keep the range 15-30rp on those. I can get very heavy on ez bar movements and feel the potential for a muscle tear is great when you start grinding out sets like 6+3+2=11rp
Bicep exercises I always keep in the 20rp range just because i seem to respond better that way and also for the safety factor
Quads, I tell everyone to do a 4-8 backbreaker set with very heavy tonnage and then a widowmaker set of 20 reps and i do this myself but honestly at this heavy of a bodyweight, there have been times where I really thought I was going to cease living after getting off a 20 rep squat because I was breathing so hard and couldnt get enough oxygen in my lungs to sustain me. My gym is on the second floor with no open windows at all, just central air ducts---for some strange reason, its ok breathing sometimes and other times (especially in a crowded gym) your gasping for air after a heavy chest set nevermind the 20 rep squat set. I do believe the lighter guys in the 150 to 250lb range in this forum can still get away with doing things normally but the very heavy guys might be biting carpet on a hot day after a 20 rep squat. So at times Ive done it like the following--on day one i do free squats **** heavy and then the hack for my 20 repper (which leaves me breathing like a locomotive anyway) and on the other day I do the newer leg press for both my heavy and widowmaker sets and on the last leg day i do smythe squats **** heavy and then the widowmaker on the older leg press. So as you see same scheme just some tweaks i do for myself if you were curious.

DC workout schedules for various people

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I probably should of written this a while back but I see alot of people asking about it now. Schedules. Most of the people I personally train I have them on the monday wenesday friday monday scheme with bodyparts split like this
a)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
BAck thickness

b)
biceps
forearms
calves
hams
quads

What is important about that is there is always a day between workouts and that lends itself to all important recovery/rest. Another variation of this above that some of the really heavy trainers I train like is Tues (full workout) Thurs (full workout) Sat (half workout) Sun (other half workout)

Some of my extremely advanced trainers and some of the guys who need very short workouts I have them do the following. What I do with those people works right along the same lines as the M W F M scheme I always use--almost the same frequency with extremely short workouts. And if anyone who has been doing DC training for a long while, likes this schedule better I have no problem with them going over to it. It is Mon Tues Thurs Fri (with weekends off) or something to that effect according to their schedule and the body is split up like this:

A)
biceps
forearms
back width
back thickness

B)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps

C)
Calves
Hams
Quads


So you see that on Friday biceps and back is hit again and then the next week workout b will be hit twice and during week 3 workout c will be hit twice. The frequency of bodyparts hit is almost like the original M W F M plan. On this split which i use with highly advanced trainees I use it to bomb their weak bodyparts (which I dont feel you can do without potentially overtraining on the MWF scheme) The downsides to this 3 way split are the obvious non day off between workouts and you have to be very very careful with order of exercises on this plan. For example I would never have you doing full range deadlifts the day after a squat day--you would be destroyed. You have to look over the whole scheme and make sure your back thickness exercise is not going to be effected by your hamstring or quad exercise. I would probably skip stiff legged deadlifts for hamstrings totally during this routine because of the heavy back thickness exercises. I would probably rotate seated standing and lying leg curls for someone doing this. Your workouts though would be 30-60 minutes tops and thats tops and your out of there. The bad points of setting it up this way is that you lose that whole day of rest between workouts and Ive seen over time that most people seem to gain a slight bit better with that full day of rest. The other bad point is although the frequency of bodyparts trained is similiar, its a bit less over time (bodyparts trained about 81 times a year in the M W F scheme and 69 times a year in the second scheme above) .........

PS: I put back/bis before chest/shoulder/tri in the rotation because alot of people get really sore in the shoulder/chest area the day after chest. This can make it very hard sometimes on back width and back thickness exercises (especially back width) and Im trying to keep injuries to a minimum. The downside to this is when leg day falls directly after chest day, you are going to have to stretch out thoroughly in the delt/chest area to get your shoulders/arms on the bar for squatting.

Without a doubt--the mon wed fri split gets people bigger faster than any other split and the 3 way mon tues thurs fri split is a step below it on that front, but I am able to get up weak bodyparts a little bit better on the 3 way split--so remember that if you are overanxious to jump to the 3 way split, your actually gaining overall muscle mass slightly faster with the mon wed fri split

[h=3]Unofficial exercise rep ranges and summary of DC training[/h]by (name removed)

(DISCLAIMER: that the answers here are just my understanding of DC, I'm not pretending I'm Dogg or IH or a certified trainer in DC, this is just how I do it - and it's working extremely well for me)

1. Yeah, you basically have six workouts, three for upper body minus biceps/forearms and three for lower body and biceps/forearms. So you need three exercises for each muscle, and you cycle through these; in two weeks you'll have done all six workouts (training 3 days a week) and done all exercises once.

You don't rest after 16 days, basically you 'blast' (go balls out, trying to increase weight each time) for 6-12 weeks (they recommend 8 and see how you handle it, if you can go on for longer do longer) and then take a 'cruise' for two weeks - this is two weeks where you drop a meal (to get your appetite back) and train with straight sets (no rp) at about 90% of your max weight, if you want to skip a workout or two feel free, this is to get your mental and physical sanity back. A lotta guys do specialised routines like 6-week blasts and 10-day cruises but they're generally trained by DC or IH, I started with 8 weeks blast, two weeks cruise, then it went to 7 weeks, 2 weeks and has stayed around there since. If you feel like you gotta stop earlier, stop earlier, this program borders on overtraining if you don't eat and rest properly so it's best to stop before you burn out (as is sensible).

The key is progression (extra weight) so every two weeks you're cycling through your exercises again, so for every two weeks of blast you've got a chance to beat the logbook on each exercise and that's where growth happens.

2) Each exercise is as many warmups as you feel you need, then one rest-pause set which is the workset. Like you warm up, then hit the exercise until failure, 15 deep breaths, hit it again until failure (you should get half the reps or thereabouts), 15 more deep breaths then one more set (again, half the reps of the previous mini-set). Then you stretch, you can stretch after the exercise or after a few related exercise, like I do bicep workset, forearms workset, then stretch biceps and forearms (makes sense to me). You can do chest/triceps/shoulder worksets and then stretch all three bodyparts or stretch the muscle in question after its exercise, either way works.

Incidentally not all exercises are rest-paused, only chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, backwidth and some hamstring exercises; calves and forearms are straight-setted for 12 reps; other exercises have their own protocols. Quads are one heavy set (4-6 if a squat, 6-10 if a leg press or hack squat) and then a 20 rep widowmaker, incidentally Dante has often said that you don't have to do the widowmaker on the same exercise as the heavy set, like you can do free squats for 4-6 and then hack squats for your 20 repper. (he said that 'cause really big guys have problems breathing for 20 rep free squats but it doesn't just apply to them); deadlifts and rack deadlifts are 6-8 heavy, 3-4 heavier (50-60lb difference for me but I doubt that's absolute); bent rows and t-bar rows are a straight set of 12; sumo leg press is a 12-20 straight set, leg curls are 20-30 rest-paused, SLDL to be honest I'm not sure, I've seen conflicting advice, one is a straight set of 12, the other is to do six reps, and keep adding 10lbs to the bar until you can't get six, then next time start around 40lbs under the weight that stumped you.

Other muscles get a rep range in which your rest pause set must come under, for chest and shoulders it's 11-15rp, triceps it's 11-15rp (except skullcrushers which is 15-30 rp), biceps is 15-20 (preacher curls 11-15rp), back width (pulldowns etc) and dips are 15-20rp, err, what've I forgotten..

3) The eating is individual, DCers don't count fats, carbs or calories, they go by their hunger, they get their protein down, eat carbs until they're full and take their EFAs. Meals are kept pro/fat or pro/carb but that's individual again, some people don't seperate macros if it doesn't bother them...

DC says you don't count calories because you don't need a magic number of calories each day, and I agree with him, some days you'll need more and others you'll need less. Like today I've eaten like 100g of carbs because I've sat on my arse most of the day, weekdays I eat more like 400. Get the protein in and eat as much as you need to get through the day and work out at peak efficiency.

4) Cardio is individual as well. To start with you do it on offdays and see whether you need less or more to control bodyfat. It's generally low-intensity so as not to intefere with leg recovery. I personally managed HIIT over the summer and still made progress with the 3way DC split (as an experiment) but not if I was training legs twice a week.

For pre-cardio nutrition it's up to you mate, some people have a small whey shake, others BCAAs, others a completely empty stomach.. if you go into the Roundtable forum on intensemuscle and look up the cardio topic you'll see the experts suggesting all of those, I guess you gotta see what works for you.
DC has said BCAAs if you want to gain muscle and lose bodyfat, otherwise whey is just fine.. I go with that personally but sometimes do it on empty.

 

[Newtonselite]

DC Training
This is a post authored by the inventor of the DC Training system Dante himself aka
doggcrapp so here it is in the words of the man himself.
DC training *
Bodybuilding as a whole is extreme and you must go to extreme lengths to be an out of
the ordinary bodybuilder in this activity. The human body in no way wants to be 270 to
330 lbs of extreme muscularity. It wants to be a comfortable 155 to 180 lbs and will do a
lot to keep a person at that homeostasis level. Jon Parillo was on the right track years ago
when he was trying to make bodybuilders into food processing factories. It takes extreme
amounts of food (protein), extremely heavy weights, sometimes extreme
supplementation, (the choice) of extreme drugs, and other extreme situations to take a
person who by evolution and genetics should be 180 pounds and make him into a
hardcore 3 hundred pounds. OK first I have to go over some principles I believe in
regarding training and I’ll hit more on training details later on.
a) I believe he who makes the greatest strength gains (in a controlled fashion) as a
bodybuilder, makes the greatest muscle gains. Note: I said strength gains--everyone
knows someone naturally strong who can bench 400 yet isn't that big. Going from a
beginning 375 bench to 400 isn't that great of a strength gain and won’t result in much of
a muscle gain. But if I show you someone who went from 150 to 400 on a bench press,
that guy will have about 2.5 inches more of muscle thickness on his pecs. That is an
incredible strength gain and will equal out into an incredible muscle gain. Ninety-nine
percent of bodybuilders are brainwashed that they must go for a blood pump and are
striving for that effect--(go up and down on your calves 500 times and tell me if your
calves got any bigger). And those same 99% in a gym stay the same year after year. It's
because they have no plan, they go in, get a pump and leave. They give the body no
reason to change. Powerbodybuilders and powerlifters plan to continually get stronger
and stronger on key movements. The body protects itself from ever increasing loads by
getting muscularly bigger=adaption. I’M going to repeat this and hammer it home
because of its importance: THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE GREATEST STRENGTH
GAINS OVER TIME WILL MAKE THE GREATEST SIZE GAINS OVER TIME
ACCORDING TO THEIR GENETIC POTENTIAL. If you reading this never get
anywhere close to your ultimate strength levels (AT WHATEVER REP RANGE) you
will never get to your utmost level of potential size.
b) I haven't seen a guy who can squat 500 for 20 reps, bench press 500 for 15 and deadlift
500 for 15 who was small yet ---but I have seen a lot and I mean a lot of people in the
gym and on these Internet forums that are a buck 65 or two and change, shouting that you
don't have to lift heavy to get big (in rare cases you will see a naturally strong powerlifter
who has to curb calories to stay in a weight class and that is the reason he doesn't get
bigger).
c) Training is all about adaption. In simple terms you lift a weight and your muscle has
one of 2 choices, either tear completely under the load (which is incredibly rare and what
we don't want) or the muscle lifts the weight and protects itself by remodeling and getting
bigger to protect itself against the load (next time). If the weight gets heavier, the muscle
has to again remodel and get bigger again to handle it. You can superset, superslow, giant
set, pre exhaust all day long but the infinite adaption is load---meaning heavier and
heavier weights is the only infinite thing you can do in your training. Intensity is finite.
Volume is finite (or infinite if you want to do 9000 sets per bodypart)...everything else is
finite. The Load is infinite and heavier and heavier weights used (I DON'T GIVE A
CRAP WHAT SOME BUCK 58 POUND WRITER FROM FLEX MAGAZINE SAYS)
will make the biggest bodybuilder (add high protein, glutamine and drugs to the mix and
you have one large person).
d) The largest pro bodybuilders in the last 10 years (outside of Paul Dillett who is a
genetic alien and I think could grow off of mowing lawns) are also the very strongest
(Kovacs, Prince, Coleman, Yates, Francois, Nasser (although he trains lighter now). For
anyone who argues that they have seen so and so pro bodybuilder and he trains light---
well I will bet you he isn't gaining rapid size anymore and that his greatest size increases
were when he was training **** heavy going for his pro card. Of course he will convince
himself and others that he is "making the best gains of his career" though
because no one likes to think what they are presently doing isn't working and they are
running in place. Sadly heavy drug use can make up for a lot of training fallacies and
leave people still uninformed on how they became massive. Ronnie Coleman is definitely
in an elite class of muscle building genetically yet do you see him doing isolation
exercises with light weights to be the most massive bodybuilder on this planet? NOPE!
Ever see his video? 805 deadlifts for 2 reps, 765 for 6 reps deads, front squats with
600LBS for 6, 200LB dumbbells being thrown all over the place for chest, military
presses 315 for 12 and a double with 405. I believe Coleman was clean or close to it
when he was powerlifting and when he was an amateur bodybuilder. He won the Natural
Team Universe and got his pro card at roughly 220-230LBS shredded to the bone and if
that was natural or close to it--that's about 270LBS offseason and would be a huge natural
bodybuilder. Since that time he has hooked up with Chad Nichols and blasted (with juice)
up to his current 265LBS contest weight and 320LBS offseason. He trains heavier now
than he ever did! The man has used extremely heavy weights and powerlifting
fundamentals (even with his superior genetics for muscle size) to become the most
impressive bodybuilder walking the globe. Well, if the man with some of the best
genetics to build muscle out there is using back breaking weights trying to get bigger isn't
that more of a reason the mere mortals of genetics in this sport should maybe take note?
There are other pros out there with genetics on par with Coleman and using the same
amount of drugs yet aren't pushing the limits with poundage's in training as does
Coleman. You figure it out then, why is he absolutely crushing everyone onstage by
outmuscling them if all things besides training are equal?
e) Who is the last incredibly massive bodybuilder you have seen (juice or not) who
couldn't incline 405, squat 550, deadlift 550. I am talking freak-massive ALA Dorian,
Kovacs, Francois, etc.....there are slew of guys in gyms using mega amounts of steroids
on par with pros who are no where close to a pro's size, some with mediocre genetics, yet
some with superb genetics. But the pro's using weights that are up there in the
stratosphere are by and large the most freakish. These are pros we are talking about, who
all have superior genetics for muscle accumulation. Do you think Yates, Francois,
Cormier etc all just had natural genetics for incredible strength, not ever having to work
for it? Jean Paul Guilliame is the only clean professional bodybuilder I ever trusted to be
truly natural. The man is a smaller pro training without the juice yet trains incredibly
heavy for his size--405LB squats rock bottom for up to 20 reps and his wheels are
incredible. Flex Wheeler and Cris Cormier were the same height, the drugs are equal,
Flex trained light, Cormier trains heavy. Cormier outweighs Wheeler onstage by 30LBS!
Genetically, Wheeler is unsurpassed in pro bodybuilding, I think you already know the
answer to this one--case closed. I usually don't like to use pro bodybuilders for examples
but in these cases, my points are proven.
For those training clean-if you got guys doing massive amounts of steroids in gyms
around America, who are not putting on appreciable size because they train with light
weights, what in your right mind could make you think you will gain appreciable
amounts of muscle mass as a natural training light?!?! One million people in the United
States have admitted to using steroids--1 million!!! That is one out of every 300 people
walking around. How many big people do you see out there? Not many. It sure isn't close
to 1 million---- because 98% of bodybuilders have no clue what needs to be done training
and eating wise to become elite.
f) Please think of the times when you made the best size gains---the first time is in the
first 2 years of lifting WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR BEST STRENGTH GAINS TOO!
Then things start to slow down.. What's the next time?--You start using steroids and
boom what happens? YOUR TRAINING WEIGHTS GO FLYING UP. And you get
dramatically bigger! (I’M taking into effect protein assimilation, recovery etc also). The
greatest strength gains you make will result in also the most rapid size gains (if you’re
taking in the protein requirements of a 12 year old girl scout then you can discount
yourself from the above group).
g) I believe in Powerbuilding not bodybuilding--using techniques that build the most
strength gains in the fastest time possible while using the most effective exercises for that
person. I am positive I could take 2 twins--have the first one do his own thing training
wise, but using the same drugs, supplements and nutrition as the twin I train......come
back a year later and the twin I trained would have 25LBS more muscle.
h) I've seen powerlifters (who catch a lot of guff from bodybuilders for being
"fat&quot diet down and come in and destroy bodybuilders in bodybuilding shows
time and time again. Over and over. Powerlifters and Powerbodybuilders are by far the
thickest guys onstage when and if they decide to enter bodybuilding shows.
i) Heavy is relative--it doesn't mean 3 reps --- it means as heavy as you can go on that
exercise no matter if it is 5 reps or 50 reps. I personally like to do hack squats for 20 reps
but I use about 6 plates on each side rock bottom--that's as heavy as I can go on that
exercise for 20 reps. I could do sets of 6 and probably use maybe 8 or 9 plates a side but
my legs (and most people I train) grow best from heavy and 8-50 reps. The day you can
squat 400LBS for 20 deep reps will be the day you are no longer complaining about your
leg size.
j) No matter what the method someone uses to gain super strength gains-it’s imperative
they do so. Again if you put someone out on a deserted island with 135LBS of weights he
can superset, giant set, high rep, superslow etc etc squats, deadlifts and benches to his
hearts delight...the sad story is his gains will quickly come to a halt because his limiting
factor is the amount of strength he will gain. He has 135LBS to work with. You take that
same guy on a deserted island and give him squats deadlifts, and benches and an
unlimited weight supply that he constantly pushes, in 5 years I'll show you a big Gilligan.
k) I think the biggest fallacy in bodybuilding is "changing up" "keeping
the body off balance"--you can keep the body off balance by always using
techniques or methods that give your body a reason to get bigger=strength. If you don't
write down your weights and every time you enter the gym you go by feel and do a
different workout (like 98% of the gym members who never change do now) what has
that done? Lets say Mr. Hypothetical gym member does 235 for 9 on the bench press this
week, "tries to keep his body guessing" by doing 80LBS for 13 on flyes next
week, 205 for 11 on inclines the week after, 245 on hammer press for 12 the week after
that --and so on and so on---there is only a limited number of exercises you can do. Two
months later when he does bench presses again and does 235 for 8 or 9 has he gained
anything? Absolutely NOT! Four months later he does hammer presses for 245 for 11
(again) do you think he has given his body any reason to change? Take 2 twins and have
one do a max squat for 20 reps and the other twin giant set 4 leg exercises with the same
weight. All year long have the first twin blast away until he brings his squat with 20 reps
from 185LBS to 400LBS. Have the second twin giant set four exercises every workout
with the same weight he used in his first workout all year long. Believe me he is always
going to be sore and he will be shocking the body every time but the sad truth is he will
not gain **** after about the third leg workout because the load didn't change. There is no
reason for his legs to grow in size due to the strength demand presented. The first twin
who can now squat 400 for 20 is going to have some incredible wheels.
l) I use a certain method in my training because in my opinion it is the utmost method to
rapidly gain strength. More on that later. Others might like a different method, that's up to
them, doesn't matter as long as they are rapidly gaining strength. If you’re gaining
appreciable strength on an exercise with a certain method I think the ABSOLUTELY
WORSE THING YOU CAN DO is to change up right then. Take that exercise and
method to its strength limit and when you get there, then change to a different exercise
and get strong as hell on that exercise too.
m) For the next few months take note of the people you see in the gym that never change.
They will be the ones using the same weight time after time on exercises whenever they
are in the gym. These are the people who use 135, 185, 225 on the bench every time its
chest day. Your best friends in the gym are the 2.5LB plates--your very best buds!!! You
put those 2.5LB plates on that bar every time you bench press for 52 weeks and now your
bench is 250LBS more at the end of the year! That would equal out to another inch to
inch + half thickness on your chest. Can it be done? Probably not at that rate but
TRYING TO DO IT will get you a lot bigger than doing what 98% of the people in the
gym do. Unless you are gifted genetically to build muscle at a dizzying rate (most people
aren't), the largest people in your gym will also be the ones heaving up the heaviest
weights. Do you think they started out that way? No, they were probably 175 lb guys who
bulldozed their way up to that level. A perfect example are male strippers. These guys
use a boatload of drugs on par with hardcore competitive bodybuilders. After an initial
phase where they grow off of steroids like everyone else--their growth stops (like
forever). Why? Because they aren't eating 500 grams of protein a day and don't fight and
claw their way to 500LB bench presses and 700LB squats and deadlifts. They stay on the
drugs for years and years while stripping but don't go beyond that 200 to 220LB range.
So much for juice being the total equalizer. I don't know why pseudo experts try to make
training such an elite science when in actuality it’s pretty cut and dry. If you keep a
training log and note your weights used for the next 5 years and find they are still the
same you will pretty much look "still the same" in 5 years. If you double all
your poundage's in the next five years in everything, your going to be one thick person
.....If someone ever took a ratio of people who don't make gains to people who do, it
would be pitiful. I would venture to say that 95% of people in gyms across this country
aren't gaining muscle and are wasting their time. The absolutely best advice I could ever
give a guy starting out lifting is "go train with an established powerlifter" and
learn all the principles he trains with. There would be a lot more happy bodybuilders out
there.
So now you guys know I believe in the heaviest training possible (safely)---I think I
hammered that home, I needed to do that because so many bodybuilders are lost on how
to get from A to Z.....it’s all part of my quest to make the biggest heavy slag iron lifting,
high protein eating, stretching and recuperating massive bodybuilders I can.-- till next
time-DC

 

[Newtonselite]

Workout 1
CHEST: smith incline 375 x 15 reps rest pause (RP) and a 30 second static rep at the end
(then stretches)
SHOULDERS: front smith press-330 x 13 RP and 30 second static (then stretches)
TRICEPS: reverse grip bench press 315 for 15-20 reps RP-no static (then stretches)
BACK WIDTH: rear rack chins to back of head 100 x 18 RP (20 second static at end)
BACK THICKNESS: floor deadlifts a brutal straight set of 8 reps and then a heavier
debilitating 4 rep one (after warmups of course) (then stretches for back)
Workout 2
BICEPS: preacher bench barbell curl RP for 14 reps and 30 second static
FOREARMS: hammer curls straight set for 15 reps (then stretches for biceps)
CALVES: on hack squat straight set for 10-12 reps but with a 20 second negative phase
HAMSTRINGS: Cybex hamstring press (pressing with heels up top) RP for 20 reps
QUADS: hack squat --a brutal set for 10 reps (My legs are a strong bodypart and I allow
people with good legs to go with one straight set only--but if your quads are playing
catchup to the rest of the body, then you must do a heavy set of 4-8 reps followed after a
rest by a "good god I freaking hate Doggcrapp" 20 reps set. Those quads will
catch up in size pronto
Then stretches for quads and hams.
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. So every time I go into the gym I have to
continually look back and beat the previous times reps/weight or both. If I can't 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
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.
At that point you must turn to a different exercise and then get brutally strong on that one.
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 lower 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. For example-- I love reverse grip bench
presses, knowing that I have to beat 315 for 17 reps RP 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 RP or if I stick with 315, I have to get at least
19 reps RP 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. If I know ive
plateaued out I MUST CHANGE THE EXERCISE. Thats the key to constant
progression. 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.
I find myself irritated now when people look at me and say "genetics" or
something to that effect--its amazing to me that at 19 I was 6 foot and 137lbs (yes 137)
and eating 6 meals a day and people would chuckle at me the stickboy trying to be a
bodybuilder. I seriously did not miss a meal for my first 3 and a half years, I would set
my alarm at 2am and wake up and eat scrambled eggs and pancakes if I missed a meal
during the day. Two years later I looked "normal" at 196lbs or so. Two years
just to look like a freaking normal person! I kept bombing away, eating and not taking no
as an answer and now I am up at 300lbs and people say "you must have always
been big" and "you have good genetics". That's tough for me to hear
thinking how psyched I was to weigh more than 170 at one point. I've only trained a few
true mesomorphs. Mesomorphs don't need trainers usually. I train ectomorphs and
endomorphs predominantly. With all sincerity I can make 200lbers into 250lbers and
250lbers into 300lbers (I feel) quicker than anyone else. I dont mean that to sound ****y,
please dont take it that way but Ive grown accustomed with what Im accomplishing with
people to know Im very good at it. Most trainees all think the same thing seeing how my
workouts are set up-"am I doing enough?"--If you can show someone how to
train so hard that they realize they were holding back tremendously during their 8-20 set
workouts, that's half the battle. The other half is making them realize how impossible it is
to do 8-20 sets per bodypart if you truly, truly train balls to the wall hard. Personally, if I
do a 20 rep hack squat with slag iron heavy weights....at 10 reps I am seriously doubting I
am going to make it---at 14 reps IM seeing colors---at 17 reps IM asking God for help--
and the last 3 reps are life, death, or rigor mortis---I know for a fact that there is no way
in hell I could do another 4-5 sets of hacks like that. I gave everything I had right there on
that set. If I can do another 4-5 sets like that I'm cruising at 70% at the most. If all you get
out of my articles is the mindset of heavy weights, low volume, stretching, and frequency
of body parts trained-I would be very happy because then I would have you on the right
path to get you where you want to be
It is so tough to talk about training when I am not in front of someone. In real life or at
my gym people will see me or someone I train and be convinced that my system works
very well. And in person I can explain how it all fits together. But for some reason giving
an opinion on training online offends a lot of bodybuilders. It is like a blow to their ego
as if your putting them down or telling them they don’t know how to train. And then you
get every HIT, periodization, and brainwashed Wieder principle disciple arguing with me
why their method is the best and I am wrong. People get pissed if they think what they
might be doing training wise is wrong or not the most productive. It's human nature.
I seem to get alot of advanced bodybuilders over 250lbs come to me and I get them by
their sticking points and up toward (and past) the 300lb mark. I can continually turn
170lb guys (who go along with me 100%) into 260lb plus monsters over and over but I
cannot help guys who are 190-230lbs who are stuck in their ways. Those guys can
continue to take the long road or never get there. In the past years since I’ve put my
methods out there to view, I continue to hear different arguments against my way of
training. Hey it’s radically different than the norm and like I said people can’t stand to
think what they are presently doing training wise isn't the best! So far I’ve heard the usual
gamut (overtraining, undertraining, undervolume, CNS saturation). One guy who said
"not enough stimulation per workout"-sadly he has confused volume to equal
gains. WRONG!!! If volume = gains go head and do 100 hard sets per bodypart and do
each bodypart once every 3 weeks. Please tell me what incredible gains you get.
To me all this is an egotistical way to debunk a radically different method because you
don’t want to believe what your presently doing is incorrect or 'slower gaining'. Every
bodybuilder that I have trained in person has gained at least 47lbs! My top guy who is
online I believe is at 77lbs gained now. This sport is full of fragile egos, pseudo-experts,
armchair bicep curlers. I am a very advanced bodybuilder but the only thing I am
conceited about is I truly believe I could take anybody reading this and turn them into a
4.0lbs per inch bodybuilder. I love taking a humble bodybuilder who doubts his genetics
and making him the largest guy in his gym. That is so fun for me. I love the people who
whisper in the corners that "he must be loaded to the hilt" yet he is on the
same things they are. I love hearing the petty jealousy and anger that comes over other
bodybuilders now that the guy I trained is the big boy on the block. I’m not pushing my
methods on anyone. I want you to decide for yourself with deductive reasoning. But if
you have been lifting for 4-5 years and people aren't commenting, stating or asking
questions about you being a bodybuilder on a daily basis-I think that’s embarrassing and
you might want to question if what you are doing training wise has merit to it. I only train
hardcore bodybuilders (and some fitness girls) down here in So Cal. (its not my main job-
-I turn down a great deal of people due to my own personal reasons--which are mostly
after interviewing them I feel they wont do what I say 100%) I am very, very good at
turning normal people into the biggest bodybuilders in their area. In person I’ve trained 7
people bodybuilding wise in the last 4 years (5 used super supplements 2 were clean).
Every one of those people gained at least 47lbs on their bodyweight at roughly the same
or less bodyfat.
1)188 to 260(2.5 years)
2)172 to 254 (3 years)
3)208 to 261(clean! genetic mesomorph 1 year)
4)218 to 275 (cut his juice in half, doubled his protein, showed him how to train
correctly-2 years)
Im presently training one guy in person named Roland who is 248lbs at 6feet and Ill have
him up to 300lbs within less than a year no doubt about it.

 

[Newtonselite]

Blasting And Cruising Clarified
Cruising--I want to clear some things up about this. As much as I like people to keep the
training in correct format because Ive experimented with this stuff so much and I think I
have a feel for what is working best, with blasting and cruising it can be individualistic.
With Natural guys, they usually go 5 weeks to 14 weeks blasting and then take a 2 week
cruise--the norm seems to be somewhere between 7 weeks blasting and 12 weeks
blasting. You read this by being in tune with your body and when you start feeling worn
out and not really wanting to give the logbook an ass kicking--its time to cruise. But dont
make a major mistake that some nattys do which is simply refusing to take a day off.
Sometimes that rectifies the whole situation right there. At that moment because of
various problems, lack of sleep, stress, etc you read that as a time to cruise but basically
all you need is to skip a workout and pick up the schedule on the next day and your right
back to normal. Now if you take a day off and you get that 3-4 days of straight rest and
still feel listless and unmotivated, hey then its time to cruise. I will give you some
examples of what some of my nat trainees do
7 weeks blasting 2 weeks cruising
12 weeks blasting 2 weeks cruising
5 weeks blasting 7 days cruising
8 weeks blasting 7-10 days cruising
As you can see above its personal choice how long you want to blast and cruise. Some
guys take the 2 weeks cruise some guys like it shorter. Its up to you. I also have some
guys that train pretty hard with straight sets during this time (but short of failure) and
some guys that kind of just wing it (either way is going to work--your just maintaining)
For my enhanced trainees the situation is a little different. Alot of this is all done by
personal preference and how you morally stand on the super supplement issue. The most
important thing to remember is during a cycle that there comes a time where your endo
test is dropping (well its always dropping but read ahead) and estro side effects are
coming on fast. Most of the time this big ratio skewering is most prominent between
weeks 3 and 8. And to pinpoint it further I would suggest that right around weeks 5-7 is
the key time. Alot of my trainees can actually feel this point during their cycles. Your
appetite starts lessening, you feel a change in androgen benefits according to your body
(hardness decreases slightly, smoothing out, lethargy), your temper increases (most likely
due to the estro/test skewered ratio--(the same bitchiness alot of guys get when they use
clomid)--and your attitude toward workouts and destroying the logbook starts decreasing
more and more (over many weeks).....You really have to know your body well to
recognize these signs but someone who has been around the block for awhile will
definitely. So what do most guys do at this point that dont follow my methods? They up
the dose slightly and it gets them gaining again but also most likely is going to make it
living hell when they get off finally. (If they get off is what i should say---and that right
there raises more problems....if you fix these problems by continually upping the dose
over time, where are you going to go? How much toxicity and abuse will you be putting
yourself thru a year down the road to continue making gains? Thats why I kind of
chuckle when I hear guys say "**** that I make my best gains after week 5 or so and thats
why i do 16 week cycles"--well of course you do you upped the dose and every time you
up the dose youll override that endo test drop and continue making gains. In the long run
where is that going to leave you though? Your going to have to abuse the hell out of
yourself to put more muscle mass on your body. So what do you do? Your job is to
decide in the context of my methods what is best for you. If thats one cycle a year so be
it. If thats being on continually for years and years thats your choice. All I ask is that you
do one simple thing. Always keep this following thought in the back of your mind with
whatever path you choose thats right for you concerning super supplements. YOU MUST
DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO TRY TO KEEP YOURSELF
REGULATED HPTA WISE. Whats the best way to do that? Never use super
supplements. Whats the best way to do that if you do use super supplements? Use
everything at your disposal to send signals to the hpta at intermittent times. Ive stated
many times what i think someone who is using 1 or 2 cycles a year should do, 4-8 weeks
blasting and 2 weeks cruising. So if it was one cycle and one only this year you would do
something akin to 4-8 weeks on, 2 weeks antiestrogens and hcg and then 4-8 weeks on
again and pct therapy again and off. That basically is a 8-16 week cycle thats going to be
very easy to keep muscle mass when you get off instead of the guys who hammer
themself for 4 months straight and cross their fingers when they get off with clomid that
they dont disengrate (laughable because it happens 90% of the time) ........So Ive already
hit on that limited super supplement usage that people do above too many times to count
over the last 3 years............and to be brutally honest theres alot of guys (elite pros, top
amateurs and advanced bodybuilders) that are running year round and I know those guys
want to hear what Im going to say on this. SO DONT GET YOUR GODDAMN
PANTIES IN A WAD IF THIS GOES AGAINST WHAT YOU PERSONALLY FEEL
IS RIGHT AND MORALLY SOUND YOU HOLIER THAN THOU PROHORMONE
ABUSERS AND ONCE A YEAR CYCLERS. Examples of some athletes in Europe or
Mexico (where this is all legal)
7 weeks on 2 weeks cruising
6 weeks on 1 week cruising
8 weeks on 2 weeks cruising
7 weeks on 7-10days cruising
It basically comes down to choices of the individual. Some guys cruisings are arim, nolv,
hcg and clomid. Some guys refuse to get completely off and do arim nolv hcg clom and
50mg of test prop eod during the cruises. I know of one who does arim nolv hcg clom,
the low dose test 50mg and anavar during the cruises and he does that for 3 weeks after
blasting for 7-8. Every blasting your trying to get to a new muscular level, every cruising
your trying to regulate yourself somewhat by sending signals to the HPTA and
maintaining or if your lucky slightly increasing muscle size. It needs to be done that way
if your going to stay on for extended periods otherwise your going to have one terrible
time coming off. Now if I see one freaking guy posting that this is DC's
recommendations on other boards, IM GOING TO GO OFF! I wrote up something like
this 4 years ago as it pertained to elite athletes who were running year round anyway and
then for the next 3 years I heard idiots telling people that I recommended year round
cycling. I recommend letting whatever an individual chooses himself to do and i work in
those parameters and try to suggest a better way. Do I believe blasting and cruising works
much better both for muscle gains and keeping the hpta regulated than just bludgeoning
yourself year round, ....HELL YES I DO. In fact if you break down things, there isnt
much difference in "time on""time off" of someone doing 4 months on and 2 months off
(pct included) and doing it this way--its almost exactly the same. The difference is the
above way i described doesnt give you that YO YO effect where you always trying to
gain back muscle mass you lost with each cycle. If you are reading this and believe pros
and top amateurs are coming off when they are at the Pro Ironman in February, The
arnold in March, The Night of Champions in May, The USA's in the end of July, The
olympia in the early fall, and the *** in the fall, along with flex magazine photo shoots,
multiple appearances, and 5-20 guest posings spread out also during the year--AND YET
ALWAYS LOOKING BIG HARD JACKED AND NEVER LOOKING SMALLER OR
SMOOTHER.....then you need to wake up and smell the Java because your clueless. It
aint happening. When is the last time you saw a pro and thought "wow he looks off, he is
alot smaller and really smooth too" --I am pretty sure Ronnie took a break this year
because of his look earlier in the year but the majority of others? Look at all the shows
above spread out over the year and add in maybe one to two shows they are competing in
this year (with 4 month contest preps) and you tell me when they are getting off. They
arent or if they are its definitely not 2 months completely (off and clean) like Ive seen
many post its more like a week here or a week there. There is a massive rock hard
amateur superheavyweight with the initials D.P. who strongly advocates 4 months on and
2 months completely off--very strongly advocates the 2 months completely off. When is
the last time you have seen him look small and smoother? Theres 100's of pics on his site
showing him at various times the last 5 years or so at different shows, guest posings,
appearances and he competes twice a year too (theres 8 months on right there). Do you
see one pic where he looks off? So the bottom line is this, blasting and cruising is
individualistic and it is based on being natural or enhanced and it is based on when both
individuals (nat/enhan) start feeling burnt out from the war with the logbook. I step
peoples diets down a notch during cruisings (especially the enhanced because their
skewered test/est ratio at that time isnt optimal) and I make everyones training more of
maintenance to prep them for another blasting. Whether nat or enhanced if you try to go
year round with this brutal war with the logbook, it wont work, you have to take 2 steps
forward and a half step back and regroup your mindset, fortitude and desire to go the
extra mile here.

 

[Newtonselite]

How to cure shoulder problems (Trust me this will do it 90% of the time)
With a large towel or broomstick I want you to hold it with straight arms for the entire
time of what i describe in the following movement--a large "rolled up like a rope" beach
towel works good but honestly a longer broomstick (without the bristles) works best in
my opinion. Start out with it with a really wide grip (with straight arms) in front of you
(on your quads) and with straight arms bring it up and overhead and then down and back
to the middle of your back--STRAIGHT ARMS ALL THE WAY--this is going to be
very difficult and hard the first couple times out and then will be "old hat" with time----
and its going to be painful in a stretching pump kind of way---i want 50 reps each time
you do this--one repetition is from in front of your face (all with straight arms) to up
overhead and back, and then down all the way to the middle of your back and then back
up overhead to in front of your face again (again all with straight arms)--the important
part of the movement is the area overhead that is really tight--do all of this
carefully/slowly---dont just whip it over and back---if your hand is slipping off the
broomstick even with the widest grip, or you cant bring your arms over straight and the
start bending on you, you have some serious shoulder inflexibility and need to work this
hard and get up to speed (or you could just need a longer broomstick too)--again do all of
these revolutions controlled and carefully--push into the stretch as you go along toward
the 50 revolutions, your chest will be pushing outward and your shoulders rolling back--
your shoulders are going to blow up with so much blood its going to be incredibly
painfull pumpwise--Do this once a day at nite as many times a week as you can---
sometimes I have people do it every single day---but every time you do it try to move
your grip inward (thats the key)----its going to be very hard to do but try your best to
move your grip inward for the next 2-4 weeks and your range of motion with shoulders
will increase dramatically and any impingement and the majority of other problems
should be gone in 2 weeks--also try to move your grip in as you are doing the 50
revolutions--start off with a stretching but relatively easy 10 to warm up some, then try to
move your grip in even by a centimeter if you can for the next 20 revolutions and then at
30 try to move the grip in another centimeter--really try to push what you can do
stretchwise once your warmed up here--trust me this sounds easy but your going to be
muttering "**** you dante" after you get to your 25th revolution--Ive cured too many
shoulder problems with this simple movement now its pretty ridiculous, and this and a
menthol rub applied liberally daily and before sleep has cured alot of shoulder/bicepital
tendonitis in trainees ---Heres a pic attached to this post so you can get an idea (thanks to
a trainee of mine who cured his shoulders with this)--but remember the broomstick goes
overhead and all the way back to the middle of the back (he just drew the start of the
movement when you begin)

 

[Newtonselite]

DC workout schedules for various people
I probably should of written this a while back but I see alot of people asking about it now.
Schedules. Most of the people I personally train I have them on the monday wenesday
friday monday scheme with bodyparts split like this
a)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
BAck thickness
b)
biceps
forearms
calves
hams
quads
What is important about that is there is always a day between workouts and that lends
itself to all important recovery/rest. Another variation of this above that some of the
really heavy trainers I train like is Tues (full workout) Thurs (full workout) Sat (half
workout) Sun (other half workout)
But some people have hectic haphazard schedules and they either have to do extremely
short workouts or they skip lifting altogether. Obviously I would rather not have them
skip workouts. What I do with those people works right along the same lines as the M W
F M scheme I always use--almost the same frequency with extremely short workouts.
And if anyone I personally train likes this schedule better I have no problem with them
going over to it. It is Mon Tues Thurs Fri (with weekends off) or something to that effect
according to their schedule and the body is split up like this:
A)
biceps
forearms
back width
back thickness
B)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
C)
Calves
Hams
Quads
So you see that on Friday biceps and back is hit again and then the next week workout b
will be hit twice and during week 3 workout c will be hit twice. The frequency of
bodyparts hit is almost like the original M W F M plan. The downsides to this way are
the obvious non day off between workouts and you have to be very very careful with
order of exercises on this plan. For example I would never have you doing full range
deadlifts the day after a squat day--you would be destroyed. You have to look over the
whole scheme and make sure your back thickness exercise is not going to be effected by
your hamstring or quad exercise. I would probably skip stiff legged deadlifts for
hamstrings totally during this routine because of the heavy back thickness exercises. I
would probably rotate seated standing and lying leg curls for someone doing this. Your
workouts though would be 25-45 minutes tops and thats tops and your out of there. The
bad points of setting it up this way is that you lose that whole day of rest between
workouts and Ive seen over time that most people seem to gain a slight bit better with that
full day of rest. The other bad point is although the frequency of bodyparts trained is
similiar, its a bit less over time (bodyparts trained 80 times a year in the M W F scheme
and 69 times a year in the second scheme above) .........So you guys with busy busy
schedules who need to get in there and out fairly quickly could feasibly use the latter
schedule. TPC uses the second schedule and loves it and reluctantly, Im going to have to
go to this new schedule soon even though my best gains are off of the original MWF--my
daily schedule is getting overwhelming with work and my time is getting very very
limited.
PS: I put back/bis before chest/shoulder/tri in the rotation because alot of people get
really sore in the shoulder/chest area the day after chest. This can make it very hard
sometimes on back width and back thickness exercises (especially back width) and Im
trying to keep injuries to a minimum. The downside to this is when leg day falls directly
after chest day, you are going to have to stretch out thoroughly in the delt/chest area to
get your shoulders/arms on the bar for squatting

 

[Newtonselite]

DC modifications during precontest and cutting bodyfat
Lets face it dieting down for a show or just getting all bodyfat off you can be brutal and I
wanted to show you guys how Im doing this with people. As carbs get real low its so hard
to train nevermind trying to beat the logbook (impossible) during this time and I make
provisions for that to keep the most muscle mass on someone. This kind of goes in stages
determined by the individual and not me. The individual himself/herself switches over
when he feels its neccessary.
Stage one: Joe bodybuilder keeps doing what he is doing mon wed fri with restpausing
just like its done in the offseason and he tries his best to keep beating the logbook for as
long as he can. You definitely want to stay with what got you all that muscle mass in the
offseason as long as you can safely do it. Im noticing more and more that my heavest
training guys like the tues (full workout), thursday (full workout) and saturday (half
workout), sunday (half workout) scheme better than the mon wed fri one. I would
definitely be recommending that to people like the Inhuman one and Friggin Huge who
toss around slag iron like human forklifts. For various reasons its a little easier on the
mind and feels like your doing only 2 superhuman workouts a week and getting alot more
rest in.
Stage two: Joe bodybuilder is really feeling the effects of everything and is starting to tire
rapidly during workouts. So at this point he goes over to this scheme.
Monday: Chest shoulders triceps
Tuesday: biceps forearms backwidth backthickness
Wed off
Thursday: calves hams quads
Friday: Chest shoulders triceps
Saturday off
Sunday off
Monday: biceps forearms backwidth backthickness
Tuesday: calves hams quads
Wed off and so on and so on
He keeps on rest pausing during this time. His workouts/stretching will be very very short
and this will rekindle the fire somewhat. He could also do the above scheme on the Mon
Wed Fri regimen but I would rather he do it the above way if he could so he could still
keep on a advanced timeXbodyparts hit schedule but either way will work
Stage three: This is usually anywhere from 6 to 3 weeks out from a show and all the way
in --when a bodybuilder is really depleted and feels like a walking zombie. At this point
for safety reasons and just severe depletion/exhaustion reasons we no longer restpause.
Your not going to be gaining muscle mass the last 2 months before a show so for gods
sake dont push the envelope and get a muscle tear or bad injury here trying to do
something thats not going to happen anyway. At this point you stay on this scheme
Monday: Chest shoulders triceps
Tuesday: biceps forearms backwidth backthickness
Wed off
Thursday: calves hams quads
Friday: Chest shoulders triceps
Saturday off
Sunday off
Monday: biceps forearms backwidth backthickness
Tuesday: calves hams quads
Wed off and so on and so on
but you no longer rest pause so I want you to do 2 different exercises for straight sets for
every bodypart. For example monday is chest shoulders triceps, you would go in and do
something hypothetically like this
Chest: Incline smythe for 10-20 reps and then flat dumbell presses for 15-30 reps both
straight setted
Shoulders: shoulder press machine for 10-20 reps and then maybe upright rows for 12-20
reps straight setted
Triceps: dip machine for 12-20 reps and pushdowns for 12-20 reps straight setted
Thought you guys might like to see how I have guys do this. Also during precontest its a
pretty good idea to always be safe and by that i mean be extra careful with things. With
restpausing always try to stay in the higher of the rep range. Which means if I have you
going 11-15rp for something in the offseason, try to keep around the 15rp (of even higher
if you have any nagging injuries). With stretching, lower your stretching weights and just
stay really flexible but dont be doing stupid things like using 120lb dumbells in the fly
position to stretch your chest. Its a vulnerable time and its a time that you be smart and
careful

 

[Newtonselite]

Again sorry balla for filling up this thread with more dc crap that may confuse people as i know where posted a simplier to the point version lol! theres a lot of the same information in there.

 

[R1balla]

its all good! if they get confused from yours, they can read mine first lol

 

[R1balla]

Not trying to steal the thread off ya here balla, Its just i got all the books and DC vids ect soooo i thought id add to the thread, Now as you said You post sums it all up which it does, so they may be alot of the same read but yea if anyone finds it of value, well thats what matters.

i think my original post sums it up for a reader who hasnt heard of DC before to go ahead and read. so many articles online are so confusing for the DC beginner. thats why i posted that article on here.

 

[808Pump]

Nice article...both of you!
I wll have to try this...it makes so much sense to me...then again I've tried a lot of other workouts/style of lifting and never really got anywhere. It's time to pay some dues...even at 55yrs of age...I have a good 20yrs more to go!

 

[Newtonselite]

i think my original post sums it up for a reader who hasnt heard of DC before to go ahead and read. so many articles online are so confusing for the DC beginner. thats why i posted that article on here.

Yea man that's 4 sure!

 

[Castor87]

Great article! I've trained DC for 3 years now and never looking back. The IM boards became my home for years lol

 

[Nickmort]

subbed. Awesome read!

 

[R1balla]

Thanks guys. I really love dc as well

 

[808Pump]

Did my first two DC workouts, and I noticed I had to drop some weight...could not do the RP with my normal weight. And I felt a good pump/ache, recovery was much faster too!
So I guess I'm killing myself (balls to wall) but not over killing myself to the point that my recovery takes 2-3 days.
Those straight 20 rps on box squats is a killer!!

 

[Torobestia]

20 rep squats are insane. My favorite way of tackling them is I get to 10, and usually I can get to 12. Once I get there I just tell myself in my head "just 2 more," and so on until 20. Box squats really take it out of you, though. I think once you start box squatting like 425lbs you can probably do smaller widowmakers in the range of 15 reps. Because at that point you're tearing out your hamstrings and nailing them to the ****ing cross.

 

[R1balla]

Did my first two DC workouts, and I noticed I had to drop some weight...could not do the RP with my normal weight. And I felt a good pump/ache, recovery was much faster too!
So I guess I'm killing myself (balls to wall) but not over killing myself to the point that my recovery takes 2-3 days.
Those straight 20 rps on box squats is a killer!!

yeah, your gonna have to drop your weight a bit. but once you stay on DC for a while and go back to normal training, you will see your results and they will be awesome

 

[808Pump]

yeah, your gonna have to drop your weight a bit. but once you stay on DC for a while and go back to normal training, you will see your results and they will be awesome

Yeah...that's what I'm looking at as my goal...the light at the end of the tunnel.
Today a little ache in the calve, quads, and glutes. My upper forearms are also feeling it, as well as my biceps. What I did to stretch my biceps was sit on an inclined bench, lean back holding a 35lb db in each arm and let the stretch happen for a minute...I thought my arms were going to fall off!! That was a set in it's self!
Tomorrow....A-2 workout!

 

[R1balla]

i also like to get a 30 pound DB and rotate my wrist freely and it stretches out your forearm and bicep as well. i do this in between back sets and bicep sets

 

[MB35]

Anybody got any good back width stretches other than the hanging from a pullup bar with a heavy weight? I'm not a huge fan of that stretch and it feels like it hits my forearms trying to grip tight to hold myself there than it actually stretches my back at all. Trying to find some alternatives.

 

[Torobestia]

Anybody got any good back width stretches other than the hanging from a pullup bar with a heavy weight? I'm not a huge fan of that stretch and it feels like it hits my forearms trying to grip tight to hold myself there than it actually stretches my back at all. Trying to find some alternatives.

You gotta get some wrist wraps for that. Or alternatively, I've done it with enough weight to satisfactorily stretch my back by using a hook grip on the pullup bar. That stretch is amazing.

 

[MB35]

So as a little follow up on the stretch thing, I did my workout B1 today which is Chest/Shoulders/Triceps/Back Width/Back Thick. Decided to take the advice and use my straps on the hang. It worked and jesus i've never felt such a stretch in that area of my back. So for anyone with my problem, straps are definitely the way to go.

Also today I decided between my Shoulder Press and stretching of the shoulder to throw in a set of light weight very slow side lateral raises(10 reps with 20lbs). I figured maybe it would help stretch a bit and add a little oomph to my side delts. Does that sound ok or do you think it would be detrimental to do it regularly?

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Don't add anything to it. Do the program as it is laid out, for a LONG time.

 

[DWeaver]

Can I swap back and legs I hate doing WG pull ups after doing chest and tris. For whatever reason it kills my triceps. Or is the WO written up like it is for a reason. Thanks.

 

[Castor87]

I'm having my hours increased like crazy at work at the moment and am thinking I need to swap out to the 3 way split. I've run the 2 way for a good 2.5yrs now and although I don't really want to change it, time constraints are permitting it.

I figure since I have to do it I might as well use it to bring up some lagging body parts. Ideally I need to hit my chest and back width HARD. What do you guys think is the past way to go about doing this on the 3 way?

 

[R1balla]

Anybody got any good back width stretches other than the hanging from a pullup bar with a heavy weight? I'm not a huge fan of that stretch and it feels like it hits my forearms trying to grip tight to hold myself there than it actually stretches my back at all. Trying to find some alternatives.

Honestly, the only things I do for back is holding the dumbbell when doing db pullover and pulling on two dbs that are placed on the rack

 

[R1balla]

When I take off from dc, I just do a b. Workouts with the chest/squats / tri and then for B workout I do back/deads/bi