DC Training Thread (Part 2)

Training Bodybuilding
221

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
MeinHerzBrennt wrote:
Really pissed off.

Went in to try the new body masters chest exercise (flat one; they also have an incline) and realized one HUGE problem - the fucking handles rotate. Like full 360 degrees. Who the hell wants to try and stabalize the handles when lifting 4pps??? ArRgggggH! I only had 3pps on this time and I lost a lot of strength just trying to make sure my hands stayed straight. Why on earth would anyone think it would be a good idea to have the handles rotate?!? I got 10 + 4 + ONE. Ridiculous.

Other than that, the exercise was perfect - ROM is smoooth, like a DB press, and the handles donā€™t go down too far making it easier to lift off.

I really donā€™t think I can keep this exercise. And if I canā€™t keep this one, I shouldnā€™t even try the BM incline machine because itā€™s the same deal.

Im gonna end up going to three differnt gyms just to be able to do all the exercises that are right for me.

/rant

The only reason I can think of is so that people can do different grip widths along with neutral grip or semipronated (like halfway between neutral and pronated) grip presses. Some machines have multiple handles (one pronated, one neutral) for the same reason. I agree though, not the best idea for someone trying to lift considerable weight.

Sucks to hear, sounds like a good exercise other than that. :([/quote]

Thing is, you canā€™t do a neutral or semipronated grip with the way the handles are set up. If I turned the handles in an attempt to use a neutral grip, then it would be like a standing DB front raise, if you get what iā€™m sayin - the angle between my lower and upper arm wouldnt be at 90 degrees pushing straight up as youā€™d expect when using a neutral grip (like neutral grip DB floor presses).

Sorry if that wasnā€™t clear. But as far as I can imagine (and iā€™m terrible at picturing things without them being in front of me) there is no other way to use the machine except when the handles are in the regular position.

I think I may drop the weight and keep the rep range high, like 15-20. There are several other chest exercises at this gym but they all have some type of problem which makes them difficult for me.

222

Back from a 10 day hiatus in Londonā€¦ Going to ramp up the intensity as my strength returns (lost about 20 pounds on most exercises my first day back). Starting back doing 1 straight set for the first A and B workouts, then right back into the 11-15 RP after that. Iā€™ve taken time off before and come back and hit it 100% and found that it can lead to the ā€œbadā€ kind of pain if you do it wrong, so Iā€™m just going to take one week to work the muscles back up to regular loading.

Cant wait to blast past my old numbers. You guys didnt tell me Iā€™d be chomping at the bit like this again to get stronger after a cruise!! Cant wait for it!

223

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Back from a 10 day hiatus in Londonā€¦ Going to ramp up the intensity as my strength returns (lost about 20 pounds on most exercises my first day back). Starting back doing 1 straight set for the first A and B workouts, then right back into the 11-15 RP after that. Iā€™ve taken time off before and come back and hit it 100% and found that it can lead to the ā€œbadā€ kind of pain if you do it wrong, so Iā€™m just going to take one week to work the muscles back up to regular loading.

Cant wait to blast past my old numbers. You guys didnt tell me Iā€™d be chomping at the bit like this again to get stronger after a cruise!! Cant wait for it![/quote]

with everything being normal, coming off a cruise you should typically be starting with the weights that you were using about 3/4 of the way into your last blast.

224

Hey guys how is everyone doing with their DC training?

Are you guys using this program mainly for strength or to acheive a powerful bodybuilder figure ? Just curious

225

[quote]Tdawg26 wrote:
Hey guys how is everyone doing with their DC training?

Are you guys using this program mainly for strength or to acheive a powerful bodybuilder figure ? Just curious[/quote]

Do yourself a favor and find a term other than figure. =]

226

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Tdawg26 wrote:
Hey guys how is everyone doing with their DC training?

Are you guys using this program mainly for strength or to acheive a powerful bodybuilder figure ? Just curious

Do yourself a favor and find a term other than figure. =][/quote]

LOL, yeah if you use that word again weā€™re gonna have to ask you to leave. :wink:

The answer is that the two are intrinsically linked.

227

[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
Back from a 10 day hiatus in Londonā€¦ Going to ramp up the intensity as my strength returns (lost about 20 pounds on most exercises my first day back). Starting back doing 1 straight set for the first A and B workouts, then right back into the 11-15 RP after that. Iā€™ve taken time off before and come back and hit it 100% and found that it can lead to the ā€œbadā€ kind of pain if you do it wrong, so Iā€™m just going to take one week to work the muscles back up to regular loading.

Cant wait to blast past my old numbers. You guys didnt tell me Iā€™d be chomping at the bit like this again to get stronger after a cruise!! Cant wait for it!

with everything being normal, coming off a cruise you should typically be starting with the weights that you were using about 3/4 of the way into your last blast. [/quote]

It was a combination of 2 weeks with no gym access plus a crappy food situation, but I anticipate gaining the strength back rather quickly now that I have my food intake back where it needs to be and Iā€™m back in the gym again. In my previous cruise type situations that sounds about right where I would end up, and then in 1-2 weeks time Iā€™m usually right about where I left off. I dont plan on doing a cold-turkey no gym cruise again, but rather easing up on the poundages and not RPing, and maybe only doing one A-B throughout the week instead of an A-B-A type deal.

In theory, if done right, you could come back even stronger from a cruise, which is my goal next time.

228

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
Lonnie123 wrote:
Back from a 10 day hiatus in Londonā€¦ Going to ramp up the intensity as my strength returns (lost about 20 pounds on most exercises my first day back). Starting back doing 1 straight set for the first A and B workouts, then right back into the 11-15 RP after that. Iā€™ve taken time off before and come back and hit it 100% and found that it can lead to the ā€œbadā€ kind of pain if you do it wrong, so Iā€™m just going to take one week to work the muscles back up to regular loading.

Cant wait to blast past my old numbers. You guys didnt tell me Iā€™d be chomping at the bit like this again to get stronger after a cruise!! Cant wait for it!

with everything being normal, coming off a cruise you should typically be starting with the weights that you were using about 3/4 of the way into your last blast.

It was a combination of 2 weeks with no gym access plus a crappy food situation, but I anticipate gaining the strength back rather quickly now that I have my food intake back where it needs to be and Iā€™m back in the gym again. In my previous cruise type situations that sounds about right where I would end up, and then in 1-2 weeks time Iā€™m usually right about where I left off. I dont plan on doing a cold-turkey no gym cruise again, but rather easing up on the poundages and not RPing, and maybe only doing one A-B throughout the week instead of an A-B-A type deal.
[/quote]

A cold-turkey no gym cruise huh? I donā€™t think Iā€™d be able to handle that. Iā€™m usually pretty much climbing the walls anticipating getting back in the gym after a cruise, and thatā€™s even with just taking it easy with the lifting during my cruises. I think I would go postal if I didnā€™t do at least some type of lifting during my cruise. :slight_smile:

[quote]
In theory, if done right, you could come back even stronger from a cruise, which is my goal next time.[/quote]

True, though Iā€™ve noticed that itā€™s somewhat bodypart specific for me anyways. Iā€™m almost always stronger in my back movements, usually stronger in my quad and hamstring movements, sometimes stronger in my chest, shoulder and triceps movements, and only occasionally stronger in my biceps, forearms and calf movements.

Some of this makes sense because for instance back is my best responder, but some doesnā€™t, as forearms are a pretty good responder as well. Oh well, I take what I can get and within a couple weeks Iā€™m setting new PRā€™s nontheless.

229

[quote]
It was a combination of 2 weeks with no gym access plus a crappy food situation, but I anticipate gaining the strength back rather quickly now that I have my food intake back where it needs to be and Iā€™m back in the gym again. In my previous cruise type situations that sounds about right where I would end up, and then in 1-2 weeks time Iā€™m usually right about where I left off. I dont plan on doing a cold-turkey no gym cruise again, but rather easing up on the poundages and not RPing, and maybe only doing one A-B throughout the week instead of an A-B-A type deal.

In theory, if done right, you could come back even stronger from a cruise, which is my goal next time.[/quote]

in theory this is true, but it depends what kinda cruise you take. a lot of people decide to take a cruise where they only do cardio or where they might not even go into the gym. i almost always just take about 5 days off then do some light stuff to get my body ā€œreacquiantedā€ with the gym again after the layoff.

normally my first a and B workouts will have lighter weights than before, but after that iā€™m normally good to go and start beating the numbers that i had from last blast (assuming all exercises are the same).

230

Yeah, I was a chaperon to some students in London for about 10 days, so it wasnt exactly a matter of ā€œWell, kids, you go run off into town, Iā€™m gonna hit the weights.ā€ Damn responsibility! Couple that with a set meal schedule that didnt include all you can eat buffets, and my cruise wasnt exactly optimal. Should be the only time that happens until I do a similar thing next year in August.

In the future I wont be going that long without lifting more than a fork to my mouth. I was dddyyyyiiinnnnggg to get back into the gym when I got home. In the future Iā€™ll probably do my cruises as follows:

-Cruise will last one week instead of two

-Cut down from M-W-F to just M-F.

-One A and one B workout, one straight set per exercise, 70-80% of my normal load, and possibly trying out new exercises to rotate in as I have to drop exercises in the future.

-Cardio as desired, Most likely on the days I dont weight train. I tend to put on chub very easily so I really need to keep on track with this.

231

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:of an A-B-A type deal.

Some of this makes sense because for instance back is my best responder, but some doesnā€™t, as forearms are a pretty good responder as well. Oh well, I take what I can get and within a couple weeks Iā€™m setting new PRā€™s nontheless.[/quote]

Exactly, this blast was only 6 weeks because of the London trip, This next one should be around 10-12 if everything goes right. If it takes me 2 mini-cycles to get back to where I was before (probably wont even take that long) then thats 4-5 increases in weight/reps in the next blast. Extend that out to a years time and we should be looking at some huge jumps in weights here, and thats really what its all about.

2 weeks does not a body builder make/break.

232

6 Plate T-Bar Row! :]

233

[quote]esk221 wrote:
6 Plate T-Bar Row! :][/quote]

awesome!!!

234

Yeah, I think this is my last go around. I think a cruise is in my near future, but Iā€™m really happy with the gains Iā€™ve made on this blast.

235

Another PR today on squats:

405 x 6, 315 x 20 (barely)

236

[quote]esk221 wrote:
Another PR today on squats:

405 x 6, 315 x 20 (barely)[/quote]

thatā€™s a huge widowmaker. great job.

237

Thatā€™s something for a widowmaker!

Keep increasing that load! Personally since I started a logbook Iā€™m far more motivated, and tune myself better for my lifts. My BW went up to 220 lbs at last, strength increased a lot, especially on my favourite lifts (deadlifts, squats, dips, OHpresses) and my bench is made a little jump, though thatā€™s always been my weakest point.

Few days ago tried a steady state 40 min fasted cycling-walking in the morning, not bad for apettiteā€¦

Just curious, usually my tris and chest and traps sore after every ā€œchestshouldertrilatā€ workout, sometimes I still feel something in my tris after 5 daysā€¦ moreover i found that for instance when doing some lat width or chest excersise I can get 8-9 reps first round, but after 15 deep breaths i can hardly knock 3-4 repsā€¦ I consider my endurance good as I did a lot of cardio back in the winter and springā€¦ seems like going to my limits demands more than I ever experienced from anythingā€¦

ƃĀ¶ĆƒĀ¶ĆƒĀ¶ Iā€™m not doing DC, I just incorporated some very useful principles of the system to my regular training routineā€¦ Thanks guys for this great thread! helped me a lot

238

[quote]esk221 wrote:
Another PR today on squats:

405 x 6, 315 x 20 (barely)[/quote]

Good job man, now make that 405 your widowmaker weight :slight_smile:

239

Ugh, I can only imagine. Walking up my stairs now is hellish enough!

240

Thatā€™s some big boy squatting man.