DC Training Thread (Part 2)

Training Bodybuilding
641

[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
Anonymas wrote:
Hey guys, I am just starting DC and have a question about the widowmaker. Theres no much info on it around the website, all it says is 20reps but I get the impression its not with your 20RM.

So what kind of weight do you use for your WM, is it more like a 10RM and you just rest as long as you need to to get to 20 reps?

Also I watched some vids of WMs but the seemed to be going quite fast on the negative, maybe they were doin it wrong, but I assumed the WM also had a controlled negative?

p.s. this makes me think of another question, in the main RP sets, how long is an acceptable rest between reps within a miniset, so eg is it ok to take 2 breaths if you think you can squeeze out another rep on the first miniset, or should you just go continuously to failure?

youā€™re right about it being about your 10rm. donā€™t get too scientific about it, just choose a weight you feel you can do 10 with AFTER you do your heavy set and then progress with it. the wm has a controlled negative, but each person has his or her own definition of controlled, some may feel as though they are controlling the weight even though they are descending faster than you personally would.

for the main rp set, you should just go to failure each tmie instead of taking small breaths and then going again. of course, if you take these breaths when you are locked out or something it is cool, but donā€™t rack, take a few breaths, unrack, do one or two more and then do the actually rest of the rest pause set.

thatā€™s a good way to mess yourself up in terms of tracking your reps each workout. progress wise this might become detrimental.[/quote]

Thanks dude, I think Ill choose a weight I can say do 12 reps with and then see how many I can push out, hopefully around 25, just to give me a feel for it

I got a bit confused about the last part. So are you advising that its ok as long as I dont rack the weight? what i usually do on sets at the moment (non DC) is do as many continuously as I can, say 8, and then take a breath or two and grind a few more out like that, say 2, but I note it in my log book that I took breaths on them, so 8+2.

But I figure this kind of logging wont work with RPS so should I just stop at 8, or do as normal and call it 10?

642

for me, once the weight touches the rack or i put it down, iā€™m done with the set and move onto the next set. the one exception is with deads where i may wait a few seconds between pulls.

643

[quote]Anonymas wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
Anonymas wrote:
Hey guys, I am just starting DC and have a question about the widowmaker. Theres no much info on it around the website, all it says is 20reps but I get the impression its not with your 20RM.

So what kind of weight do you use for your WM, is it more like a 10RM and you just rest as long as you need to to get to 20 reps?

Also I watched some vids of WMs but the seemed to be going quite fast on the negative, maybe they were doin it wrong, but I assumed the WM also had a controlled negative?

p.s. this makes me think of another question, in the main RP sets, how long is an acceptable rest between reps within a miniset, so eg is it ok to take 2 breaths if you think you can squeeze out another rep on the first miniset, or should you just go continuously to failure?

youā€™re right about it being about your 10rm. donā€™t get too scientific about it, just choose a weight you feel you can do 10 with AFTER you do your heavy set and then progress with it. the wm has a controlled negative, but each person has his or her own definition of controlled, some may feel as though they are controlling the weight even though they are descending faster than you personally would.

for the main rp set, you should just go to failure each tmie instead of taking small breaths and then going again. of course, if you take these breaths when you are locked out or something it is cool, but donā€™t rack, take a few breaths, unrack, do one or two more and then do the actually rest of the rest pause set.

thatā€™s a good way to mess yourself up in terms of tracking your reps each workout. progress wise this might become detrimental.

Thanks dude, I think Ill choose a weight I can say do 12 reps with and then see how many I can push out, hopefully around 25, just to give me a feel for it

I got a bit confused about the last part. So are you advising that its ok as long as I dont rack the weight? what i usually do on sets at the moment (non DC) is do as many continuously as I can, say 8, and then take a breath or two and grind a few more out like that, say 2, but I note it in my log book that I took breaths on them, so 8+2.

But I figure this kind of logging wont work with RPS so should I just stop at 8, or do as normal and call it 10?
[/quote]

Itā€™s somewhat a matter of preference and dependent on the exercise. If youā€™re doing deads off the floor (or rack) allowing the bar to completely deload between reps, then youā€™re always pretty much doing little mini pauses during your set.

Donā€™t over think this stuff. TBH, Iā€™d suggest starting out by just doing as many consecutive reps as you can and seeing how you do recovering from that. Adding in those slight pauses and extra reps is going to add to the recovery demands and could potentially hinder recovery/progression. So, better to start out without them, then add them in later if you are recovering well and want to try them. Same thing with things like static holds.

644

Thanks Sentoguy, Ill just start out simple and see how it goes.

I did my first widowmaker today, I went a bit light with it at first, was about my 14RM and I got to 18 but my lower back just gave up (I was back squatting) as I just couldnt give it any rest during the set as I squat low bar. I think Ill just have to use the leg press for the WM in future

645

[quote]Anonymas wrote:
Thanks Sentoguy, Ill just start out simple and see how it goes.

I did my first widowmaker today, I went a bit light with it at first, was about my 14RM and I got to 18 but my lower back just gave up (I was back squatting) as I just couldnt give it any rest during the set as I squat low bar. I think Ill just have to use the leg press for the WM in future[/quote]

Does high bar bother you in some way, or are you squatting low bar for a specific reason? I ask because generally low bar is more of a posterior chain (glutes and Hamstrings) exercise than a quad exercise (which Iā€™m hoping is what youā€™re doing widowmakers for). It also mandates that you have more of a forward angle on your spine while squatting (which could explain why your lower back gave out before your lower body) than high bar squats, which allow you to stay more upright.

If youā€™re doing low bar for a specific reason and donā€™t want to/canā€™t switch, then yeah, Iā€™d use some sort of hack squat/v-squat/or leg press machine for the widows. If you donā€™t have a good reason, might want to give high bar a try, as they tend to work better for widows in my experience (or at least cause less lower back strain).

The fact that you failed at rep 18 with a 14RM means that either:

  • you severely pussed out (giving you the benefit of the doubt and hoping that this isnā€™t the case)
  • you drastically overestimated your 14RM
    or
  • you were using form which placed an unnecessary amount of strain on your lower back

Iā€™m gonna guess that it was #3 in this case.

646

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Anonymas wrote:
Thanks Sentoguy, Ill just start out simple and see how it goes.

I did my first widowmaker today, I went a bit light with it at first, was about my 14RM and I got to 18 but my lower back just gave up (I was back squatting) as I just couldnt give it any rest during the set as I squat low bar. I think Ill just have to use the leg press for the WM in future

Does high bar bother you in some way, or are you squatting low bar for a specific reason? I ask because generally low bar is more of a posterior chain (glutes and Hamstrings) exercise than a quad exercise (which Iā€™m hoping is what youā€™re doing widowmakers for). It also mandates that you have more of a forward angle on your spine while squatting (which could explain why your lower back gave out before your lower body) than high bar squats, which allow you to stay more upright.

If youā€™re doing low bar for a specific reason and donā€™t want to/canā€™t switch, then yeah, Iā€™d use some sort of hack squat/v-squat/or leg press machine for the widows. If you donā€™t have a good reason, might want to give high bar a try, as they tend to work better for widows in my experience (or at least cause less lower back strain).

The fact that you failed at rep 18 with a 14RM means that either:

  • you severely pussed out (giving you the benefit of the doubt and hoping that this isnā€™t the case)
  • you drastically overestimated your 14RM
    or
  • you were using form which placed an unnecessary amount of strain on your lower back

Iā€™m gonna guess that it was #3 in this case.
[/quote]

Ye it was defo #3, Im not the most hardcore masochist (yet) but I definiately had more in my quads, they were just starting to really scream but my lower back had had enough

I do low bar just because high bar canes my traps too much, and I end up quitting because of that rather than legs tiring. Maybe Ill have to give it another go and try to power through it

647

What do you mean your low back ā€œgave outā€ , you physically fell to the safety pins? Or it was just tiring out your low back? The back squat WM is a true test of brute strenth/force/and will power for everyone, and one of the reasons is because its so taxing to every part of the body.

My lower back is usually very fatigued by the end of the setā€¦ by rep 18 Iā€™m usually thinking ā€œI need to get this shit off my back, NOW!ā€ which is part of the motivation to finish, for me at least.

648

My back didnt actually fail, but I was just folding so much in the squat because I just couldnt transfer the power through, my back was just too fatigued

649

[quote]Anonymas wrote:
My back didnt actually fail, but I was just folding so much in the squat because I just couldnt transfer the power through, my back was just too fatigued[/quote]

Hmmmmā€¦ Video would help.

650

ill just get in my delorean and video it :stuck_out_tongue:

I think Ill just try high bar next time and see how it goes

651

bump

652

bump, 'cause productive threads like this, C_Cā€™s thread, and BOI should always be on the first page of this forum.

653

I am using 15 deeps breaths and getting my rest pause reps like this 14,3,2. Is this okay? I read you should get half the reps of your first rest pause set and half of that for your 3rd set.

654

[quote]acncampo wrote:
I am using 15 deeps breaths and getting my rest pause reps like this 14,3,2. Is this okay? I read you should get half the reps of your first rest pause set and half of that for your 3rd set.

[/quote]

something seems not right with that. is that a db exercise, machine, bb, etc?

655

Two issues:

  1. With Barbell Pressing Exercises, Iā€™m getting hardly anything on my paused sets. For instance today on Decline Bench Press I got 8 then 2 then 1. Then I overestimated the weight for 3-board press and got 6 and 1 and nothingā€¦

  2. Last workout when I did the tricep stretch, my right shoulder suddenly popped into different position. It kind of feels bum sometimes but it doesnā€™t prevent me from lifting heavy.

656

are you starting your blasts in the top of the rep range? how long have you been doing dc as well? it takes some time to develop into an effective dcā€™er in terms of knowing how to go to absolute failure and hten be able to come back for the next rp set.

657

Blade, for #1 try starting at a higher rep range and then slowly work down. something like 13 + 5 + 3

658

Hey fellas, quick question. And, sorry if this has been covered already. Iā€™m just finishing up my first blast and have had a nice increase in strength. Upon beginning my next blast, do I pick up from the current weights I ended at or start again at a little lighter weight? Of course, it probably depends on me, but is there a ā€œnorm.ā€

Thanks.

-Nick

659

[quote]UtahIron wrote:
Hey fellas, quick question. And, sorry if this has been covered already. Iā€™m just finishing up my first blast and have had a nice increase in strength. Upon beginning my next blast, do I pick up from the current weights I ended at or start again at a little lighter weight? Of course, it probably depends on me, but is there a ā€œnorm.ā€

Thanks.

-Nick[/quote]

lighter weight, maybe the weights you were using about 3/4 of the way through the blast. of course, if you feel good in warmups, you might go a little heavier than the set weights you gave yourself.

660

[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Two issues:

  1. With Barbell Pressing Exercises, Iā€™m getting hardly anything on my paused sets. For instance today on Decline Bench Press I got 8 then 2 then 1. Then I overestimated the weight for 3-board press and got 6 and 1 and nothingā€¦ [/quote] Rather start light than too heavy. You want to ride the rep-range down over timeā€¦
    Give me some details here. Which exercises for example? Did you rack the weight between RP legs/mini-sets as you should(just mentioning this because some seem to forget about it), and possibly consider 20 deep breaths rather than 15.
    Also, does this happen even if the exercise is the first in the session (i.e. chest work), or only sub-sequent work? [quote]

  2. Last workout when I did the tricep stretch, my right shoulder suddenly popped into different position. It kind of feels bum sometimes but it doesnā€™t prevent me from lifting heavy.[/quote]
    Hm. Use an alternative stretch if you want, the drip-stretch for example, or perhaps try doing something like Dead Stop Extensions, but off the bench and just lower the weight into a stretch behind the head. Donā€™t let it rest on the bench, obviously, but position yourself so that the bench wonā€™t be in the way.
    A PJR stretch with an EZ bar is probably a better description for this.