DC Training Thread (Part 2)

Training Bodybuilding
761

[quote]Davinci.v2 wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Davinci.v2 wrote:
Thanks for your response above CC. How do you all deal, psychologically with not being in the gym as often or lifting as intensely? As exhausted and shitty feeling as I’ve been, every morning I still look forward to hitting the gym and killing myself. It’s the high point of my day.

Well, I don’t know about everyone else (though I can take a guess in many cases), but personally I am lifting as intensely (if not even more intensely) than I ever did on a traditional body part split. So, that’s not really an issue.

As far as not being in the gym as often, I hear you on loving to train hard and be in the gym. But, as hard as I’m working, I actually wouldn’t want to hit the gym more than I do. I feel like I got run over by a truck the next day in many cases (and not just one or two body parts, but like half my body), and actually think to myself “thank God I don’t have to hit the gym again today.”

Also, the rapid strength progression and noticeable physique changes overpower the semi obsessive compulsive desire to want to hit the gym every single day (and that’s not meant as a diss to anyone, I fully admit that I am addicted to working out and honestly am not ashamed of it and assume that I’m not the only one here who is). Results are what I’m ultimately after, and I’m getting them on this program, so that’s really all that matters to me personally.

You can however still do fasted cardio (or even just regular cardio) at the gym on your off days though, and if you feel up to it, you could do a “core” day like Kylec suggested on one of your off days. I would also agree with dropshot that you shouldn’t do it the day before you do a core intensive lift (like front squats for example, or military press) though.

I was actually referring to “cruising”. Not training in general.
[/quote]

Well then, you can still hit the gym during your cruises. C_C has posted several options about things you can try in both this and other threads.

Essentially though, as long as you avoid training to failure and going nuts on the volume, then you’re pretty much okay. Different people have different protocols that they like to follow during cruises, and even then it probably changes from cruise to cruise.

Remember that by the time you cruise, you should be feeling like you need a break (walking around like a zombie outside of the gym, loss of motivation to train hard, possible aches in joints, trouble sleeping but always tired, hitting walls in terms of strength gains or even a loss of strength on multiple exercises at once, etc…basically all the classical symptoms of overreaching) and the time off from the balls to the wall intensity should be a welcome thing.

That’s why we try to get people not to train for some arbitrary number of week, but instead until their body tells them that it’s time to take the foot off the gas so to speak and allow the accumulated fatigue to dissipate. That’s also one of the reasons that DC is not for beginners, as they likely don’t know their bodies well enough to know when it’s telling them to back off, and therefore might wind up pushing things too far or possibly hurting themselves.

762

[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
Mateus wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Well, I don’t know about everyone else (though I can take a guess in many cases), but personally I am lifting as intensely (if not even more intensely) than I ever did on a traditional body part split. So, that’s not really an issue.

As far as not being in the gym as often, I hear you on loving to train hard and be in the gym. But, as hard as I’m working, I actually wouldn’t want to hit the gym more than I do. I feel like I got run over by a truck the next day in many cases (and not just one or two body parts, but like half my body), and actually think to myself “thank God I don’t have to hit the gym again today.”

Ditto! I have never been this sore. I know that there is an option of doing a 4 day split for DC but there is no way in hell I could lift another day. I did a 5 day split for years and never felt this sore or had this much intensity in my lifts. I love it. I haven’t hit the first cruise yet so I can’t comment on that but I know it will be hard to not lift like I have been. I still have intensity problems with failure on the leg exercises (mainly squats and SLDL) because of the last bout with exertion headache. Paranoia sets in. I think the hardest part is the protein, 450 grams. Sento and CC and crew, keep the knowledge flowing…I appreciate it.

the 4 day split does offer decreased frequency of hitting the muscles though which might help those who have gotten their weights so heavy that they just cannot recover with the 2 way split[/quote]

I assume he’s talking about the “3 way split” as well (and if that’s true then what dropshot says above is right on), but it’s possible he might be talking about one of the old 2 way versions that Dante used to use on genetic freaks who had insane recovery abilities. From what Scott has told me though, that version isn’t used anymore period, even with freaks.

763

sento’s right, when i said 4 day split i mean the 3 way in that it was done 4 days a week.

764

bump

Finished first week of DC training and am really enjoying it. It’s been a long time since I’ve puked during training, and I’m sore as all hell. I think the most painful part, however, could be the stretches.

This is so very different from anything I’ve ever done before, I’m really hoping for some solid progress.

765

what do all you dc guys think about doing rp on like certain bodyparts even if not doing dc?

766

[quote]crod266 wrote:
what do all you dc guys think about doing rp on like certain bodyparts even if not doing dc?[/quote]

could work to maybe bring up something that is lagging. i’ve never tried it personally. just don’t do a rp set and tell everyone it is dc training.

what did you have in mind for doing an rp set on in terms of body part or exercise? and how would you work with the progression aspect of it

767

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Davinci.v2 wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
Davinci.v2 wrote:
Thanks for your response above CC. How do you all deal, psychologically with not being in the gym as often or lifting as intensely? As exhausted and shitty feeling as I’ve been, every morning I still look forward to hitting the gym and killing myself. It’s the high point of my day.

Well, I don’t know about everyone else (though I can take a guess in many cases), but personally I am lifting as intensely (if not even more intensely) than I ever did on a traditional body part split. So, that’s not really an issue.

As far as not being in the gym as often, I hear you on loving to train hard and be in the gym. But, as hard as I’m working, I actually wouldn’t want to hit the gym more than I do. I feel like I got run over by a truck the next day in many cases (and not just one or two body parts, but like half my body), and actually think to myself “thank God I don’t have to hit the gym again today.”

Also, the rapid strength progression and noticeable physique changes overpower the semi obsessive compulsive desire to want to hit the gym every single day (and that’s not meant as a diss to anyone, I fully admit that I am addicted to working out and honestly am not ashamed of it and assume that I’m not the only one here who is). Results are what I’m ultimately after, and I’m getting them on this program, so that’s really all that matters to me personally.

You can however still do fasted cardio (or even just regular cardio) at the gym on your off days though, and if you feel up to it, you could do a “core” day like Kylec suggested on one of your off days. I would also agree with dropshot that you shouldn’t do it the day before you do a core intensive lift (like front squats for example, or military press) though.

I was actually referring to “cruising”. Not training in general.

Well then, you can still hit the gym during your cruises. C_C has posted several options about things you can try in both this and other threads.

Essentially though, as long as you avoid training to failure and going nuts on the volume, then you’re pretty much okay. Different people have different protocols that they like to follow during cruises, and even then it probably changes from cruise to cruise.

Remember that by the time you cruise, you should be feeling like you need a break (walking around like a zombie outside of the gym, loss of motivation to train hard, possible aches in joints, trouble sleeping but always tired, hitting walls in terms of strength gains or even a loss of strength on multiple exercises at once, etc…basically all the classical symptoms of overreaching) and the time off from the balls to the wall intensity should be a welcome thing.

That’s why we try to get people not to train for some arbitrary number of week, but instead until their body tells them that it’s time to take the foot off the gas so to speak and allow the accumulated fatigue to dissipate. That’s also one of the reasons that DC is not for beginners, as they likely don’t know their bodies well enough to know when it’s telling them to back off, and therefore might wind up pushing things too far or possibly hurting themselves.[/quote]

Yeah, thanks for your response. Like I said to CC, I have been training DC since February and just recently started to crash. Toward the last 1/4 of my sessions I nose dive and feel like a complete zombie outside of the gym like you described with many of my lifts taking a step backward and most of them stalling. My mind has always been more motivated than my physiology allows me to be though, which is why even feeling this way, I almost feel guilty not crushing myself in the gym. Like you said though, I do know my body well and it is asking for a break.

768

Davinci,

What have your results been like since February?

769

[quote]Professor Chaos wrote:
Davinci,

What have your results been like since February?

[/quote]

Best results thus far in my lifting “career”. Today was to be my last day on this blast and I was going to start my cruise after it’s completion. I got myself hyped and amped up right before my workout and my first set. Went to start and it’s just like I have no more battery life. That’s the best way I can describe it. My body’s lost it’s explosiveness and power no matter how angry I get myself. After one set like that, I was already sick to my stomach, dizzy and wanted to lay down. I forced myself to finish but it just solidified my need to cruise for a bit.

770

[quote]Davinci.v2 wrote:
Professor Chaos wrote:
Davinci,

What have your results been like since February?

Best results thus far in my lifting “career”. Today was to be my last day on this blast and I was going to start my cruise after it’s completion. I got myself hyped and amped up right before my workout and my first set. Went to start and it’s just like I have no more battery life. That’s the best way I can describe it. My body’s lost it’s explosiveness and power no matter how angry I get myself. After one set like that, I was already sick to my stomach, dizzy and wanted to lay down. I forced myself to finish but it just solidified my need to cruise for a bit.[/quote]

The reason for why you can’t get into the zone anymore/be explosive etc is that your Nervous System is saying “go fuck yourself, I’m staying in bed today, and for the rest of the year” :wink:

Start that cruise asap, 2 weeks… You might want to take the first week off entirely, too, since you’ve been blasting for so long.
Second week do 2-3 sessions but no RP, no failure etc, and perhaps go a tad lighter than your top weights from the previous blast. Then when you start your next blast, still go a tad lighter than your previous bests, and work back up and past your PR’s from there.

771

CC, when doing the straight sets on legs (squats, presses, sumo, etc) should you still be focusing on the slow negatives or is it just business as usual? Also when doing the WM should I be doing a weight that is almost impossible to finish rep 20 or should it be enough weight to do nice, steady controlled reps w/o failure? For instance, today I did a leg press WM and had to take a 5 sec rest around rep 16 then blasted out the last 4.

As far as the other straight sets go, the 10-12 rep ranges should be failure points with the correct weight right?

Is it OK to change an exercise during a blast if you feel that it is not doing you any good. There is no issue with failure just don’t feel the sumo presses are hitting the hams/glutes the way that they should.

772

[quote]Mateus wrote:
CC, when doing the straight sets on legs (squats, presses, sumo, etc) should you still be focusing on the slow negatives or is it just business as usual? Also when doing the WM should I be doing a weight that is almost impossible to finish rep 20 or should it be enough weight to do nice, steady controlled reps w/o failure? For instance, today I did a leg press WM and had to take a 5 sec rest around rep 16 then blasted out the last 4.

As far as the other straight sets go, the 10-12 rep ranges should be failure points with the correct weight right? [/quote] those 5-8, 9-12 rep straight set exercises… You try to hit the rep range, if you’re far below the range, go a little lighter next time… Otherwise, try to progress on both sets each time you do the exercise. Should not be a problem.

So if you got

-Rack Pulls with scap retraction after each lockout
685x7, 555x12
or so this time, then 2 weeks later, things might go:
595x8, 565x11 or so, many can go up 20 lbs even (no set rule for how much weight you add and if you add the same for both sets or not)

[quote]

Is it OK to change an exercise during a blast if you feel that it is not doing you any good. There is no issue with failure just don’t feel the sumo presses are hitting the hams/glutes the way that they should.[/quote]

All negatives are done in a controlled (doesn’t have to be “slow”) fashion.
Slow negatives are done by advanced guys at times after the third RP leg of an exercise, same as static holds and so on, don’t bother with those yet.

If your sumo presses don’t hit the hams, put your feet really high on the pad, don’t let your low-back round under any circumstances, push through your heels and lower the weight so that you can do 15 or so reps…
And if they still don’t do anything, well, ditch them.

773

An experience:

I know I’m going against one of DC’s rules here, but hear me out. Occasionally I hit a plateau in a particular exercise, and though I’m aware that stalling for more than 2 sessions is grounds to replace the exercise with another, I don’t always do that.

Just today I was doing Dumbbell Presses with the same weight I’d been using for the past 3 sessions. I made no progress in weight or reps on those 3 frustrating sessions (I even regressed in reps on the second session), but I pressed on because I’m running out of exercise selections (I train at home with mostly free weights). The thing is, today I blasted past my 3 previous logbook entries for DB Presses with 2 more reps in the first set, and 1 more rep in the 2nd RP set! I’ll be adding weight at the next DB Press session!

Has anyone experienced this? Are there variables we can’t control that may give an inaccurate performance at a particular session? Perhaps staying the course on a particular exercise until we “own” that weight is a new avenue. Or am I missing something and bastardizing the core of DC?

774

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
An experience:

I know I’m going against one of DC’s rules here, but hear me out. Occasionally I hit a plateau in a particular exercise, and though I’m aware that stalling for more than 2 sessions is grounds to replace the exercise with another, I don’t always do that.

Just today I was doing Dumbbell Presses with the same weight I’d been using for the past 3 sessions. I made no progress in weight or reps on those 3 frustrating sessions (I even regressed in reps on the second session), but I pressed on because I’m running out of exercise selections (I train at home with mostly free weights). The thing is, today I blasted past my 3 previous logbook entries for DB Presses with 2 more reps in the first set, and 1 more rep in the 2nd RP set! I’ll be adding weight at the next DB Press session!

Has anyone experienced this? Are there variables we can’t control that may give an inaccurate performance at a particular session? Perhaps staying the course on a particular exercise until we “own” that weight is a new avenue. Or am I missing something and bastardizing the core of DC?[/quote]

are you working with an 11-15rp on your db moves or are you in the 20-30rp. if you are the first, bump the rep range and see if that helps. i have a feeling that you are having a problem kicking them up or getting them started. you will have bad workouts, everyone does. when this happens, take a mulligan and do it over the next time.

775

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
An experience:

I know I’m going against one of DC’s rules here, but hear me out. Occasionally I hit a plateau in a particular exercise, and though I’m aware that stalling for more than 2 sessions is grounds to replace the exercise with another, I don’t always do that.

Just today I was doing Dumbbell Presses with the same weight I’d been using for the past 3 sessions. I made no progress in weight or reps on those 3 frustrating sessions (I even regressed in reps on the second session), but I pressed on because I’m running out of exercise selections (I train at home with mostly free weights). The thing is, today I blasted past my 3 previous logbook entries for DB Presses with 2 more reps in the first set, and 1 more rep in the 2nd RP set! I’ll be adding weight at the next DB Press session!

Has anyone experienced this? Are there variables we can’t control that may give an inaccurate performance at a particular session? Perhaps staying the course on a particular exercise until we “own” that weight is a new avenue. Or am I missing something and bastardizing the core of DC?[/quote]

Sometimes you just have a bad day for whatever reasons… But I usually don’t give an exercise more than one extra chance.

The system was made with fastest (safe) possible progression (and gym access) in mind, so you theoretically wasted 6 weeks not progressing on DB presses. Hence the minimum “requirement” of getting either + 2 reps (+1 would be ok-ish for a routine that worked in 1-week cycles, but DC 2-way works in 2-week cycles…) and/or a weight increase.

Depends on what you want to achieve and how fast you want to get there, I guess. If going from heavy to super-heavy within half a year is your goal, then 6 weeks of no progress on an exercise are definitely not good, just to give an example.

Let’s hope you’ll make progress again next time and that this was just a “difficult” period of time.

776

What is a pinwheel curl?

What is a DC curl?

Never heard of these two.

777

[quote]Professor Chaos wrote:
What is a pinwheel curl? [/quote] Neutral grip alt. curls to the opposite side of the body, sort of.

Forearm/brachialis exercise, usually done with straps.[quote]

What is a DC curl?
[/quote] Huh, you got me on that one. Dante has described several curl variants over the years… No idea which one “DC curl” refers to. [quote]
Never heard of these two. [/quote]

778

bump

779

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Professor Chaos wrote:
What is a pinwheel curl? Neutral grip alt. curls to the opposite side of the body, sort of.

Forearm/brachialis exercise, usually done with straps.

What is a DC curl?
Huh, you got me on that one. Dante has described several curl variants over the years… No idea which one “DC curl” refers to.
Never heard of these two.
[/quote]

I saw DC Curl referenced in an interview of Dante… they also called it a drag curl.

CC, I was also curious why folks here typically use SS’s for forearm work. Any problem with RP’ing those as well?

780

[quote]Professor Chaos wrote:
Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Professor Chaos wrote:
What is a pinwheel curl? Neutral grip alt. curls to the opposite side of the body, sort of.

Forearm/brachialis exercise, usually done with straps.

What is a DC curl?
Huh, you got me on that one. Dante has described several curl variants over the years… No idea which one “DC curl” refers to.
Never heard of these two.

I saw DC Curl referenced in an interview of Dante… they also called it a drag curl.

CC, I was also curious why folks here typically use SS’s for forearm work. Any problem with RP’ing those as well?[/quote]

We usually do some heavy curl variant for the forearms that also works the arm flexors, not just the wrist flexors/extensors. (i.e. pinwheels, reverse curl variants, hammers, you get the idea).

Consider that every major muscle group gets one exercise for each session it is trained in.
Now, biceps get a bit of work from back training, depending on the trainees technique and exercise selection.
They also get hammered with a direct exercise.
If you now add RP’ed pinwheel curls right after RP’ed alt. offset curls… Can end up with strength loss over time etc. Some do it anyway, but you really don’t need 2 RP exercises for the same muscle-group on that frequency.