Standing Alternating Dumbbell Curls and used to be Preacher Curls but dropping them also in favor of Spider Curls
one arm preachers might be a good change of pace for you. i plan on going to one arm preachers on a machine when i stall on regular preachers. how about seated alt db curls? drag curls are also a good thing. i have found that my biceps respond better to exercises that really emphasize the āstretchā like with preachers. cable preachers are also good.
sorry for the stream of consciousness post.
[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
dday wrote:
Random DC thoughts, never really took much stock in āover trainingā until I started doing DC training. In all my years of training Iāve never had a single symptom of over training but since adopting DC the symptoms are mounting. As of late Iām tired but canāt sleep, my thoughts are foggy, lift numbers are going down and my interest in going to the gym is about zero.
This would be week 9 of my second blast with good results, 10lbs gained through 16 weeks of training (taking it slow)and a world of knowledge about how to really push yourself. I was originally planning a 12 week blast but calling off the dogs after only 8. The plan for my cruise is one week off, next week come back easy the following week full tilt.
bump
Iād go with 2 week cruises (1 week usually just results in my next blast ending prematurely), you can take a week off and then resume training without RP, failure etc, then resume blasting the third weekā¦
[/quote]
Thanks CC, Iām going to listen this time, last cruise I jumped the gun and came back full bore after just one week off, I believe thatās part of the reason I had to cut this blast short. Live and learn.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Weighed in at 185 today. So really up 8 lbs. Shooting for 190 by Dec 20
Incline Curls stalled today. Replace with Drag Curls?
[/quote]
Have you stalled on two consecutive attempts with incline curls? Having one bad day for an exercise does not always necessarily mean you need to swap it out for a new exercise. Something to keep in mind.
Also, I personally like ez drag curls (dc style ā standard positive curl while dragging the bar along your body on the negative). For myself I find it to be a good rule of thumb to pair the 3 exercises with a similar alternative. Hereās a hypothetical exampleā¦
bb curls ā ez drag curls
db incline curls ā db preacher curls
db standing alt. curls ā 1-arm cable curls
That way if I want two unilateral bicep movements in my rotation there wonāt be any divergence. The same goes for other body parts as wellā¦ for triceps I want two pressing movements (cg, swrgp, floor presses, et al) and one extension (harris-ext, pjrs, dead-stop ext, et al). If I stall on one of the pressing movements for triceps, I wonāt replace it with another extension exercise b/c that will only leave me with one pressing movement. In my opinion, there should be some thought put into exercise selection with particular consideration of oneās weaknesses rather than picking and choosing exercises at random.
I really donāt know if this is recommended or not in the DC protocol, but it works well for me and keeps my routine organized and consistent.
[quote]kylec72 wrote:
TheBlade wrote:
Weighed in at 185 today. So really up 8 lbs. Shooting for 190 by Dec 20
Incline Curls stalled today. Replace with Drag Curls?
Have you stalled on two consecutive attempts with incline curls? Having one bad day for an exercise does not always necessarily mean you need to swap it out for a new exercise. Something to keep in mind.
Also, I personally like ez drag curls (dc style ā standard positive curl while dragging the bar along your body on the negative). For myself I find it to be a good rule of thumb to pair the 3 exercises with a similar alternative. Hereās a hypothetical exampleā¦
bb curls ā ez drag curls
db incline curls ā db preacher curls
db standing alt. curls ā 1-arm cable curls
That way if I want two unilateral bicep movements in my rotation there wonāt be any divergence. The same goes for other body parts as wellā¦ for triceps I want two pressing movements (cg, swrgp, floor presses, et al) and one extension (harris-ext, pjrs, dead-stop ext, et al). If I stall on one of the pressing movements for triceps, I wonāt replace it with another extension exercise b/c that will only leave me with one pressing movement. In my opinion, there should be some thought put into exercise selection with particular consideration of oneās weaknesses rather than picking and choosing exercises at random.
I really donāt know if this is recommended or not in the DC protocol, but it works well for me and keeps my routine organized and consistent. [/quote]
Good advice, and something that I do as well.
Some other good biceps movements include:
-seated EZ bar curls (allow you to use a lot of weight while keeping pretty strict form)
-Bent over wide grip cable curls (basically the exercise that Wojo demos in the āextrasā section of the DC DVD, canāt remember the exact name he gave them atm)
-standing cable curls
-HS curl machine (not sure if mentioned yet)
Starting a new blast after a second week of cruising to let my body heal (especially the elbows). My last blast failed but it was my own fault. I started it just as I was beginning my grad school and I tend to freak out about new situations. Life stress was at an all time high and I just sort of jumped into it without any pre-blast recovery. I also started out with way too heavy of weights. After reading a lot of DHās stuff I feel I wonāt screw it up this time. My life has settled down now and I have a solid schedule. I also find that after training DC previously I feel like a pussy if I ever try something else. I always want to RP everything which leads to just too much volume unless I stick with DC.
Feel free to critique. Thanks guys.
A1
Standing EZ bar curl: 11-20RP
Hammer curls: 11-20ss
Seated Calf Raise: 10-12
Lying Leg curl: 15-25RP
Back Squat: 6-10, widow
B1
Incline BB: 11-15RP
SHIPS: 11-20RP
Dips: 15-20RP
Rack Chins: 11-20RP
1 arm T bar rows: 5-8, 9-12
A2
Seated Alt DB Curl: 20-30RP
1 arm reverse cable curl: 11-20 ss
Leg Press Calf Raise: 10-12
GHR: 15-25RP
Front Squat: 4-8, Smith front squat widow
B2
Vertical Machine Press: 11-15RP
Standing Military RP: 11-20RP
Smith RGBP: 11-20RP
Chins: 15-25RP, wanted to focus on a little more biceps here, I think I can progress well on them
Deadlift: 6-9, 10-15. I might just try one 6-10 set as I usually feel like death after these
A3
Machine Preacher Curl: 11-20RP
Pinwheels: 11-20ss
Donkey Calf Raise: 10-12ss
Leg Press: 6-10, widow
SLDL: DC method of sets of 6 with no rest
B3
Incline Smith: 11-15RP
Seated Machine shoulder press: 11-20RP
Close grip bench: 11-20RP
Wide Grip Pulldowns: 15-25RP
Machine Row: 15-25RP
[quote]ajweins wrote:
Starting a new blast after a second week of cruising to let my body heal (especially the elbows). My last blast failed but it was my own fault. I started it just as I was beginning my grad school and I tend to freak out about new situations. Life stress was at an all time high and I just sort of jumped into it without any pre-blast recovery. I also started out with way too heavy of weights.
After reading a lot of DHās stuff I feel I wonāt screw it up this time. My life has settled down now and I have a solid schedule. I also find that after training DC previously I feel like a pussy if I ever try something else. I always want to RP everything which leads to just too much volume unless I stick with DC.
Feel free to critique. Thanks guys.
A1
Standing EZ bar curl: 11-20RP
Hammer curls: 11-20ss
Seated Calf Raise: 10-12
Lying Leg curl: 15-25RP
Back Squat: 6-10, widow
B1
Incline BB: 11-15RP
SHIPS: 11-20RP
Dips: 15-20RP
Rack Chins: 11-20RP
1 arm T bar rows: 5-8, 9-12
A2
Seated Alt DB Curl: 20-30RP
1 arm reverse cable curl: 11-20 ss
Leg Press Calf Raise: 10-12
GHR: 15-25RP
Front Squat: 4-8, Smith front squat widow - LEG PRESS WIDOW, NOT FRONT SQUAT WIDOWS, THE FRONT SQUAT WIDOW WILL KILL THE SHOULDERS OR SLOWLY CHOKE YOU OUT AND YOU WONāT BE ABLE TO BE EFFECTIVE WITH IT
B2
Vertical Machine Press: 11-15RP
Standing Military RP: 11-20RP
Smith RGBP: 11-20RP
Chins: 15-25RP, wanted to focus on a little more biceps here, I think I can progress well on them - JUST DONāT LET BICEPS TAKE OVER THE MOVEMENT
Deadlift: 6-9, 10-15. I might just try one 6-10 set as I usually feel like death after these
A3
Machine Preacher Curl: 11-20RP
Pinwheels: 11-20ss
Donkey Calf Raise: 10-12ss
Leg Press: 6-10, widow
SLDL: DC method of sets of 6 with no rest - HAVING THIS THE WORKOUT AFTER DEADLIFTS, I DONāT KNOW HOW WELL YOUR LOWER BACK WILL LIKE IT, IF AT ALL. MIGHT WANT TO SWITCH IT TO ANOTHER WORKOUT
B3
Incline Smith: 11-15RP
Seated Machine shoulder press: 11-20RP
Close grip bench: 11-20RP
Wide Grip Pulldowns: 15-25RP
Machine Row: 15-25RP - 11-15RP
[/quote]
in caps above. looks pretty good. the main comment is swapping out the sldl away from deadlifts.
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
in caps above. looks pretty good. the main comment is swapping out the sldl away from deadlifts. [/quote]
So I should do two leg press widows? I did not know that was legal. And I am not sure where else to put SLDLs, because I wanted to keep my deadlifts as far away from backsquats as possible. Maybe I will move my leg press and SLDL day to A2, and move the front squats to A3
[quote]ajweins wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
in caps above. looks pretty good. the main comment is swapping out the sldl away from deadlifts.
So I should do two leg press widows? I did not know that was legal. And I am not sure where else to put SLDLs, because I wanted to keep my deadlifts as far away from backsquats as possible. Maybe I will move my leg press and SLDL day to A2, and move the front squats to A3[/quote]
sometimes, certain things donāt work together. i do my squats and sldl on the same day though. and two leg press widows are fine, work on two different rep ranges, like a 20 rep widowmaker and maybe a 30 rep widowmaker. also, you can do the widows on two separate machines so it will be as though each exercise is different even though you are technically doing a leg press on both days.
Good point about categories of exercise. But how would you be able to tell from the get-go whether you need 2 and 1 press and extension or vice versa and 2 and 1 or vice versa on dumbbell vs. barbell bicep exerises?
You do floor presses RP? What rep range?
with all the new exercises, my blast looks like this now:
A1:
Chest: Decline Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Bradford Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Triceps: 3-board press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Back width: Wide Grip Cable Row 20-30RP
Back thickness: TBar-Row 10-12 then 6-8 SS
Abs: Cable Ab PullDowns
B1:
Biceps: Drag Curl 11-20RP
Forearms: Reverse Curl 11-20RP
Calves: Standing CR 10-12 SS
Hamstrings: Leg curl 20-30RP
Quads: Back Squat 4-6 SS then WM
A2:
Chest: Incline Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Dumbbell Military Press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Triceps: PJR extensions 15-25RP 20s rest
Back width: Rack Chins 11-20RP
Back thickness: Pendlay Rows 10-12 then 6-8SS
Abs: Rollouts
B2:
Biceps: Spider curl 11-20RP
Forearms: Pinwheel 11-20RP
Calves: Seated CR 10-12
Hamstrings: GHR 20-30
Quads: Front Squat 4-6SS then WM
A3:
Chest: Dumbbell BP 15-25RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Military Press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Triceps: JM Press 15-30RP 20s rest
Back width: Pullups 11-20RP
Back thickness: Rack Pull 10-12 then 4-6SS
Abs: Windshield Wipers 20-30RP
B3:
Biceps: One-Arm Preacher 11-20RP
Forearms: Hammer Curl 11-20RP
Calves: Leg Press CR SS 10-12
Quads: Bulgarian split Squat 4-8 SS then WM
Hamstrings: Good Morning 2x8-12SS
[quote]dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
in caps above. looks pretty good. the main comment is swapping out the sldl away from deadlifts.
So I should do two leg press widows? I did not know that was legal. And I am not sure where else to put SLDLs, because I wanted to keep my deadlifts as far away from backsquats as possible. Maybe I will move my leg press and SLDL day to A2, and move the front squats to A3
sometimes, certain things donāt work together. i do my squats and sldl on the same day though. and two leg press widows are fine, work on two different rep ranges, like a 20 rep widowmaker and maybe a 30 rep widowmaker. also, you can do the widows on two separate machines so it will be as though each exercise is different even though you are technically doing a leg press on both days.
[/quote]
Hmmā¦I know I couldnāt handle squats and SLDLs on the same day. SLDLs donāt really seem to hit my lower back too hard, so I think I will switch my my Leg Press/SLDL day to the workout before deads. That way my back wonāt be too sore for deads. I bet if I did deads the workout before SLDLs I would be able to feel it, so thanks for the tip.
As far as the quad widows, my shoulder structure seems to fit the front squats fairly comfortably, and can generally get pretty high reps without much difficulty as long as I use the smith. I may try it out but if I struggle I will move to two leg press widows. We have a horizontal leg press that I can use in addition to the regular one as long as I remember to bring a chain to add weight.
Thanks Scott for the idea to chain DBs to machines to get more weight. That alone has allowed me to have enough options to do DC again.
One more question: I read you guys talking about 1 arm preachers for biceps. How do you do those. I could use some unilateral arm training. Do you just RP one arm at a time?
I might switch to doing 1 Legged Leg Press as I was progressing nicely on them and my left leg is weaker than my right. However, I am scared to think of one quad widowmaker for each leg.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Good point about categories of exercise. But how would you be able to tell from the get-go whether you need 2 and 1 press and extension or vice versa and 2 and 1 or vice versa on dumbbell vs. barbell bicep exerises?
[/quote]
Do you need to emphasize more work on your chest? ā more tricep pressing. Does your tricep long head need more work? ā more tricep extensions. Do you have a noticeable imbalance between your left and right arm? ā more tricep/bicep/forearm unilateral work, if so. If not, then exercise selection is a matter of preference at that point.
This applies to basically all body partsā¦ i.e. do your traps need more work? ā more rack pull, deadlift, hs deadlift, smith rack pull, et al variations. Does your upper chest need more work? ā more incline chest variations. You just have to figure out your weaknesses or which areas you want to emphasize.
I suppose floor presses may not be the ideal ābodybuildingā tricep exercise, but I like them and they work well for equipment availability at my gym. For db floor press I use 20-30 RP, and for bb floor press I would use 11-20 RP. The same general rp rules.
Your blast looks good. A couple of comments, thoughā¦ all db movemetns (i.e. db military press, pjrs in your blast) are 20-30 RP, because as the dbs get heavier it may be problematic to get into position on the 2nd and 3rd legs of a rp. Increasing the rep range will inevitably lower the weight of the dbs and make it easier to position the dbs on the 2nd and 3rd legs.
Also, pinwheels are ss, but that was prob just a typo. Be careful doing a unilateral quad wm it could be way too brutal to handle (leg press or hack squat might be a better choice), and as long as your lower back can handle good mornings following rack pulls, you should be good to go.
[quote]ajweins wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
dropshot001 wrote:
ajweins wrote:
in caps above. looks pretty good. the main comment is swapping out the sldl away from deadlifts.
So I should do two leg press widows? I did not know that was legal. And I am not sure where else to put SLDLs, because I wanted to keep my deadlifts as far away from backsquats as possible. Maybe I will move my leg press and SLDL day to A2, and move the front squats to A3
sometimes, certain things donāt work together. i do my squats and sldl on the same day though. and two leg press widows are fine, work on two different rep ranges, like a 20 rep widowmaker and maybe a 30 rep widowmaker. also, you can do the widows on two separate machines so it will be as though each exercise is different even though you are technically doing a leg press on both days.
Hmmā¦I know I couldnāt handle squats and SLDLs on the same day. SLDLs donāt really seem to hit my lower back too hard, so I think I will switch my my Leg Press/SLDL day to the workout before deads. That way my back wonāt be too sore for deads. I bet if I did deads the workout before SLDLs I would be able to feel it, so thanks for the tip.
As far as the quad widows, my shoulder structure seems to fit the front squats fairly comfortably, and can generally get pretty high reps without much difficulty as long as I use the smith. I may try it out but if I struggle I will move to two leg press widows. We have a horizontal leg press that I can use in addition to the regular one as long as I remember to bring a chain to add weight.
Thanks Scott for the idea to chain DBs to machines to get more weight. That alone has allowed me to have enough options to do DC again.
One more question: I read you guys talking about 1 arm preachers for biceps. How do you do those. I could use some unilateral arm training. Do you just RP one arm at a time?
I might switch to doing 1 Legged Leg Press as I was progressing nicely on them and my left leg is weaker than my right. However, I am scared to think of one quad widowmaker for each leg. [/quote]
how to do the one arm preachers: http://www.youtube.com/user/DanteDC#p/u/3/0FNELBTsHjQ
go with the weaker arm first and match with the stronger arm.
one leg leg press is good, i like them a lot. the widowmakers on both are tough, but just make sure to give yourself adequte rest in betewen them, not just between doing the legs (after your left leg widowmaker you will probably be huffing and puffing so donāt just go into the right leg widow because your right leg has not been worked for a few minutes, take a few minutes and regroup and then do the right leg).
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Good point about categories of exercise. But how would you be able to tell from the get-go whether you need 2 and 1 press and extension or vice versa and 2 and 1 or vice versa on dumbbell vs. barbell bicep exerises?
You do floor presses RP? What rep range?
with all the new exercises, my blast looks like this now:
A1:
Chest: Decline Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Bradford Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Triceps: 3-board press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Back width: Wide Grip Cable Row 20-30RP
Back thickness: TBar-Row 10-12 then 6-8 SS
Abs: Cable Ab PullDowns
B1:
Biceps: Drag Curl 11-20RP
Forearms: Reverse Curl 11-20RP
Calves: Standing CR 10-12 SS
Hamstrings: Leg curl 20-30RP
Quads: Back Squat 4-6 SS then WM
A2:
Chest: Incline Press 11-20RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Dumbbell Military Press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Triceps: PJR extensions 15-25RP 20s rest
Back width: Rack Chins 11-20RP
Back thickness: Pendlay Rows 10-12 then 6-8SS
Abs: Rollouts
B2:
Biceps: Spider curl 11-20RP
Forearms: Pinwheel 11-20RP
Calves: Seated CR 10-12
Hamstrings: GHR 20-30
Quads: Front Squat 4-6SS then WM
A3:
Chest: Dumbbell BP 15-25RP, 20s rest
Shoulders: Military Press 15-25RP, 20s rest
Triceps: JM Press 15-30RP 20s rest
Back width: Pullups 11-20RP
Back thickness: Rack Pull 10-12 then 4-6SS
Abs: Windshield Wipers 20-30RP
B3:
Biceps: One-Arm Preacher 11-20RP
Forearms: Hammer Curl 11-20RP
Calves: Leg Press CR SS 10-12
Quads: Bulgarian split Squat 4-8 SS then WM
Hamstrings: Good Morning 2x8-12SS
[/quote]
Hmmmā¦t-bar rows, back squats, Penlay rows, and goodmornings in the same blast. Your lower back might not like you much. See how it goes, just be aware of how your lower back feels.
[quote]kylec72 wrote:
Do you need to emphasize more work on your chest? ā more tricep pressing. Does your tricep long head need more work? ā more tricep extensions. Do you have a noticeable imbalance between your left and right arm? ā more tricep/bicep/forearm unilateral work, if so. If not, then exercise selection is a matter of preference at that point.
This applies to basically all body partsā¦ i.e. do your traps need more work? ā more rack pull, deadlift, hs deadlift, smith rack pull, et al variations. Does your upper chest need more work? ā more incline chest variations. You just have to figure out your weaknesses or which areas you want to emphasize.[/quote]
I honestly canāt look at myself in the mirror and make these judgements. Personally I think I just need more mass everywhere, without any particular weak points, but Iām sure I do have lagging parts just like anyone but I donāt know what those are. Can you tell from my avatar pic?
Cool. Will do.
Pinwheels are SS? What about Hammer Curls and Reverse Curls? Why are Pinwheels SS? Itās not like thereās a safety issue and you canāt do anything like calves for brachialis/forearms
Sento,
The blast is pretty much what Iāve been doing for the last 7 weeks except I changed the back width and bicep and exercises. So far I havenāt had any issue with my lower back
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Pinwheels are SS? What about Hammer Curls and Reverse Curls? Why are Pinwheels SS? Itās not like thereās a safety issue and you canāt do anything like calves for brachialis/forearms
[/quote]
All forearms are done SS including your examples above. This is because they get enough work from biceps and back exercises.
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
Sento,
The blast is pretty much what Iāve been doing for the last 7 weeks except I changed the back width and bicep and exercises. So far I havenāt had any issue with my lower back
[/quote]
Cool. Just wanted to throw that out there in case it was something you hadnāt considered.
Carry on. 
[quote]TheBlade wrote:
kylec72 wrote:
Do you need to emphasize more work on your chest? ā more tricep pressing. Does your tricep long head need more work? ā more tricep extensions. Do you have a noticeable imbalance between your left and right arm? ā more tricep/bicep/forearm unilateral work, if so. If not, then exercise selection is a matter of preference at that point.
This applies to basically all body partsā¦ i.e. do your traps need more work? ā more rack pull, deadlift, hs deadlift, smith rack pull, et al variations. Does your upper chest need more work? ā more incline chest variations. You just have to figure out your weaknesses or which areas you want to emphasize.
I honestly canāt look at myself in the mirror and make these judgements. Personally I think I just need more mass everywhere, without any particular weak points, but Iām sure I do have lagging parts just like anyone but I donāt know what those are. Can you tell from my avatar pic?
[/quote]
As long as you stick to the general DC rule of using exercises with a lot of room for progression everything should fall into line accordingly.
Quick progression question. Iāve hit a stall on weight progression but an increase to my rep range on 2 exercises. I donāt feel stalled out but my log isnāt improving with those lifts. Should i change the lifts now or wait till my rep ranges stall also? The 2 lifts are db flat press and bb preacher. Iām still in the 11-20 rp for the flat press but i canāt make the leap over to the 140lb bells. My rep progression has went from 8 rp, 4 rp, 1, to 10 rp, 4 rp, 2. Should i keep the lift or change it?
johnson - at the 16rp range you are right in the middle. try upping the weightnext time to see how that goes for you. also, if it is a db exercise, go with a 20-30rp so you donāt have the low reps on the last parts of the rp set.