Appreciate that so much man! It’s good to be in this mental space. Not feeling a NEED to train. I still feel like I should do SOMETHING physically every day: I just don’t feel like it has to be a CERTAIN something. And I think there’s value in daily work toward a goal, which as how I originally implemented it (additional volume in a hypertrophy phase), but eventually we forget to keep the goal the goal.
4 Likes
Do you think daily work was starting to contribute to burnout symptoms?
Negative: I think daily work was a manifestation of some psychological issues. I was existing in a state where I NEEDED to train. Very much a compulsion sort of thing. I’m now back in a state where I am choosing to train.
I don’t think daily work caused issues: I think issues caused daily work.
6 Likes
I switched from daily to MWF during last year’s holiday season, mostly to give me some flexibility when people were visiting. It’s been a good change so I stuck with it.
I like being able to think of it as a “training day” vs “recovery day”. Both require their own kind of effort and focus.
1 Like
I’ve parsed things out where, on days I don’t have dedicated training, the first thing I do in the morning is prisoner squats and push ups. They limber me up and get my blood pumping. But I make it a point to not push so hard that I’m out of breath when I come downstairs and see my kid. I want to give them my attention.
Beyond that, I prioritize getting in a walk whenever possible. That may be walking the dog, mowing the lawn, or just going for a walk on my own. From there, it’s whatever needs doing.
4 Likes
For sure, nearly regardless the goal.
Your own PR!
1 Like
@TrainForPain Hell yeah brother! I remember the exact moment I was driving home from work, waiting at a stoplight thinking to myself “Ok, if I get inside the house quick, I can throw on some sweats and knock out my 4-5 minute workout” and then, before the light changed, thinking “…I don’t want to do that. Why am I doing that?” and I didn’t. I came home, pet my dog, and just relaxed. It was SO empowering. And it broke the cycle and got me back to training because I chose to. Been a LOT of healing along the way.
AM WORKOUT (0410 wake up via alarm)
DOGGCRAPP Week 5, Workout A2
DB Bench
20x22.5
15x45
10x70
18+5+3x90
90 second weighted dip stretch w/105lbs
BtN Press
10xBar
10x65
7+3+2x125
90 second shoulder stretch
Close grip axle lockouts
15xAxle
10x136
3x186
8+4+3x206
90 second tricep stretch w/20kg bell
NG chins
7xBW
5x1 chain
8+3+3x2 chains
90 second hanging lat stretch w/105lbs
Axle deadlifts
3x176+chains
1x316+chains
6+3+2x406+chains
1 minute 115lb DB lat stretch (per side)
3x10 standing ab wheel
BREAKFAST
Short walk w/dog
Notes:
-
I tried to talk myself out of this workout, but two things compelled me. One was that it was Friday, and I wanted to have my Friday night with my family rather than spend it training, and the other was that it was “just the upper body day”. Which is honestly pretty funny, because I genuinely work harder on this day overall compared to the B days, but in my mind any day I’m training my upperbody is easier than a squat day. It’s kind of a nice psychological trick with this protocol.
-
I made progress on everything except for the chins, and there is always an x-factor there as my bodyweight changes. I at least matched previous numbers, so I’m willing to keep on keeping on with that. DBs saw 1 rep, more weight on the BTN press, 2 extra reps on the CG, new ROM on the deadlifts.
-
On those deadlifts, I had a new x-factor in play: I forgot to take off my knee sleeves under my sweats. I forgot that I’d pulled without them for the whole cycle. It created something I had to pull around on the concentric, and they snagged on some of the eccentrics. Just added more difficulty, which isn’t a bad thing. But along with that, I was pulling SUPER straight legged today. My left meniscus was a little touchy at Tang Soo Do tonight and was acting up still this morning, and I’m wondering if that made me a little less willing to bend at the knee. I could still be experiencing a bit of tightness from the race as well. But, in general, this makes me really pleased that, even while messed up, with the “wrong gear” on, at the end of the workout, I can still have this kind of output. It bodes well for where my strength is.
-
Looking for down the line, I’m going to have a week out of town at the end of May/early June, so I’m looking at that being my first cruise. I’ll see if I can ride out all these movements until that time, as it would be nice to just hit the reset upon return.
9 Likes
You seem to have a good amount of experience running DC. I want to give it a go but the sensible side of me says wait until you are not dropping weight.
How does this program play out in a deficit? Pretty sure I know the answer but curious to hear your thoughts.
@shaneinga I appreciate that sentiment dude, but in truth, I have slightly over 3 months of experience running DC, haha. The first time I did it, I was using carb cycling, and this most current time I’m doing Feast and Famine, so I’ve never really run it in a for real deficit. The two weeks of the famine, I can ride out what I built up from the feast, and with carb cycling I’d try to time my higher carb days around the lifting days to have energy to get through.
1 Like
Gotcha. I appreciate the response. How long do these workouts typically take you to knock out?
I have some other goals ahead of me right now that has me doing more cardio than typical, but once I complete that goal I have pretty much decided DC is going to be the direction I go.
1 Like
@shaneinga Always happy to chat dude. All of the videos I’ve uploaded are actually full start to finish DC workouts: I’m not cutting anything out of them. So you can get a pretty solid idea of how long each workout takes. The ONLY thing not featured is my ab wheel work, since that’s technically not part of the program.
I like DC right now. Definitely suits my needs. I was also considering some of Stuart McRobert’s workouts in “Brawn” for a similar effect. Less time lifting. Quality over quantity.
1 Like
Again, appreciated. After reading your response I was like, duh. Haha. Your videos would have been a great place to start for time. 
I haven’t looked much into Stuart’s training, but I will check it out as well.
Thanks again.
1 Like
I love it man. That’s awesome
1 Like
I did find and read your Family Man V Diet thread, and that was helpful.
There is a part of me that would like to understand some of the mechanisms more, specifically when it comes to things like nutrient timing. Things like how glucose spikes affect hunger, or what you mentioned about a bolus vs a drip with the shakes, or actually understanding the idea of ketogenesis in anything more than the most abstract level.
But at the same time, I’m afraid of getting lost in the weeds. Some of that concern is that I won’t be able to close the gaps between the science, theory and the practice.
For the most part, my diet understanding is pretty simple. More calories increases weight, fewer calories decreases weight. More protein while losing weight ensures muscle is spared and fat is used.
And the other area is on the food-choice side. A focus on meats and vegetables every meal, carbs optional. And obviously an interest in the cooking side.
But I’m aware that certain choices can adjust the balance of fat/muscle while gaining and losing bodyweight, but I don’t have any real understanding; just that it’s a thing. And I know periods of fasting (intermittent or not) does some stuff too, but again, no real understanding.
What I do know is that, for myself, I tend to stay pretty lean if I eat “naturally”, which is essentially no food until a small lunch, and a bigger dinner, and no snacking. How much of that is because of calorie restriction, or food choices, or nutrient timing, or the “fasting”, I don’t know.
1 Like
@shaneinga Hell yeah brother! McRobert’s most well known work is the book “Brawn”, and is a great read, but he has some articles here as well
@LoRez I find that allowing myself to NOT be hamstrung by science has been pivotal in my success, haha. I consider all of this alchemy rather than science, and may even go so far as to say voodoo.
I think it’s worth considering that nothing occurs in a vacuum. We had the recent discussion on hormones and their impacts, and even if calories in/calories out is the sole determiner of WEIGHT gain and loss, the hormones still have a vote in weight gain and loss DISTRIBUTION, ALONG with just how MANY calories in/out apply. Often, nutrition can be a matter of simply getting us metabolically healthy enough in the first place to actually MAKE the changes we seek. Sometimes, we have to get a little fatter to get a little leaner, much like the “softening up” that John McCallum wrote about. And sometimes it’s about what we DIGEST: we may take IN so many calories, but it turns out we can’t actually digest them and we end up wasting them, which throws the numbers off. SO much going on under the hood
2 Likes
Just watched the first 20 or so min of this workout (biceps and traps portion), trying to solidify things.
It seems like almost everything i’ve seen has forearms as the 2nd movement on “B” days. What’s the motivation behind something more traps focused?
I’m getting ready to do my first “B” day and am planning on hitting hammer curls as my 2nd movement. Would you do the biceps stretch after exercise 1 or 2 in that case?
Going to try this forearm stretch in the 2nd post here
https://www.intensemuscle.com/forum/main-forums/the-dogg-pound/11215-forearm-stretching
1 Like
Ah, I covered this when I started, but this is an intentional program deviation for me. I’m not concerned with forearm growth, and I AM concerned with trap growth. For my forearms, I just do grip training.
I’m getting ready to do my first “B” day and am planning on hitting hammer curls as my 2nd movement
I think you’ll wanna get into bodybuilding mindset here. Right now, you’re approaching this more like a strength athlete: thinking “movements”. Break it down and think “muscles”.
Are you train a muscle, you do a stretch for the muscle. So after biceps, stretch biceps. After forearms, stretch forearms. Always stretch the muscle after you work it.
2 Likes
Perfect, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
That’s a good tip and definitely a deviation from my normal way of thinking.
Appreciate the advice, going to go smash it now!
1 Like
Hell yeah brother! Get after it!
1 Like
I have not seen that name in a long time. You are well read.
1 Like