The Science Behind DC Training

[future]

Posting a few posts from around the web that really wrap up the training theory of DC training. Some of you have seen this before, others perhaps not.

From Viscious ove at the HST board many years ago.

Max-OT has a complete absence of any high-rep connective tissue remodeling scheme. Even DC's program has built-in mechanisms to keep joint pain down.


DC's reasoning, which pretty much fits with mine, is to not derive your diet from a macronutrient ratio of the total caloric intake. Rather, you "default" to a protein/BW ratio (2g/lbs just seems like a safe ratio ), then let volume and TUL dictate your post-WO and daily carb intake. Having done both, then you push up your caloric intake, if need be, with fat. If gains stagnate, add in more protein (which will add more fat as well.) If fatigue increases, add in more carbs.

On the hypertrophy pecking order, I have them ranked as such:


1) DC

2) HST

3) Max-OT

4) DFHT

For people who want a solid program for both hypertrophy and strength, I really think DC is the best one out there.

For strength-oriented people (i.e. powerlifters) who want a program tailored for them, I think Max-OT is the way to go. And it's the fastest among the lot at developing pure strength.

The average DC trainee has more successful training history than the average HST trainee, and thus have less problems structuring a diet to it. Max-OT is a really good program, but I think the success rate (hypertrophy) with DC have been measurably higher.

Is one set for a body part this infreqently really that effective?

It is when you torch it with 20-rep squats, post-failure technique (i.e. rest/pause, statics) and loaded stretches.

Two major advantages exist with DC over traditional HST


1) His use of loaded stretches is roughly the equivalent of thowing >5RM negatives into the 10s phase, and then increasing that load by modulating stretch variables. For the body parts that the stretches cover, it becomes the primary strain stimulator and such in those parts.


2) His rep ranges and the rest-pause techniques combine for a form of density training, which is great for creating endurance-related adaptations. That in turns means the supra-protein diet DC espouses will be used as efficiently as possible through the 24-hour period after that meal. Classic HST doesn't have anything that intensive unless you include drop sets.


1) DC = high strain through loaded stretch, high metabolic stress, weekly load progression, failure.

what is the benefits of the rest pause?

Rest pause is a form of clustering. It lets you hit more reps for a given weight than you'd normally would. He doesn't recommend RP for everybody, though. Both that and statics is up to the (CNS) recovery of the trainee.

Also he recommends statics? Where do you hold the weights near the contracted position and what is its benefits?

It's HIT/fatigue-oriented thinking. He views it as a way to extend the effort beyond positive failure. Holding the weight in a contracted position significantly increases metabolic stress, which as with the other burn techniques, can help creates a nice pump, boost erk1/2 signal, stimulate muscle metabolism, and really help out with the post-WO glycogen uptake.

DC's loaded stretches regimen creates a super-high strain effect that breaks the very high threshhold most advanced-level trainees have from not doing SD. Beginner-to-intermediate trainees don't need it to grow, but can certainly benefit from that sort of modality. What limits the DC noobie is basically their ability to hit failure, with the proper rep cadence (the 4-6 second negative), under extreme metabolic duress. I bring up Brawn, because most people who've done Hardgainer, have done the 20-rep breathing squats. If you can do 20-rep squats, you have the mental makeup to do DC. If you can't, then wait.

I have a lot of admiration for the DC training, but it's a hard program. It makes men out of boys1) DC's program requires that (natural! trainees eat at least 2g/lbs protein. (which is considered a lot anyway) will benefit you beyond extra calories, most serious DC trainees strongly abide by this. I don't think it hurts; it's relatively difficult for your body to convert protein into energy or excess fat. You have two training bouts where mRNA and protein synthesis levels will be acutely elevated as well as the overall summation effect. And, frankly, do you really want to eat all those extra calories in carbs and fat? I think that rec goes up to even 3g/lbs, but for this diet (and the fact that the carb intake would be higher than a normal DC bulking diet), we'll leave it at 2 g/lbs protein.

I wouldn't even recommend HST or Max-OT to somebody with less than one year of practical training experience and learning. And DC is harder than both.

I would normally agree with the DC experts. The strength gains on DC's system is largely dependent on the mass gains you get from the system. If you don't grow on DC, you have little-to-no chance of getting stronger. Failure-based systems use a sort of retrogressive causation fallacy to interpret the improved CSA=extra force relationship to support their ideas on recovery and their pragmatic model of strength=size relationship. That is, if they've done more reps than before, they've gained size. If they don't, they haven't gained size. was thinking, for example, a static hold of dumbells, with incline curls.

Yeah, that's DC stretch training territory. You'd hold it for 45-60 seconds; if the stretch is long enough, you'll kick in the myotatic reflex, which increases the effective tension. That's when Dante's stretching exercises become the devil.

With the loaded stretches he'd have you do, and that overall the DC routine would give you better results than " HST. That is, if you can handle the failure and keep progressing.

Roughly half of his stretches are isometric. They are effective because the light loads are relatively significant enough to stay ahead of the stretch-reflex threshhold. The other half, much like many of Parillo's fascia stretches, have a limited useful life. You could keep extending and extending the stretch time to fight off RBE, but then metabolic work, pain threshhold, and other factors quickly diminishes the dividends.

DC program is aggressive with mechanical strain and metabolic stress. By using loaded stretching (and having the myotatic reflex kick up effective peak tension through the stretched part of the muscle) on most of the bodyparts, he amplifies the strain/MAPKp38 signal to levels only accessible were a trainee using negative-heavy training. By using rest-pause, he implements a sort of density training which creates a horrible amount of metabolic stress. Finally, he uses a bulking diet structure that enables his trainees to eat very high caloric diets without a pronounced risk of bodyfat increase.

Or, rather, his trainees to eat big, then he bumps up the metabolic stress techniques (through the rest-pause and non-WO short cardio sessions), so that the body is storing this caloric intake as efficiently as possible. This plays off the idea of letting diet dictate your training. Believe it or not, this sort of bulking/training philosophy was the status quo up until the beginning of the 90s. Parillo, who was notorious for his insane high-calorie diets, discussed at length about using the body as a storage factory. And this is how most athletes have trained.

The mechanical strain techniques DC uses (cluster, LS, some DCers do high-load static holds as well), feeds off the traditional wisdom of letting your training dictate the diet. Ergo, the high protein demands. But, his group of people happen to be very good at doing the timed carb intake thing and eating sufficient post-WO carbs, because again they understand that DC is still a performance-oriented system. The DC system pursues both progressive and absolute load more aggressively than any other program in existence, outside of HST. And thus, the strain it generates on the muscle is always significant.

Even though DC is more or less 2x-a-week per bodypart, it would generate better results than HST provided you can muster the intensity and eat big. The mechanical strain is roughly equivalent to 5s/post-5s. But the metabolic stress is that of Strossen's 20-rep programs, which isn't true for HST's 5s program. Although I'll probably draw fire for saying this, but you can view it as a super, super tweaked version of a old-school HG routine.

) Rest Pause = cluster (high volume at high load = more p38) + density training (short rest period = higher erk1/2 activity)

2) Loaded stretch = high p38 through initiating reflex (though DC's approach arguably produces diminishing results for certain DC stretches due to detraining effect of said reflex)

3) Continuous progressive load = no need for SD (albeit, load steps may not be ideal and the rotate-the-exercise MU management scheme is not optimal for strain)

4) Aggressive high protein bulk, which for most folk would be a 750-1500 caloric surplus.

Well if you use progressive load on the loaded stretches then the reflex will be not detrained

The reflex actually always gets detrained when you use it. It's always most pronounced the first few times you perform the loaded stretch. Moreover, because in DC, the LS are done after heavy metabolic stress is applied, the reflex kicks in a bit later than it would otherwise. The progressive load helps to fight this, but not all DC/fascia stretches easily facilitate progressive load. Finally, the longer you go on a stretch, after a certain point, you won't be able to generate a higher tension response due to a relaxation counterresponse. That's not a knock against DC, just that there's a practical limit to using the reflex to generate higher tension.

Then why does dc uses 3 exercises per rotation? What is the rationale behind this?

It's primarily necessary in order to vary the MU recruitment pool and manage the amount of fatigue. Each session torches your CNS connection for that part, but does it differently than the session before. For example, if you do dips one day, then incline press for the other, the lower pecs and delts do not get torched both sessions. Also, because DCers rotate between free weight, free bodyweight, and machines, the stabilization factor varies, which adjusts the neural drive requirement. Or to pit it another way, a person would be crazy to do 20-rep at-the-floor squats for every leg day, but if say he interspersed it with hack squats and leg press, suddenly it's more feasible. The rotation creates a sort of cycling scheme for the CNS fatigue. The disadvantage to this, though, is that the strain you apply to the muscle does vary session to session in sort of zig-zag fashion.

How do you explain the wicked strength gains made on dc?

1) Frequency is twice every 8 days. Traditionally, that's the frequency range that HD2ers and HGers use to increase strength.

2) The 3-exercise rotation strategy implementing a sort of neural-drive cycling scheme

3) Although DC is a strength-oriented program, its requisite load ranges (as with many >5RM failure-based programs) and slow cadence means there's a significant requirement for metabolic efficiency as well as overall CNS adaptations in optimal functional performance. The combination of the bulking diet and high metabolic stress enables both high glycogen storage and significant endurance-related adaptations, taking care of a big part of the DC program. In comparison, Max-OT is much less influenced by this metabolic issue, because the rep cadence is more traditional and the rep range is very short.

4) Green tea is a mild stimulant.

5) Finally, any program that successfully puts on a lot of mass (such as DC), enables the possibility of enormous strength gains.

in dc there is only 1 set.do you think that this 1 set can provide huge hypertrophy as it is 2 sets bodypart week?

Remember that sets, as are all volume discussions, require context. DC is not a Big Four program. For any given session, you'll be hitting bodyparts directly or indirectly 2 or 3 times from just your work sets. A work set may be rest-paused, which roughly works out to two work sets per exercise for given relative load (i.e. 15-20 reps for 10RM.) Finally, you add in loaded stretches

DC said that for legs that dont grow a set of 4-8 reps then a 20 rep set with a weight you can do 12 only?

From the standpoint of weightlifting tradition, 20-rep squats is as time-honoured as they come. 20-rep squats produce a sick amount of metabolic stress and offer a form of clustering at a fairly high load. Finally, there's a possibility that clustering/density training could produce higher strain than contiguous reps. I'm working out a variation of 20-rep and Gironda with some people that more or less replicates that. But I'm not completely sure how well it will work. Again, from DC's point of view, 20-rep squats are part of the training methodology that has worked through the years.

Also dc does only 1 set of stetches duration 45-60 s per bodypart?do you think that you need to stick to 60 s or less?what is the ideal duration?do you recommend more than 1 set of this loaded stretch or 2 sets of ls are better?

Really, there is no ideal duration. It's more apparent if you read some of the flexibility training manuals out there. I only recommend shorter times because HST is high frequency and because the stretch loads begin near your 5RM. You need less duration to benefit from it. Whereas on DC, the lower frequency and more moderate stretch loads (with some exceptions) requires longer times.

Also, it's not desirable to do multiple sets of LS, because you'll speed up the detraining of the stretch reflex. The emphasis should be on continuous time per stretch, where the reflex increases the tension signal. At some time duration, an inverse relaxation response will kick in. Then the tension peaks or goes back down. You don't want to stretch that long. You don't want to detrain your reflex to be able to stretch that long. But 45-60s is reasonable for what he wants his trainees to do.

Is it an optimal split where there is no overlap compared to max ot?

Max-OT templates are wacky because some templates have a lot of upper-torso overlap, and other templates don't. Dude didn't think through his workout plan well enough. Week to week, your results seem to bop and weave.

DC's push-pull-leg split is good for managing the CNS stress. But I think it might help to throw in metabolic sets periodically every 2 days or so. For example, on leg and pulling days, throw in a 15-rep set with a machine chest press. On pulling and pushing days, throw in a 15-rep leg press set or do bike/stair cardio. On pushing and leg days, throw in a 15-rep row and pulldown set. All done at a very light weight just enough to cause some burn.

The strength gains from Dante's clients on his program, for me, is fairly consistent with my experience with HIT. Because HIT is about demonstrating your size gains through strength -- if you gained a lot of real, force-produced mass -- your strength levels will take off, even if the coupling of your system has been mitigated. There's of course significant flaws with HIT, and by no means am I saying that it should be used primarily as a strength-training system, but generally if your mass gains are big, your strength gains will be big. The general complaint among HIT trainees is that they enjoy these strength gains but have little size gains to show. But the brilliance of Dante's program is how its additional strategies creates safeguard mechanisms whereby a Brawn-ish HIT program can mantain HST-validity, even if the HIT aspect of it begins to collapse.

In fact, I'd also say that the DC program, provided you can continue the progressive overload, is probably more effective than HST routine at building mass. 1) His exercise rotation switches up the recruitment pattern, so that you can partially avoid some of the strength-negating effects of failure training. Of course, you still can't hit the bodypart 3x-a-week this way, but the residual damage from the load stretching means some growth is occuring at baseline protein synthesis levels.

2) He implements a periodized recovery cycle (right terminology) in order for the CNS to catch up. This isn't the same thing as strategic deconditioning, but it recognizes you can't be "on" all the time. Also, because the training program by default aims perpetually for new PRs, at least the first week of that recovery cycle will not be completely mitigated by RBE.

3) Use of post-failure techniques as well as 20-rep breathing squats means he's ratcheting up the erk1/2 levels, and thus even with the very low volume, you'll enjoy enormous sarcoplasmic hypertrophy workout to workout. Couple that with Dante's hardcore stance on EAT!!, you'll see immediate size results as well as some recourse against the wipeout of your CNS. Unlike a unoptimized HST routine, you can expect sarcoplasmic hypertrophy every workout.

4) Load stretching. Now, this part is the unique wrinkle of his program. Turns out this is, for the bodyparts we care about, the load stretching is the secret -- the primary growth stimulator -- this is what essentially creates both the strength increases and sustainable growth -- without frying the CNS. This is the genius part. It's not just that the program is taking advantage of the length vs. tension curve to create major sarcomere disruption workout to workout -- it's that he's also relying on the lenthy TUL to inititate the passive stretch reflex and indirectly create a progressive load at the super-stretched position. It doesn't really matter that the training loads are themselves rather low -- as long as the trainee remembers to increase the starting training loads (or stretch angles) workout to workout, or extend his TUL long enough workout-to-workout to kick off the passive stretch reflex, he'll effectively have his necessary mechanical stress progression. Nearly every time. And so, he'll get his major p38 activity here, his sarcomere hypertrophy here.


5) And if you believe there is a relationship between cell volume and satellite cell creation, then you'll also realize that his three-part combination of post-failure techniques, loaded stretches, and managed load progression -- all accomplished in the same workout -- is a nicely packaged milieu that creates a snowball hypertrophic effect. Ergo, the amazing results.

 

[future]

The body doesn't work that way. His trainees have the same balance in their training as does a smart volume based program does. He concentrates more on frequency and intensity and sacrificies volume. He recommends the high protein intake (which, quite frankly is overkill) but ALSO advocates a butt load of cardio to keep from being a fat ass. Why not just eat what's necessary for growth and skip out on countless hours of boring ass low intensity cardio?

A) I build machines. Fat burning, muscle building machines. The human body is a highly adaptive entity and if you give it a serious demand (heavy intense weight training), it will seek the supply (food).......so you keep believing you found the hidden gem of exact protein gram and carb/fat ingestion (slightly above maintenance)......and Ill keep building muscle building fat burning monsters.

Also - most of his trainees that he takes on personally are on AAS. Hey, when your protein synthesis is working around the clock, why not bump the protein up, eh? Doesn't quite work that way for a natty - as FP said, you can only synthesize new tissue at a certain rate.

B)Really? I love how people know who my emails are from but dont have my password. How would you know who I train? Or is more convenient to make up this stuff as you go along for your argument? Since Im the guy who is actually answering the emails and your the guy just guessing out of his ass....Ill say this. I would venture to say that 90% of my trainees are natural trainees and that might be even lowballing it. If I remember right I have 2 natural organization pro cards on my resume over the last couple years and just missed out on my third one on my trainee resume this last month. (pictures below)....But maybe I am wrong and Sporto knows who I train more than I do.

edit: I guess i cannot attach pictures

Adding: I do notice a lot of "fatties" that use his diet/training method. Only the ones dedicated to stuffing their faces AND willing to do all the prescribed cardio keep from getting fat.

Well at least you got that partly right. I can only control who I personally train....and thats why i dont talk much about specifics of diet at all. I typed this last month after someone asked me about separating fats and carbs.

It is a basic way i can put out a "generalized" cookie cutter diet (which everyone always wants from me) to everyone. Alot of people dont know about glycemic index's and such....so I try to give the "masses" a simple approach to eating big (and not getting fat) for the people who really dont want to get down to "the nitty gritty" of it all. Some of you guys are learned.....alot of people arent and think a protein is a protein and a carb is a carb regardless of the food.

Do I use some fats with carbs in the people I train personally? yes

Is it a good generalized rule to follow on a grand scale so Johnny in Idaho who reads me and Frankie from Alabama who reads me both dont get fat? (even though they are both entirely different bodybuilders on a genetics and mesomorphic scale) ...yes

I admire Palumbo in that he can put a "cookie cutter diet" out there....I cannot do that...I would feel irresponsible and feel that its not working for 100% of the people reading me across the board.....he sets up some good ground rules though and I respect him greatly for it. Personally it bothers me if I put something up and its helping a guy 175lbs get to 225 but its making some endomorphic guy who is an overweight 240 get even fatter.....I cant sign off on a post knowing that. So you really dont see me say much in the way of detail unless i know the individual who is reading it exactly.

So what did i do for a solution? A basic simple outline for the 1000's of different people who might be reading a post by me. I cannot go thru them individually. So since your the guy with all the answers feel free to put up a diet for the masses....one that will have your name attached to it for the next 10 years and will be cut and pasted everywhere on different bodybuilding boards. Knowing that some obese guy weighing 340 who has type 2 diabetes will be reading it and some Stickboy weighing 145lbs who cant put on weight no matter what he does will be reading it.......go right ahead and be my guest.....lets see the official Sporto diet that will work for everyone universally.

Alot of people dont want to learn the in's and out's of something they just want to be told what to do. You can do that with training pretty much. Its virtually impossible to do that with diets unless you know the specifics of that particular person (and I personally refuse to put a detailed cookie cutter program out there to the masses in which i know is not going to work 100% of the time). For anyone I dont personally train, the responsibility is on them to figure out their diets.

 

[future]

This why to "DC Stretch"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each of you has heard of the phenomenon known as muscle memory. It is the occurrence of insanely extreme and fast growth in a person who is regaining the lost muscle he has allowed to atrophy. Stories such as 40-50 pound muscle gains( in a short time span ) in regards to this subject are not uncommon. The question however remains, what exactly is muscle memory and what causes it to occur? You see, an athlete can literally mimic this tremendous phenomenon! Read on if you want to find out how!!!

Note: The following article discusses muscle memory, as a term to define a recapturing of past growth. The term however should not be used in a motor sense, as that 'memory' is actually in the nervous system.



What Exactly Is it that Occurs During Memory?
Lets say that you busted your behind in the gym and built a huge, massive pair of quads measuring 30 inches in circumference! Then for one reason or another you stopped training your legs. During the time off, your quadriceps atrophied( shrunk ) down to 24 inches. Determined to regain your lost mass you decide to hit the gym again with extreme ferocity! Only this time you are able to gain back those 6 inches in a matter of months, where as originally it took you years to gain that much mass! What happened?

What surrounds, binds and holds every muscle group in place?


If you answered connective tissue, you would have been exactly right! In order to further explain muscle memory it would behoove us to briefly review what exactly this connective tissue is( for a greater explanation read my article, the anatomy of a muscle fiber. It goes in great depth in what I am about to cover. So if it seems a bit confusing, you definitely need to consult this article. ). Simply put every muscle is made up of 1, 000s of muscle fibers. These muscle fibers are all individually wrapped with a connective tissue wrapping, or a sheath. This is called the endomysium. These individual muscle fibers are then organized in bundles( called fascicles ) which are covered by another connective tissue sheathe called the perimysium. These bundles or fascicles are then placed together in an orderly arrangement( which determines the shape and functionality of the muscle ) and held in place by a layer of connective tissue known as the epimysium. Finally each of these layers is held together by the deep fascia( a courser material ). The connective tissue of every muscle fiber acts like a girdle of sorts. Which means that it binds a muscle group together, and to its neighboring muscle in many cases. It also protects, organizes and allows the force of contraction generated by the thousands of muscle fibers in a particular group, to be harnessed with great efficiency!

The important thing to understand is this: Connective tissue is not only a tuff material but also hugs tight to its surrounding area, almost constricting it! What does this have to do with muscle growth you say? Ahh, that my friend, is where muscle memory comes in! Think about it for a moment. In order for a muscle to hypertrophy, what needs to take place if it is restricted by this tight binding girdle? The tissue must stretch and become more pliable right?! If this did not occur, then muscle growth would be hindered( you cannot grow unless there is enough room to do so)!

When you increased your muscle mass by building 30 inch wheels, you also ended out stretching and expanding the muscles encasing tissue. Therefore the manipulation of these protective sheathes was a major factor in your ability to stimulate hypertrophy! In the scenario painted, we also discussed you taking time off from training. So much so, that your lower body atrophied to a point in which 6 inches were lost off of your legs. However, even with this tremendous setback, you still had stretched the connective tissue to a great extent. When you came back to the gym and trained, you were no longer fighting the restrictions of tight, unpliable fascia, but rather a more elastic and pre-expanded connective tissue! Essentially all bets were off, due to the amount of room you had to grow! More room to grow enables more mass to be accumulated! This is one of the top theories held today for what we coin " muscle memory. "

How Can Muscle Memory Be Mimicked?
Mimicking this process would center around the manipulation of the connective tissue surrounding, organizing and binding a muscle. As mentioned it can literally prevent the expansion of growth. Therefore our goal will be to create an environment similar to one in which a muscle group had previously been larger. In essence you will have to stretch and expand the fascia, epimysium and other tissues. This, can certainly be done and done effectively! However, you need to understand that this is a tuff tissue, and expanding it can be a very complex process.

The question now is what will it take to accomplish such a goal. Perhaps the most recognizable figure in regards to this subject is the great John Parillo. He uses a technique called " fascia stretching. " This is a special procedure used that actually expands the fascia. One of the greatest scientists the sport of bodybuilding has ever known is D.J. Millward. He has made some of the most incredible break throughs Only D J Millward calls this revolutionary technique the bag expansion theory. You see, the connective tissue surrounding a muscle is often referred to as a bag, hence the title of the theory.


Interestingly enough, before any expert or scientists began coining phrases, great athletes such as Tom Platz and Arnold Schwarzenegger were using techniques that would most certainly expand the fascia. However, I would credit the field of massaging with the earliest breakthroughs in fascial expansion. I believe their theories paved the way for one of the most extreme growth methods every presented in this brutal sport.

In particular I am referring to a woman named Dr. Ida P. Rolf. She invented a famous technique called rolfing. It is a special, extreme form of massage that as Ida puts it, manipulates deep tissue. She theorized that you could move around, loosen, expand, realign and strengthen this tissue with her great techniques! Interestingly enough, her techniques applied to Parillo and Millwards can not only drastically enhance muscle growth, but also increase separation between muscle groups. How incredible is that!?

From a physiological standpoint John Parillo believes that the deep fascia is the main concern of the bodybuilder to target, and Millwards research leads him to believe that the endomysium and perimysium are chiefly responsible for the restriction of muscle growth. The great news is that the same techniques for expansion of the fascia, work for the expansion of the endomysium and perimysium.

How To Expand The Fascia for Enhanced Muscular Size and Shape!
At this stage I am going to have to issue one of my essential warnings. If you do not have a high pain threshold I would not suggest reading any further. The methods discussed here are extremely painful, and only an athlete with the mentality of a warrior will have the guts it takes to apply the following principles! However, when the smoke clears, you will have a greater capacity for growth, a fuller muscle, and greater separation between body parts!

Again, our goal, as D J Millward puts it is to create a larger bag. In order to accomplish this feet we will need to stretch the connective tissue beyond its previous limits, cause damage and then allow it to heal in such a way that it grows back larger then it was previously. There are four factors involved in fascia stretching.

1. Heat

If you are intent on truly mimicking muscle memory, you must not only stretch the fascia, but you must do it in an absolutely perfect environment or you will not reap even near optimal results! The first factor mentioned above was heat. You see a cold muscle has a limited range of motion. Our goal is to stretch the fascia past its previous limits and this cannot take place if range of motion is limited. Therefore you must adequately warm up before performing the techniques discussed shortly.

2. An incredible blood pump

Everyone here understands the extreme power of fluid! Whole canyons have been carved from water erosion! The same principle is applicable here. A tremendous back flow of fluid in a muscle group will stretch the connective tissue that restricts muscle growth. In other words the greater the pump, the more direct and effective the stretch in the fascia, epimysium, and perimysium will be!

3. Insanely Extreme Stretching

The third and most painful step in fascia expansion, is to manually stretch it. This entails stretching the target muscle group with insane intensity! By doing this you will force the girdle which inhibits enhanced mass, and enable further growth in the myofibrils( the largest aspect of a muscle fiber ).

4. Recovery!

Unfortunately, like every aspect of bodybuilding, we must have enough will power to allow the area worked to recover. You see, the pump, combined with extreme manual stretching will damage the connective tissue. In order for it to grow back and be remodeled as Millard puts it, into a larger bag, it must have a significant enough time to recover. This is not only a painful process, but like any type of extreme training is also stressful, and needs significant time to recover.

Now that we understand the factors involved in fascia expansion, we must apply them in an organized fashion in order to reap incredible results!

Applying The Principles!
The absolute best way to describe how to apply these principles would be to take you through another training scenario. Lets say you are working your pectorals out and want to expand the fascia in the area. You would go through your normal warm up and then begin the process. The first key here is to use a training protocol that produces a maximum back flow of blood( pump ) into the pectorals. When I say maximum, I mean a pump that is literally so insane that the skin becomes tighter than a drum! For example, normally you can move a muscle group around with your hand when it is relaxed. It seems semi pliable until flexed. An optimal pump essentially fills the muscle with so much blood, that it almost feels contracted while in a relaxed position. Again, the skin should be tight and the muscle should be hard. In order to produce a pump such as this you need to perform a high repetition set, a massive superset, or a strip set. Lets say you decide to perform dumbbell bench presses. I would suggest performing a set of 12 repetitions, followed by a drop set of 12 repetitions, and if you feel the pump is not adequate, then finish it off with one more drop! At this point your pectorals should be so full of blood, that you literally cannot flex! Your arms should feel like led. I'm talking about a pump so extreme, that you can't take your shirt off to pose in the mirror. Its important to understand that the connective tissue is not only increased in temperature, but also being stretched extremely by this process!

Now is when the pain begins( as if producing a mind boggling pump wasn't insanely painful. )! You need to find a stretch that expands the fascia of the pectorals to a maximum. This muscle is responsible for pulling the humerus( upper arm bone ) across the midline of your body. It contracts when your arms move in and lengthens when your arms move backwards. A great stretch would be to simply extend your arms straight out to your sides as wide as possible and then extend your arms backwards, as if you were performing the negative on dumbbell flys! Now, when performing a facial stretch( as John Parrillo coins it ) you will need to stretch with applied pressure to the area. You need this, because the stretch has to be applied past the point of comfort in order to expand the connective tissue surrounding the muscle. Therefore you have a few options. Firstly you can have your partner grab your arms and pull backwards, secondly you can use a wall and apply your own body weight as resistance. For example, I may place both of my arms in a doorway and lean forward, to stretch the pectorals.

Lastly is my personal favorite way to stretch the fascia! In fact I usually never see athletes utilize this in the gym, but I believe it is the absolute most effective way to expound on the bag theory! You simply choose an exercise that stretches the muscle and hold it in the stretched position for the desired amount of time! Therefore I would use dumbbell flys and hold it in the bottom position of the exercise. Once you have decided what stretch to use, do the following procedure while the muscle is pumped( again it must be pumped or you will not maximally expound the tissue)! You will first slightly stretch the muscle. Do this by slowly extending your arms until you have reached a maximum stretch. It should feel just right( almost soothing ), now hold this for 10 seconds. Rest for about 5 seconds and then extend your arms all the way back until they are stretched to a maximum. This is a very painful and intense stretch! You will hold this for a total of 30 seconds( some athletes hold it till they literally cannot bare the pain, but I prefer 30 seconds), by then you will be begging for mercy, especially with the blood pump! Remember, you are getting a double stretching effect here, not only manually but with the back flow of blood.

Thought you could relax! Unfortunately that is not an option! While the connective tissue is pliable, we will want to get one final influx of blood into the target muscle to assist in the expansion process! Therefore you now need to flex the target muscle group as hard as possible for 30-60 seconds! For the pectorals you will cross your arms across your body and squeeze! Literally try and crush your pecs with your arms! By the end of this procedure you will be drenched in sweat and relieved that it is all over!

Frequency And Recovery
How frequently should fascia stretching take place and what type of volume should be used within a workout? As with any training protocol, this is a much debated subject. Let me say this; frequency is determined by volume. In other words the more damaged caused, the more rest an athlete should take. A trainer like John Parillo believes that fascia stretching should take place after every working set. Therefore, if you performed12 sets for the pectorals, then you would implement deep fascia stretches between each and every set! Other trainers recommend a bodybuilder to implement this on the main pumping set of each exercise. For example, if you were to perform 9 sets of quadriceps exercise, the last set would emphasize an extreme pump and this is when you would expand the fascia. While still others will perform it within every segment of a workout for the particular body part. Lets say that you were working the biceps. If you performed 4 different exercises then you would manipulate the tissue on the last set of each exercise.

I personally believe that each has its success stories, and each should have a place in your program. You see I feel that as athletes, we should be open minded to different training protocols. Never allow yourself to stagnate with one philosophy. That said, I would recommend using a combination of these. Almost apply the principle of periodization if you will. Here is what I mean:

Week One: Run The Gambit! This means apply deep fascial stretching after every exercise. If you are into extreme volume however, then I would limit this to no more than 10-12 deep fascial stretches!

Week Two: Only use this technique once in the workout and do it on the set in which you are most pumped!
This will be enough to continue the process of bag expansion, but also relieve the stress placed on the body.

Week Three: Use Deep Fascial Stretching within each section of the workout. So if you use 4 exercises, apply this principle four separate times!

Week Four: Allow your connective tissue to recover fully.

Week Five: Begin The Process All Over Again!

HIT Style Athletes: For the athlete that utilizes HIT training, I would recommend one deep, deep, high intensity stretch at the end of each session. They would benefit greatly by doing this 4 weeks on, one week off.

Muscular Separation
One thing I notice in the masters division of bodybuilding is a lack of separation between muscle groups. For example, Robbie Robinson is still in phenomenal, phenomenal shape! I mean this guy is a freak! He is symmetrical, well balanced, massive and can out pose most athletes in the masters Olympia! The only aspect in my opinion that he really lacks compared to his older days, is that classic, literally unmatched separation between muscle groups. You see gravity and certain negative stresses that go along with weight training combined have a negative effect on muscular separation, in that they cause muscle groups to literally stick together. If you talk to any great deep massage therapist, they will tell you that the fascia on neighboring muscle groups, almost glues together over time.

Connective tissue manipulation, via hardcore stretching will pull these muscle groups( or the fascia surrounding them ) apart, clearly enhancing separation. In fact you will see incredible separation, such that you never thought genetically possible! There is not an athlete in this sport, that does not understand the benefit of this. And it applies to each bodybuilder. If you feel you have achieved maximum separation, and haven't incorporated this technique, then I can guarantee you, that you have not even come close to reaching your full potential!

The key is using a variety of angles in your program. Do not simply use one stretch! For example for a basic quadriceps stretch, you would kneel down and plant your knees firmly on the ground. Then you would slowly lean back, using your bodyweight as the applied pressure, necessary for expanding the fascia. For maximum separation you would change angles. For the first stretch, have the knees close together. On the second stretch spread them out wider to hit the inner thighs. See the point? Like your exercises, you need to use a variety of stretches. Another example would be the utilization of free weight stretches


Vital Nutritional Aspects In Deep Tissue Manipulation!

In order to maximize this process you will need to heighten both recovery and the pump! A massive pump must take place during the workout or you will not accomplish your desired goal, therefore you must emphasize this nutritionally. This is why fascial stretching is suggested implementing on bulks and not emphasizing this procedure on a cut. You simply will not get maximized gains. You need to be carbed completely up, or the pump will not be sufficient. Recommend is 4-6 carb rich meals a day for this process. If you are on a low carb diet, then carbing up before your workout will also suffice. Creatine and glutamine further assist the pump dramatically! Hydration is also a must. You need to drink water like it is going out of style. Lastly, drink a huge post workout shake, chalk full of sugar immediately after training to refill glycogen stores.

A well balanced diet will speed recovery, and so will vitamin C! This gem has been shown in several studies to increase the healing process of connective tissue. Seeing how this is the goal, it would behoove you to take a minimum of 2-3 grams a day, not including post workout.

 

[SpyWizard]

Rolfing... I've had this type of massage done to me in the past, the separation of muscle can be an experience in and of itsef..

 

[future]

I think ART has replaced that now.

 

[joe d]

verry nice. thanks future.

 

[Wulfgar]

Ive tried those stretching techniques. Extremely painful but effective. I actually just copied what tom platz used to do for his legs and modified them for the upper body.
I remember reading how Platz would do a massive drop set or one of his famous super intense squat sets. then lay into a brutally painful quad stretch and finally finish it with several hard poses...

his legs were proof enough for me this sequence works wonders!!

Im not a DC guy as ive found volume training and things like drop sets and RP work consistently for my goals. But the stretching techniques are something we can ALL benefit from

 

[future]

Actually I'd say the stretching is the least important thing about the training.

 

[future]

Bumping for Extra Mile and Alcatraz

 

[future]

Flex, Sept, 2006 by Greg Merritt

Let's not call it a revolution yet, but if the '70s were the era of Arnold (double splits, high volume) and the '90s were the years of Yates (high intensity, low frequency), then this decade may be remembered as the age of Doggcrapp. Try to ignore the name for now; instead, consider the fact that not only has DC become an Internet bodybuilding board phenomenon, but DC disciple and pro bodybuilder Dave Henry has acquired 30 lean pounds in less than three years. That's a lot of' Crapp. FLEX interviewed DC mastermind Dante Trudel to learn about Doggcrapp's rapid growth and why its adherents grow so rapidly.

Trudel, 38, grew up in Massachusetts and currently lives in Southern California with his wife, Dianne. He co-owns the Internet supplement company Trueprotein.com. At 6'1", he now weighs a muscular 280, but when Trudel began bodybuilding at age 20, as he jokes, he was a wispy 137 "after a good meal and with four rolls of quarters in my pocket." After developing his low-volume rest-pause training style and experiencing his greatest growth, Trudel tutored his friends, who saw similar rapid results. From 1993 to 1995, he published a cutting-edge bodybuilding newsletter called Hardcore Muscle.

However, it wasn't until Trudel posted his theories on an Internet discussion board six years ago that his ideas began to spread. Unfortunately, he used the screen name "Doggcrapp" for what he thought would be his only post. Much to his surprise, he was deluged with questions, his original post grew to 118 pages and his writings were copied and pasted all over the Internet. Thousands have adopted his philosophy, and today DC has its own forum at IntenseMuscle.com - Powered by vBulletin. "Sad to say, I'm stuck with the moniker 'Doggcrapp,'" Trudel laments with a laugh. "If I could do it all over again, trust me, I would've gone with a much cooler screen name."

FLEX: What was your early training like?

DANTE TRUDEL: I did the "good ol' boys" programs I saw in the magazines, jumping back and forth according to the latest article. It took me two years of six meals a day and training hard just to look normal at 190. It kind of sucked that I had to gain 50 pounds to look normal, but I had a never-say-die attitude. I went three-and-a-half years barely missing a meal, and if I did miss one, I'd get up at 2 AM and cook it. I really believe that bullheaded consistency in eating put the 50 pounds on me more than any type of training I did.

How did you first develop DC?

After three-and-a-half years of obsessive-compulsive volume training, I started to read everything I could get my hands on concerning nutrition, supplements and training--even abstracts and lab studies. I got to the point where I thought, Jeez, there is no rhyme or reason for what people are doing bodybuildingwise. It seemed to me that everything was done with an "I must do inclines, declines, flat bench, flyes, cable crossovers and pec deck or I won't grow" mentality.

I thought about what makes a muscle grow, what would make it grow faster, and to absolutely stop thinking in this "I want to be big so bad I'll overthink and overdo everything" concept. Why do people think in terms of "annihilating myself into rigor mortis in today's workout" instead of progression and recovery over weeks, months and years? I started stringing together workouts with a game plan instead of winging it and hoping I was doing the right thing. I was 23 when I scrapped everything and reverse-engineered it. I broke it down, took out all the things I felt were just fluff, and there for ego and obsessive-compulsive satisfaction, and created a planned "powerbuilding" attack.

How fast did you grow when you first started DC training?

As soon as I got down to the brass tacks of what I felt worked and what didn't, I started gaining again. I had been stuck at about 204, and then after I got my head out of my ass and attacked this like a chess game, I consistently gained. I've been over 300, but currently I'm 280. I told my wife I will slowly take it down to about 260 and stay there. I reached my goals, proving to myself that with my extreme ectomorphic qualities I could attain a certain level through incredibly hard work and consistency. Now, I want to learn to tap dance--just kidding.

What are the basic principles of DC?

* Heavy progressive weights

* Lower workout volume but higher workout frequency

* Multirep rest-pause training

* Extreme stretching

* Carb cutoffs later in the day

* Morning cardio

* Higher protein intake

* Blasting and cruising phases

Explain why continuously gaining strength is the essence of DC training.

I believe he who makes the greatest strength gains [in a controlled fashion] makes the greatest muscle gains. Note that I said strength gains. Everybody knows someone naturally strong who can bench 405 yet isn't that big. Going from a 375 bench to 405 isn't an incredible strength gain and won't result in much of a muscle mass gain. If someone goes from 150 to 405 for reps, that incredible strength gain will equate to an incredible muscle mass gain.

Ninety-nine percent of bodybuilders are brainwashed that they must go for a blood pump, and those same 99% stay the same year after year. It's because they have no plan. They go in, get a pump and leave. They give the body no reason to change. A power-bodybuilding game plan stresses continually getting stronger on key movements, and the body protects itself by getting muscularly larger. If you never get anywhere close to your ultimate strength levels, you will never get close to your utmost level of potential size.

How does the three-exercise rotation work?

Pick the three best exercises per bodypart you can rest-pause--generally those in which you can safely make maximum strength increases. For example, close-grip bench presses are better for triceps than kickbacks because you should be able to make more incremental improvements over a longer period. The three exercises will be rotated, using only one of them each time you train that bodypart. If someone only does one exercise over and over, he plateaus on it very quickly. I've experimented with this multiple ways, and the three-exercise rotation can keep you from plateauing for a long time.

How important is a journal?

It's crucial. You must always write down your weights used and reps done, excluding warm-ups, in a logbook. Every time you go to the gym, you have to continually beat your previous weight, reps or both--even if it's just by five pounds or one rep. If you don't beat it, you lose that exercise from your three-exercise rotation. This adds grave seriousness to a workout. I have exercises I love to do, and knowing I'll lose them if I don't beat the previous stats sucks! If you get to a strength sticking point, you must turn to a different exercise for that bodypart and get brutally strong on that new one. Looking at that piece of paper and knowing what you have to do to beat your best will bring out the best in you.

What training split do you recommend?

My usual recommendation is workout A--chest, shoulders, triceps, back width and back thickness--and workout B--biceps, forearms, calves, hams and quads. I recommend this bodypart order because it puts the hardest bodyparts you have to train--back and quads--last in your workouts. This is contrary to conventional wisdom, but after doing deadlifts or a "widowmaker" for quads, you're not going to have the same energy for training anything else.

The two-workout rotation is done three times over two weeks on a Monday (A), Wednesday (B), Friday (A), Monday (B), Wednesday (A), Friday (B) schedule. This creates more growth phases. The guy next to you is training chest on Monday and then waiting a week before training chest again--two growth phases over 14 days. You, on the other hand, train chest three times in 14 days. He trains chest 52 times a year and grows 52 times, while you train chest 78 times a year and grow 78 times.

You're doing only one exercise, out of your three rotated exercises, per bodypart each workout while Joe Gymguy over there is doing incline barbell presses, flat dumbbell presses and Hammer Strength decline presses in his chest workout today. You're doing the same exercises he's doing over two weeks, but you're growing at a much faster rate.

For DC, does it matter if someone is a beginner or advanced?

DC isn't for anyone who hasn't been lifting hardcore for at least three years. You have to know your body well and your way around a gym before shifting to something this intense.

Why do you stress low workout volume?

On this schedule, you cannot do 12 to 16 sets per bodypart. Lower volume is the only way you can recover to quickly train that bodypart again. Besides, once a growth response is met during a workout, anything you do past that point is pretty much delving into your recovery and catabolizing muscle mass, so I don't want to take one step forward and half a step back. There are many ways to build muscle. In simple terms, I'm using extreme high-intensity [rest-pause] techniques, which I believe increase a person's strength as quickly as possible. Along with that is lower volume, for quicker recovery and as many growth phases as possible in a year's time.

Explain how a DC rest-pause set is performed.

Most of the sets are in the 11- to 15-rep range, although sometimes it's higher or lower, depending on the bodypart, exercise, safety and health of joints. Every rest-pause set is done with three failure points. A hypothetical incline bench 11- to 15-rep set would start with eight reps to failure, rack the weight, take 15 deep breaths, unrack, two to four reps to failure, rack the weight, 15 deep breaths, unrack, and a final one or two reps to failure.

Should every bodypart be rest-paused?

Most quad exercises and back-thickness exercises are not rest-paused due to safety reasons. These usually involve incredibly large poundages and, as you grow fatigued during a rest-pause set, it's easy to lose form. I don't want someone T-bar rowing 250 and pulling from a bent rest-pause dead stop and getting a serious injury.

For quads, I usually recommend a brutally heavy set of four to eight reps followed, after a rest, by a 20-rep set with less weight, but still heavy. I call that 20-rep set a "widowmaker." Once you do it, you'll have no question why. For back thickness, I recommend a brutally heavy set of six to eight reps followed, after a rest, by a slightly lighter set of 10 to 12, going to failure both times.

How many warm-up sets?

Whether it's one warm-up or five, take as many as you need to get ready for your all-out working sets. This all depends on the person and how advanced he is. For example, if someone was going to rest-pause 405 for incline presses, then his warm-ups might go something like this: 135 for 12 to 20 reps, 225 for 10 to 12,275 for 6 to 8,335 for 4 to 6, then 405 for an all-out rest-pause set of 11 to 15 reps. A bodybuilder using a lot less weight may need only two warm-ups before his rest-pause set.

What is extreme stretching, and what are you trying to accomplish with it?

Extreme stretching can have myriad benefits if done correctly: recovery, fascia size and potential hyperplasia, which is still only theory. It can change your physique in pretty dramatic ways [especially your chest, triceps and quads]. It should be done only after the bodypart has been worked. I recommend extreme stretching for every bodypart except calves, and that's only because the way I have people train calves already has an extreme stretch built into it. Basically, you want to get into a deep stretch and hold it for 60 to 90 seconds. These are very painful.

I'll walk you through a quad stretch. You just got done quad training, so take an overhand grip on a barbell fastened in a power rack about hip high and simultaneously sink all the way down. Push your knees forward and under the barbell until you're on your toes--basically a sissy squat. Now straighten your arms and lean as far back as you can, and hold that stretch for 60 to 90 seconds. It's going to be excruciating for most people. Do this one faithfully, and in four weeks your quads will look a lot different than they used to.

How important are static contractions?

I like to get people confident in the ability to handle big poundages, instilling the mentality that they are in control of the weights and not vice versa. For this reason and for "time under tension" purposes, some trainers should do a static contraction or static reps--short two-inch range of motion reps--at the end of their rest-pause set.

How should trainers use cardio?

In the offseason, if you train three days a week, then do cardio on the four off days. If more people took that approach, you would have fewer offseason bodybuilders looking like sumo wrestlers. Cardio is a very individualistic thing, so it's hard for me to say "do this" in an article without knowing a great deal about who's reading it. I've found that if people who have a difficult time gaining weight do cardio--walking on a treadmill or around the neighborhood--first thing in the morning, appetite and muscular weight gains become nonissues. I'd have them get up, take in either branched-chain amino acids or a scoop of protein powder, do their cardio and then eat the day's first meal. The old wives tale that you can't gain muscle mass if you do cardio is the biggest bunch of crap. If done right, cardio is a huge weapon in a bodybuilder's arsenal.

What are the basics of the DC nutritional philosophy?

* Use a higher protein intake--1.5 grams to upward of 2 grams per pound of bodyweight.

* Drink at least a gallon of water daily in direct relation to your protein times bodyweight ratio. For example, if you take in 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight, drink at least one-and-a-half gallons of water daily.

* Except for postworkout carbs, most people should take in no carbohydrates after 6 PM, primarily so morning cardio is done with lower glycogen levels.

* Eat either protein and carbs or protein and fats, but don't mix up those components greatly. You don't have to be absolutely meticulous with this, but it's a generalized way to keep most people from creating insulin spikes and driving fats toward adipose tissue.

* Meals that are protein and carbs are usually eaten in this sequence: protein first, fiber and veggies second, carbs last. This is simply because about half the time you're so full after the steak, salad and broccoli that you don't eat all the carbs, and for bodyfat control, that's a good thing.

* There are some individuals who should eat mainly protein and fats because they are so carb-sensitive, and other people who should take in carbs only pre- and postworkout. It's one of those things where I have to ask a lot of questions of the person, and I come up with a game plan.

Basically, I try to trick the human body into getting larger by becoming a muscle-building fat-burning machine. In the simplest of terms, if you're 180 and want to weigh 200, you'd better eat like a 220-pounder to get there. I say eat and train like a 300-pounder, cardio like a guy who is 8% [bodyfat] and shore up all excesses with carb cutoffs, food combinations and key supplements--green tea, etc.

What are blasting and cruising phases?

I recommend people train all out for six to eight weeks [blasting] and then take a 10- to 14-day period [cruising] in which they remove one meal per day and do only maintenance training. During the cruise, only go to the gym two or three times, go through the motions with straight sets and try out some new exercises you might switch to if you're close to strength plateaus on any current ones. Guys come off that 10- to 14-day cruise like rabid dogs chomping at the bit to get blasting again. Blasting and cruising must be done. You cannot train all-out all the time without overtraining. Blast and cruise back and forth all year long.

Let me play devil's advocate. Our muscles can't see the weight or count the reps; they only react to stress. As long as I keep stressing them enough, why do I need to get another rep or use another five pounds? Why can't I stress my muscles as much as a DC adherent with, say, supersets or drop sets or new exercises?

I think I can answer that best by asking the readers a question. Would Ronnie Coleman, or any top pro, be the size he is today if he stayed lifting the same light weights he started with when he was a beginner?

Bodybuilding is all about creating continual adaptation. The number of exercises you can do per bodypart is finite. How many good quad-building exercises are there? Six, maybe? The number of sets--volume--you can do is finite--or infinite if you want to spend the next 3,200 hours straight in the gym.

As for supersets or drop sets or whatever, after you do them this time, what are you going to do next time to make sure you went above and beyond the supersets and drop sets you did this time? Anyone reading this can giant set squats, leg presses, hack squats and lunges, and they will be blown out and sore as hell for the next few days. They could do that exact same workout with the same exercises and weights every leg workout for the next year and they'd be blown out and sore for days each time. Are they really going to gain any leg mass after the second or third time? No, because nothing has changed in the parameters to cause an increase in muscle size.

What is pretty much infinite in training? Poundage. You take a key exercise up to an extreme strength plateau, and at that very point, switch to a new key exercise and get brutally strong on the new one; you do that continually. That repetitive progression that you're held accountable for in your logbook is the key game plan to get to point B--where you want to be--from point A--where you are--at the absolutely quickest rate possible.

We've covered a lot of ground. What one thing would you most want people to take away from this article?

A lot of what bodybuilding is about for many people is obsession-compulsion instead of deductive reasoning. I would like people to start thinking of how to get to point B from point A in the shortest route possible. I am not claiming to have built a better mousetrap, but I think I'm showing how to catch the mouse quicker.


*** Each working set is preceded by one to five warm-up sets.

*** The additional set of 10-12 reps for rack and regular deadlifts, as well as the 20-rep additional "widowmakers" for quads, is performed after a rest and with lighter (but still heavy) weights.

*** Abs can be trained on any day, typically with one warm-up set and one working set to failure of both a crunching movement and a leg-raise movement. Working sets can be either rest-pause sets for 20-30 reps or straight sets for 15-20 reps.



REPS PER
EXERCISE WORKING SET

"A" WORKOUTS

CHEST
1 Incline Smith machine presses 11-15 rest-pause
3 Flat-bench barbell presses 11-15 rest-pause
5 Hammer Strength chest presses 11-15 rest-pause

SHOULDERS
1 Military presses 11-20 rest-pause
3 Medium-grip upright rows 11-15 rest-pause
5 Smith machine shoulder presses 11-20 rest-pause

TRICEPS
1 Close-grip bench presses 11-20 rest-pause
3 Lying triceps extensions 15-30 rest-pause
5 Machine dips 11-20 rest-pause

BACK (WIDTH)
1 Hammer Strength 11-15 rest-pause
underhand pulldowns
3 Front wide-grip pulldowns 11-15 rest-pause
5 Close-grip pulldowns 11-15 rest-pause

BACK (THICKNESS)
1 Deadlifts 6-9 + 9-12
3 Rack deadlifts 6-9 + 9-12
5 T-bar rows 10-12

"B" WORKOUTS

BICEPS
2 Barbell drag curls 11-20 rest-pause
4 Seated dumbbell curls 11-20 rest-pause
6 Machine curls 11-20 rest-pause

FOREARMS
2 Hammer curls 10-20
4 Barbell wrist curls 10-20
6 Cable reverse curls 10-20

CALVES*
2 Leg-press toe presses 10-12
4 Machine donkey calf raises 10-12
6 Seated calf raises 10-12

HAMSTRINGS
2 Lying leg curls 15-30 rest-pause
4 Sumo leg presses (feet high and wide, 15-25
press with heels)
6 Seated leg curls 15-30 rest-pause

QUADRICEPS
2 Squats 4-8 + 20
4 Hack squats 4-8 + 20
6 Leg presses 4-8 + 20

* All calf exercises are done with an enhanced negative portion of the
rep. Each rep consists of five seconds of lowering down to a full
stretch, a 10- to 15-second hold in the stretched position, then rising
onto the toes.

WORKOUT SCHEDULE

Monday Wednesday Friday

Week 1 1(A) 2(B) 3(A)
Week 2 4(B) 5(A) 6(B)

NOTES: The numbers 1 through 6 correspond to the exercise numbers in the
Doggcrapp cycle chart. Follow a pattern of A and B workouts for the
bodypart split. Beginning with week 3, this pattern repeats, starting
with the #1 exercises.