The Science Behind DC Training

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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.

 

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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.

 

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This why to "DC Stretch"

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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.

 

[future]

Dante’s Inferno
Who is he, and why is Doggcrapp training building so much muscle mass?
Interview by Ron Harris


RH: Would you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Let’s start with Dante, is that your actual name or an alias?
D: That is my actual name. It's my middle name but its what I go by, unless we are talking about the guy on the freeway yesterday who called me something else. (kidding)

RH: Do you have a background in sports, and how did you get involved in bodybuilding?
D:I have always been a good athlete in every sport, but back in the day, when I got into Junior High school something strange happened. I stopped growing. I went into my high school as the 3rd shortest person out of about 1000 people in the school and I was a complete stick to boot. My freshman year in high school I was 92lbs and I ended up graduating at 5'7" and a strapping, robust 122lbs (laughing). I had always excelled at basketball and baseball but found it very tough going-being so small. I grew 5.5 inches after high school and wound up at 137lbs at 6 foot tall at nineteen years old. While driving my car by a grocery store one day in my hometown of Gardner Massachusetts, I saw two time AAU Mr Massachusetts (and AAU America and Universe competitor) Donnie Lemiuex. The man was monstrous at 5'7" and a lean 240lbs and I was shocked to see someone look like that. I was determined right then and there to put my nose to the grindstone and I researched/studied every single facet about bodybuilding I could find right down from the basics to the molecular level. Donnie Lemiuex actually became my training partner later on and to this day we remain great freinds.

RH: Did you publish your own newsletter at one point?
D:Yes i published Hardcore Muscle from 1993-1995 and that is when I started to first put out my thoughts on multi-rep rest pause and other theories I had to the public. It was a very cutting edge newsletter and I was very proud to say that my readership was a list of who's who in bodybuilding at that time. I had a whole slew of pro's, top amateurs, doctors and researchers on that subscriber list. I was on the phone with Phil Hernon, Tom Prince, Curtis Leffler and a majority of other competing bodybuilders at that time gathering information for each issue. Even your old boss Lou Zwick was a reader of that mag Ron.

RH: Have you competed in powerlifting or bodybuilding? If not, do you have any desire to?
D: Three times in the last few years I have dieted down for shows and every time I pull out because of the same reasons. I have worked 2 jobs for a long time now (usually working 7 days a week) and I just get absolutely burnt out with the 1 hour of training and (up to 2 hours) of cardio I need to do to come into shows just absolutely shredded to the bone. I admire anyone that can compete in todays modern society working 40-60 hours a week because I know I sure as heck cant do it. This last time (early 2005) I was determined to follow thru and I went from 292lbs to 258lbs (15 weeks) but with 5 weeks to go my father was diagnosed with a tumor on his liver and both my wife (competing in figure) and I both pulled out of the show. Bodybuilding shows come and go but family is forever-that was an easy decision to make, and luckily my father was operated on and is fine and in good health now.

RH: How and why did you come up with DC Training? Had you grown frustrated with other styles of training? Did DC Training evolve over time?
D:I started out with the old volume training concepts just like everyone else does who reads what Arnold and the boys did and what the newstand magazines put out there as "the golden rules".....but I got to a point where I started thinking "there is no rhyme or reason to this". It all seemed based on obsessive-complusiveness instead of deductive reasoning to what truly builds muscle mass. I think alot of modern day bodybuilding routines are built on "the must principle" which is fanatical bodybuilders thinking "I must do inclines and declines and cable crossovers and flat bench and pec deck and flyes for chest this workout or I wont have all the bases covered and I wont grow". I think thats flat out wrong and again comes from direct obsessive-compulsiveness. DC training did evolve over time as I trained more and more bodybuilders and noted their results. Back in the early 90's it was the same basic concepts as today but had slightly more volume to it. Thru trial and error over the last 13 years or so Ive honed it down to what you see today.

RH: Why the name, ‘Doggcrapp?’ I mean, from a marketing point of view, you’ll remember it, but didn’t you have second thoughts that it would be mocked?
D:Yea that was a real ingenious move on my part was'nt it? I definitely should be nominated "idiot of the year" for that one (laughing). What happened was 6 years ago I was a member of a small but elite bodybuilding board on the net which had about 50 members. I never posted, I just read the board. I had viewed some posts by advanced bodybuilders on that board that I felt were very detrimental toward their health. I decided to respond and posted with the anomynous screenname of Doggcrapp. I thought it would be one post and kaput, done and over with. BIG BIG HUGE MISJUDGEMENT! People were intrigued with what I had to say and kept asking questions and I kept answering and it became an encyclopedia. That post became 118 pages long and had over a quarter of a million views. My posts back then were cut and pasted onto bodybuilding sites all over the net, people started using my methods and gaining rapidly, telling freinds....and it carried on thru word of mouth like a wildfire and sadly to say Im stuck with the name "Doggcrapp" now. If I could do it all over again Ron trust me, I would of given myself a much classier name.

RH: What are the basic principles of DC Training?
D:Heavy progressive weights, lower volume but higher frequency of bodyparts hit, multi-rep rest pause training, extreme stretching, carb cuttoffs, cardio, high protein intake and blasting and cruising phases (periodization).

RH: Can you give me an example of how the bodyparts might be arranged in a typical training week?
D: For the majority of bodybuilders who are in need of size the following works the best

monday=chest, shoulders, triceps, back width, back thickness
wednesday=biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings, quads
friday-repeat of mondays bodyparts
monday-repeat of wenesdays bodyparts

This above way bodyparts are hit twice every 8 days or so

For advanced bodybuilders (and with that I'm talking very elite bodybuilders and extremely strong people) I sometimes go with the following

monday=chest shoulders triceps
tuesday=biceps forearms backwidth backthickness
thursday=calves hams quads
friday-repeat of mondays bodyparts
monday-repeate of tuesdays bodyparts
tuesday-repeat of thursdays bodyparts

This way bodyparts are hit twice every 9 days or so and I can work on advanced bodybuilders lagging bodyparts somewhat better with this split.

RH: One very radical aspect of DC Training is that there are no isolation movements. How do you answer those that believe muscles need to be worked from several angles at each workout for ‘complete development?’
D:Let me clarify that. My trainees have kind of put the notion out there that no isolation exercises are ever being used. I honestly dont care what exercise someone uses as long as he can be progressive on it over time. If someone really believes in an exercise then they can have at it. Obviously a tricep dumbell kickback which you can hypothetically go from 15 to 45lbs is going to be alot less effective than a close grip bench press where you can start at 200lbs and end up at 405 in my scheme of doing things. I think this all comes down to the "Must" principle again I was talking about earlier and obsessive compulsiveness. When Ronnie Coleman came into this sport from powerlifting did anyone see big gaps of muscle missing from his physique? Is Johnnie Jackson playing catch up with certain bodyparts from powerlifting all those years? I dont see distinct weaknesses in their physiques. They were just somewhat smaller versions of what you see today. People are doing every foo foo exercise under the sun thinking it bombs muscles from all angles and in my opinion all your doing alot of the time is wasting energy resources. Once a growth response is reached in a workout then pretty much everything done after that is just cutting into recovery time and burning up glycogen (and god forbid muscle mass). Steve Michalik and his gang were doing up to 75 sets per bodypart and with elite genetics to boot set absolutely no difference in size or advanced development than the people doing 20, 15, 10, 5, or even 1 set a bodypart (mentzer).

RH: Could you walk the readers through a set, DC style? Let’s assume the person is properly warmed up and ready to do a set on say, close-grip lat pulldowns.
D: They would explosively pull it down to the chest and then on the negative return they would resist (control) on the way up. I don't want specific seconds, or a certain time amount, I just want control on the negative to the point if they had to, they could easily reverse direction. They would keep going to the point in the set where they would reach failure, hopefully between rep 7 and 10. At that point, they would take 10-15 deep breaths (usually 22 seconds or somewhere in that area) and then start the exercise again and go to failure once again . Then another 10-15 deep breaths. And then once again to failure. During the rest pauses you do not stay strapped to the bar or anything, you take your 10-15 deep breaths and then get back in there. Oxygen is the key here. What I'm looking for in a restpause set usually is a 11-15 rest pause total (with 3 failure points in that set). That usually comes out to something like 8 reps (failure) ...10-15 breathes....4 reps (failure)....10-15 breathes.... 2 reps (failure) = 14 rp. (hypothetically a total of 11-15 rest paused reps is what im after).

RH: Because of the rest-pause nature of DC Training, there tends to be a good mix of machines used. Do you believe that machines like Hammer Strength can stimulate muscle growth as effectively as barbells and dumbbells?
D: I would like to see everyone build a base and use free weights whenever possible. If someone has a training partner, there is no worry at all using free weights with my methods. But sometimes my trainees don't have a spotter and in those cases I try to set them up on machines that they can "save" themselves on while going to the 3 failure points during a rest pause set.. For example, it's very easy to save yourself on an incline smith press at a failure point, you just turn the bar and rack the weight, while with the free weight barbell incline press, i would hate to see one of my trainees sitting there with a guillotine bar on his neck at failure and have no way to get out of it without screaming "help!" Regardless a lot of people misconstrue this as a love for machines when in actuality I'm trying to keep safety in mind for someone who does not have a spotter. Its as simple as that. If push comes to shove my choice would always be a free weight exercise over a machine if it can be done safely. Thats why I tend to use power racks and smythe machines alot, so someone can go to the well and back and not worry about becoming "tomato canned" for lack of better words (laughing)


RH: Here’s a direct quote from an Internet hater regarding DC Training: “It’s a lazy man’s training program guaranteed to turn you into a fat tub of lard.” How do you respond to a statement like that?
D:Well with any training routine regardless if it's mine or someone elses, if you throw cardio to the wayside and eat like a glutton your going to end up with an accumulation of adipose tissue (bodyfat). I have seen many people use different training methods while not having their diet dialed in - who end up eating gross amounts and the wrong types of food thinking thats the secret. They end up being a fat pile of "lard" and blame it on the training routine instead of the real reasons...lack of cardio and an idiotic diet.


RH: How is DC Training fundamentally different from other abbreviated training systems like Heavy Duty?
D:To be honest Ron this one always rankles me. The HIT advocates love to shove anything thats a lower volume training routine under their gigantic HIT umbrella. I don't beleive in Menzter's theories, I kinda though he went off the deep end at the end there getting crazy about overtraining and in no way want to be associated with "HIT" protocols. My methods are lower volume but extremely heavy. My whole mentality is based around progression over time. With the normal bodybuilder training a bodypart 52 times a year (once a week) and with my clients training bodyparts 75-92 times a year (hence that body part growing 75-92 times/yr instead of 52), thats how I am getting these guys up in muscle size so fast. I can't have them doing 15-20 sets per body part or I cant get them recovered and that defeats the purpose of this all. So its heavy, progressive, lower volume training with recovery in mind so I can get these guys training that bodypart frequently. People have such a hard time grabbing this low volume per workout concept. But in actuality Im doing the exact same things as most volume trainers out there if they look at the big picture. They might be doing 4 different exercises for their back in todays workout (hitting back once a week). Im doing those same exact 4 exercises in a weeks time, but in two separate workouts while training back twice in a week.

RH: From talking with Dave Henry, I understand that record keeping and ‘beating the numbers’ from the previous week is a critical component of DC Training. Can you explain why?
D: Progression. Simply progression. Some people go into the gym with no plan at all and just absolutely wing it. I've never understood that. I bet any money that if I logged their workouts that 2 weeks later or 6 weeks later or even 12 weeks later when they do those same exercises again they are probably using the same 120LBS or 225LBS or 315LBS they used 2,6,12 weeks previous. Thats not progression! Nothing has changed, that to me is repeating something you've already done and will not force the body to grow further. Thats a waste of time in my opinion. With my methods, you are held accountable for todays workouts versus the last time you did this workout. Trust me, when you have that kind of imperativeness and your log book is your arch mortal enemy, you are in for the fight of your life! You have the man in the mirror to answer to. Do you want to drive home knowing the logbook kicked your ass? Or do you want to drive home knowing you destroyed the logbook and showed it who the damn boss is around here?!?! My trainees look back sometimes on their log books and find out that they are 50 to 200 lbs higher on those exercises months later. What does that equal out into? Adaption and rapid muscle mass accumulation.


RH: Do you think a person would get better results with DC training as opposed to standard volume training if he was using steroids, not using steroids, or would that have no impact either way?
D: To be totally honest, anyone using steroids on any training routine known to man is going to advance forward faster than if they did it au natural.


RH: Obviously Dave Henry is the most visible example of what can be done with DC Training. Can you give me a couple other specific examples of the types of gains your clients have made?
D: I have seen some pretty amazing things in my time, some things I dont even have an answer for (laughing). Ive seen a person have their bodyfat measured before and a year later where it was a little over 1% higher and in that time he had gained 52 lbs. Ive made numerour lightheavies into superheavies. Ive made numerous middleweights into heavyweights. I think alot of people are coming to realize with all the posts and photos online involving my methods, that the old thought of "you can only gain 8-10 lbs of lean mass a year" is complete utter bunk. I would venture to say that I can't remember a trainee of mine that has been with me for a whole year that has gained less than 15 lbs of lean tissue. I did have a trainee one time who came to me after an injury so he obviously lost some previous muscle mass, but I saw the before and after pictures with body fat percentage measured and 8 months later he had gained 67 lbs.and he was completely natural. To this day, that shocks me. Those are elite genetics though and for anybody reading this article, Im telling you straight out, there ain't a chance in hell I can repeat that with everyone. In my mind that was and is still virtually impossible. I have made many, many, people 30-50 lbs heavier in a years time but those people have to be absolutely meticulous and follow exactly what I want them to do--which is pretty much eating like a 300LBER, but cardioing like a guy who is 8-9% bodyfat and turning your body into a muscle building fat burning blast furnace. You pretty much get to a point in which your tricking your body into becoming muscularly larger.


RH: Obviously you don’t have to name names if you aren’t comfortable with doing so, but are there any other pro’s or top amateurs you are working with or have worked with as a trainer?
D: There is another pro besides Dave Henry but due to his sponser's contract rulings I don't mention him publicly. I also have trained INPA Natural Pro Travis Macduff. As far as top amateurs.....how much space do we have? Junior Nationals champ Ralph Garcia, top NPC/USA competitor Rob Lopez, Junior USA champion Jason Wojciechowski, 2nd place Junior USA Tom Whorley, top Junior USA competitor Josh Barnett, top USA and Junior National competitor Joey Mobareki, Junior USA competitor Jason Hamner, Junior USA/National competitor Chris Genkinger, NPC competitors Scott Stevenson, Robert Hopper, Joey Bonacia, Joey Mobareki, Stone Laszly, Ramey Benfield, Mike Piacentino, Jason Torres, and a whole slew of others including Canadian and European champions like Ivan Gasser (two time Swiss champion)

RH: Do you train anyone in person? Are you available as such, or do you prefer to do everything online and on the phone?
D:I used to train people in person. But training people is just a side job for me and I usually reject 70% of the people who contact me regarding training them.. Im very particular on who i want to train. They have to have the right, determined mind set, and its my way or no way. This is my reputation on the line and Im not going to screw with that reputation by taking someone on who isnt going to listen to me. I'll train a genetically gifted pro or I'll train someone with genetics like Woody Allen, it does not matter to me. I just need to feel that we will work well together, so I have an extensive questionairre everyone must fill out before I make my decision.


RH: One odd thing is that you don’t believe in doing any direct work for the traps. What’s your reasoning for that?
D:Name the 2 bodybuilders out of the 400 pros that have the most gigantic traps. Ronnie Coleman and Johnnie Jackson. Everyone and their brother is doing shrugs but why did those two former powerlifters join the bodybuilding ranks and have traps that stand up to their ears? Deadlifts. In my opinion there isn't a 225-275lb shrug on this planet that could ever equal the trap size you can accomplish by doing 300-650lb floor deadlifts and rack deadlifts.

RH: Where do you stand on cardio? Do you believe everyone should do it year-round, that those trying to gain mass shouldn’t do it at all, or that it should never be done by bodybuilders?
D: I believe highly in cardio, almost universally. The problem is with most bodybuilders, thats the first thing they skip. The only people I believe should not be doing cardio are some severely ectomorphic people, with fast metabolisms and/or teenagers who could pretty much eat anything and not gain any appreciative bodyfat. I feel almost everyone else should do it to varying degrees according to that specific individual. Its very hard to give recommendations and cookie cutter that without knowing anything about the individual of course. One of the staples I've found through training people who had a difficult time gaining weight, was when I had them do cardio (walking on treadmill or around the neighborhood) first thing in the morning upon arising that the rest of the day they would be as hungry as a bull and would eat so much that they would finally gain muscular weight. Whereas they couldn't gain weight when they weren't doing cardio because their appetite was lacking.

RH: I also understand that you don’t believe in the concept of ‘bulking up,’ correct?
D: I believe in the following Ron, I am trying to get people to put on as much muscle mass in the shortest amount of time possible. I don't believe ANYONE should become a fat pile of crap in that quest. I have people eating gross amounts of food up to a new level in size, but I shore up bodyfat gain by limiting carbs at times during the day, food combining, cardio, carb cuttoffs and using certain fat burning supplements like green tea, etc. My trainees most likely eat more food than people "bulking up" per se but I am adamant about not letting people use the "bulking up" excuse to become sumo wrestlers in the offseason.

RH: Do you believe in taking scheduled breaks or layoffs from training?
D: yes, my whole concept is based on "blasting" and "cruising". I have every trainee of mine "blast" for somewhere between 6-12 weeks all out and then I have them do a cruising phase which is maintenance training for 10-14 (sometimes 21 days) depending on how long their blast was. It has to be done. The people who try to go all out all year round with this are the ones who go into overtraining mode and eventually recede in gains.

RH: Should a bodybuilder stay on the DC style of training year-round, or do you recommend phases where they do something different, like higher volume or a routine that features more isolation exercises?
D:I think as long as they blast and cruise correctly (some obsessive compulsive bodybuilders refuse to do so) they can do DC style training year round

RH: As Dave Henry put it, DC Training isn’t for everybody. What type of traits would you say an individual needs to possess to successfully follow it?
D:You have to be a bulldog, no doubt about it. And above all else you need to debrainwash yourself of the preconcieved notions that everyone in this sport has which come directly from being taught from an obsessive-compulsiveness viewpoint and reasoning. And I think you have to be a little bit crazy. If your 2 bolts short of a carwreck, DC training is for you jack!!!

RH: I doubt it’s possible to put a number on how many bodybuilders out there are using DC Training or have used it, but it does seem to be gaining momentum. Could you see a day when it becomes as widespread as standard volume training?
D:God I hope not, Im already overwhelmed and have too much on my plate currently. I had absolutely no idea of Dave Henry's following and fanbase until I started training him 2 years ago. Every time he does really well in shows my emails go thru the roof. He just got second in the Ironman Pro show and Im getting emails from Africa, Europe, all over the place about DC training. I had a priest contact me yesterday about "Dave Henry's training routine"...Amen


RH: Do you have any books or videos available on DC Training, or are any in the works?
D:I believe Dave Henry is doing a DC training video pretty soon so that will be available to the public in the future. I really should put a book out there for people to read but right now I have a rare disease that is keeping me from doing so called "being a slacker". In all seriousness my articles online are in the process of being copyrighted so Ill get some literature in book form out there to people as soon as I can free up some time.

RH: You are also the owner of a supplement company, True Protein (True Protein | High Quality Nutrition and Protein Supplements). I know from a friend of mine that it’s a little different from the average supplement company in a few ways, right?
D:We are very different. We will give the buyer the highest quality supplements known for the best prices they will find. We are able to do this by buying the highest tested proteins/supplements in large amounts to get the price we want and then packaging it to the consumer in food grade jugs or food grade storage bags (their choice). So where the buyer wins out is he isnt paying for the 5000 dollar per page advertising campaign, the fancy jug label or the fancy packaging. People walk into nutrition centers now and plop down 30 dollars for 2 LBS of Whey protein concentrate. Compare this with two pounds of a top tested whey protein concentrate from Trueprotein which is going to cost you about 8 dollars. All because your not paying for all the frills/advertising going with it.
We allow people to custom design their own protein powders if they choose to do so. We have a specific part of our website that allows for this customization. Basically if you want it, we will make it for you. Alot of supplement companies will list the ingredients of their protein powder or supplements on their jug but they refuse to list the percentages of each component. Well that could mean you could be getting 98% of a very cheap lower quality protein, and 1% each of two high quality expensive proteins making up the rest, which really isnt fair to the consumer paying for it. We only offer the highest quality materials from all of the top manufacturers around the world, and we have the certificates of analysis to prove any and all of our products. If you tell us you want 60% of this and 20% of that and 20% of something else in your protien mix, be reassured thats exactly what your going to get.
Most of our customers understand and know what they are looking for, but if a customer is not comfortable or does not understand what would be best for them, we do have a few extremely well versed individuals on the True Protein team, that can help the novice up to the expert into offering them a better and more refined supplement for their needs and goals, all free of charge 7 days a week. We all started in fitness the same way, with most of us being bombarded with the marketed hype that many retail supplement products promise. Many would-be customers come to our website and become overwhelmed with the endless possibilities of supplement mixes, but we always encourage the novice to ask questions and to read through our unbiased information on our site to learn, after all it is your body. Ask our opinion on something and we will gladly give it to you.

RH: Hopefully this interview will solve the mystery of the mysterious Dante and give a clear overview of what DC Training is all about. I thank you very much for speaking with me.
D:Us Massachusetts guys have to stick together Ron! thanks for the interview


**(SIDEBAR
(please just list the exercise or exercises a client might use (since I know back gets two), and only indicate sets if it’s being done for straight sets rather than rest-pause)

****D:as said earlier any exercise that you can be progressive and safe on could be used but Ill list a short hypothetical sampling of what someone could do (after fully warming up thru progressive sets)

DC Training by bodypart

Chest:
incline smythe press (11-15rp)
hammer strength press (11-15rp)
decline barbell press (11-15rp)

Backwidth:
front rack chins (11-20rp)
close grip pulldowns (11-15rp)
front pulldowns (11-15rp)

Backthickness: (back thickness exercises and quad exercises arent rest paused due to safety reasons of fatigue and loss of form)
deadlifts straight sets (6-9reps) + (9-12reps)
T-bar rows straight set (10-12 reps)
rack deadlifts (6-9reps) + (9-12reps)

Shoulders:
military presses (11-20rp)
hammer strength presses (11-15rp)
upright rows (11-20rp)

Quads: (quads are done again with no rest pause because of safety reasons, but after progressive warmups there is a heavy set and then what I call a "widowmaker set" for 20 reps with a still heavy, but lighter weight)

free squats (6-10 rep straight set) 3-5 minute rest and then (20 rep widowmaker)
hack squats (as above)
leg press (as above)

Hamstrings:
lying leg curls (15-30rp)
seated leg curls (15-30rp)
sumo press leg press (pressing with heels only- straight set of 15-25 reps)

Biceps:
preacher curls (11-20rp)
barbell drag curls (11-20rp)
dumbell curls (11-20rp)

Forearms:
pinwheel curls (straight set 10-20 reps)
hammer curls (straight set 10-20 reps)
reverse grip one arm cable curls (straight set 10-20 reps)

Triceps:
reverse grip bench presses (11-20rp)
close grip bench presses (11-20rp)
EZ bar tricep extentions (15-30rp) (elbow safety)

Calves: (all calves are done with an enhanced negative, meaning up on big toe, 5 seconds lowering down to full stretch and then a brutal 10-15 seconds in the stretched position and then back up on the big toe again. It really separates the mice and the men--this is an all straight set)
leg press toe press (10-12 reps)
hack squat toe press/sled (10-12 reps)
seated calf raises (10-12 reps)

 

[the_alcatraz]

This is GREAT!

Thanks a lot Future. This should be a good read before I hit the gym tonight.

 

[future]

I think it will help clear up some things. DC training although has set points its also flexible. Not that different from Westside barbell in using the program to help your weaknesses too.

 

[slimjim1985]

I think it will help clear up some things. DC training although has set points its also flexible. Not that different from Westside barbell in using the program to help your weaknesses too.

bro I have a question on Extreme fascia stretching.

Is is safe for someone with a bad shoulder to do these stretches when it comes to chest? The problem is similar to multi-directional instability but only have problems with anterior dislocation. would it actually benefit a person with shoulder problems or will it only damage the rotator cuff more?

 

[the_alcatraz]

bro I have a question on Extreme fascia stretching.

Is is safe for someone with a bad shoulder to do these stretches when it comes to chest? The problem is similar to multi-directional instability but only have problems with anterior dislocation. would it actually benefit a person with shoulder problems or will it only damage the rotator cuff more?

Future will have a better answer for you, but I would stay away from that kind of "extreme" stretching if I had shoulder injuries...I did it today and it was paaaaaaaaainful

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/weight-training-weight-lifting/dc-training-my-log-670715.html

 

[slimjim1985]

hahah i bet. I tried a weak version of the stretching with bodyweight only on chest and it hurt. I had to ice my shoulder. So I don't know if maybe it will get better with time or do something different. hopefully future can chime in.

 

[future]

Passive stretching will most likely be safer. Trying to do the fascia stretches has the starting premise that you are physically able to perform the stretches. You want muscle pain with the forced stretched. Not feeling burning in connective tissues, grinding etc.

For most I do suggest doing passive stretching. I think its too easy to do the fascia stretches incorrectly especially if you just are inexperienced as a lifter and do not know your body.

 

[slimjim1985]

Thats what I kind of figured. I'm able to do E.F.S. for every major muscle group except chest and triceps. oh well i'll do light passive for chest

 

[the_alcatraz]

Thats what I kind of figured. I'm able to do E.F.S. for every major muscle group except chest and triceps. oh well i'll do light passive for chest

Good luck with that bro amd make sure you're really warm before you lift

 

[needtogetaas]

Damn future thanks man. Love it when you come in and help people like this.

 

[slimjim1985]

future is a good bro. I probably would have done the stretches despite excruciating pain if it wasn't for his advice.

 

[needtogetaas]

Future is turning out to be a massive pillar of lifting knowledge for the members here. I am happy we snatched him up and brought him onto the team.

 

[the_alcatraz]

Future is turning out to be a massive pillar of lifting knowledge for the members here. I am happy we snatched him up and brought him onto the team.

Future is a wealth of knowledge bro. We can all benefit from what he knows.

 

[future]

future is a good bro. I probably would have done the stretches despite excruciating pain if it wasn't for his advice.

It's normal. Been there myself so I can understand. We often equate pain as a good thing while caving to pain is true weakness. Not always the case.

Listen to your body. Recognize muscle pain with real pain in the joints. Total difference. Clicking, cracking and popping can mean trouble as well.

I would suggest doing some deep tissue massage, foam roller and hot/cold therapy.

 

[slimjim1985]

It's normal. Been there myself so I can understand. We often equate pain as a good thing while caving to pain is true weakness. Not always the case.

Listen to your body. Recognize muscle pain with real pain in the joints. Total difference. Clicking, cracking and popping can mean trouble as well.

I would suggest doing some deep tissue massage, foam roller and hot/cold therapy.

I definitely don't feel any grinding/popping, etc, but i I can tell the difference between good pain and bad pain.
I've been going back to the basics doing rotator cuff exercises with 3 lb pound weights and therabands. See if I can bring my smaller muscles back up and hope for it to stabilize my shoulder cavity.

The foam roller, I will research the different stretching exercises I can do with it. Thank you for the help

P.S. I do plan on starting DC soon, as soon as I research the program more. still a little hazy.

 

[ceo]

Future is turning out to be a massive pillar of lifting knowledge for the members here. I am happy we snatched him up and brought him onto the team.

Told you bro.

 

[future]

Thanks! Well some of just cutting and pasting some material that is worth keeping. I am also lucky to have been doing this for so long. Experience helps alot. Great teachers and people to learn from as well.

 

[future]

I definitely don't feel any grinding/popping, etc, but i I can tell the difference between good pain and bad pain.
I've been going back to the basics doing rotator cuff exercises with 3 lb pound weights and therabands. See if I can bring my smaller muscles back up and hope for it to stabilize my shoulder cavity.

The foam roller, I will research the different stretching exercises I can do with it. Thank you for the help

P.S. I do plan on starting DC soon, as soon as I research the program more. still a little hazy.

It's really simple. Just print off the text. Get a highlighter. Start grasping it. Its really based on rotating exercises, training them to failure, when you stagnate you switch to another exercise etc.

 

[the_alcatraz]

It works like a charm too

 

[future]

by Dante
Originally Printed in Hardcore Muscle Issue #8, 1995

With all the high falutin diets going around everywhere now — it's very hard to decide which direction to go. In this article I'm going to state some facts and then let you, the reader decide what is best for you. I'm probably going to get some guff from people who have different theories than for what I'm about to write — mainly because it seems passe.

Without a doubt — "bulking up" has gotten a bad name lately, but let me tell you why first. One thing Dan Duchaine really grilled into us during our interview with him - is how the market controls everything. The market honestly is not for the cultish class of rebel bodybuilders who want to get extremely massive and shake the earth at his every step. No, the market is for Joe public who would like to look lean all year round and build some muscle if he can too. And what is the next most important facet – convenience! It must be simple, easy to do, and just not a pain in the ass to follow day in and day out.
Yes, everyone wants to be big muscularly if they can, but to the majority - being lean and muscular is vastly more important. OK, I agree that the majority of bodybuilders out there are in this class. I don't actually consider those guys HARDCORE in my definition of he word but I must see their side too. To me bodybuilding is about growing not dieting (deprivation).

What I want you to look at is this — the big picture. Do you reading this
want to put on as much muscle, as fast as you possibly can — for the pursuit
of your long-term goal?

Or do you want to maybe compromise muscular gains, growing at a much slower rate but you look lean the whole way while trying to put on muscle? This is the tremendously hard decision you have t make. And yes, I feel it is tremendously hard because no one wants to build muscle at a less then optimum rate and no one wants to be a little fatter than they have to be.

Let's simplify things shall we? Basically you can divide pretty much all the new and old concept diets into two groups. First there is the moderate to low calorie diets which include (nutrient density, high fat [variation] to fat, low caw) diet theories in which in the overwhelming majority of them the calories are pretty much below 3500.

Then there is the moderate to high calorie diets which include High Protein, Parillo, High fat [again — variation] high carb, etc.) diet theories.

I'm going to be blatantly honest here so bear with me. If you want to stay fairly lean (let's say optimally lean — that's a better description) and in a genuinely easy diet concept to follow — all along building muscle along the way (not optimally though), then you should probably be on one of the diets in the first group. You have to do what makes you happy and a lot of you won't be happy being a little plump even though you wilt be a lot bigger muscle wise.

As a lot of you know, what looks good on paper doesn't always play out well in real life. And more than anywhere else diet theories which even in my discerning eyes, look good on paper — definitely don't play out well in the gym. I must repeat this. You must think this out and decide what makes you happy. I don't want you guys coming back and saying "Those fuckin' guys at H.M. made me fat! Yea. I'm a lot bigger but I'm fat!" I ain't gonna deal with it. (How's that for some slang) (My grandmother the English teacher would kill me) So now I'm going to state some facts outside the science/paper arena — that I have seen happen in real life. I'm willing to bet that when you guys think about it, you will come to the same conclusions I have.

A) I have never seen a juiced bodybuilder taking in about 3000 calories a day, go beyond the gains of what ONLY the use/abuse of the sauce has let him gain.

Al) I have seen juiced bodybuilders who took in a tremendous amount of calories get muscle gains and thickness at the fastest rate possible, and so beyond the 3000 calorie/nutrient dense bodybuilders that there isn't even a close comparison, And don't even try to argue, "Well it looks like it because they are holding more bodyfat." True, but when these guys come down in weight there is so much more muscle!

B) I have never seen a natural bodybuilder who tried to stay lean year-round, put on a dramatic increase of muscle size. If you added up alt their brutally hardcore workouts there is no way in Hell that 2-4LBS —at the most (I've seen O LBS) in a year is worth it!

BI) I have seen natural bodybuilders who make tremendously huge gains in bodyweight between contests, (and take a lot of verbal abuse for it) come in and crush the competition continually because they gain 10-15LBS of muscle underneath fat every year. Natural powerlifters absolutely crush natural bodybuilders in contests decisively. Why? Off-season bulkup!

C) Correction — I have seen genetically gifted African-American
bodybuilders make gains no matter what the Hell they do! And rarely a genetically superb Caucasian bodybuilder too! Ninety-eight percent of you reading this aren't in those groups so keep reading.

Cl) I guarantee you — GUARANTEE! — that somewhere right now there is a natural bodybuilder right now reading this who is pissed off and saying it is bullshit. This guy trains incredibly hard, eats incredibly clean, uses the best supplements religiously and stays lean and muscular year -round. Don't try to argue with him, because he is set in his ways—that's how natural guys (and some juicers too) are. They are right and you are wrong. They are the most holier-than-thou experts around. I only have one thing to say — check the scale! You weighed 188 three years ago and now you weigh 190??!! Great — by 2005 you will weigh 200L8S! CASE CLOSED! Two hundred and eight workouts in a year for a measly pound of muscle!

D) Shawn Ray, Tony Pearson, Porter Cottrell, Lee Labrada, Mike Ashley, Robby Robinson — these are examples of some bodybuilders who stay lean year-round —and there are some very big guys here and also some very good bodybuilders (Ray, Labrada) but honestly how much improvement in muscle mass do you see from year to year!! Not that much.

Dl) Dorian Yates, Nassir El Sombaty, Dave Fisher, Lee Priest, Chris Duffy, Michael Francois. Here are some great and middle of the road bodybuilders too. But all these guys do pound the food and get bigger every year. Especially the first four! Yates, Sombaty and Fisher are all over 30 or close to it. They have been lifting for over 10 years and are gaining big time muscle still. There are some non-wealthy bodybuilders in both groups, so don't be ignorant and say, "They must use more drugs:"
E) Is this bodybuilding or should it be called "body leaning" because it seems to me that is where all the new diets are leading to in my eyes. The compromising of extreme muscle gains for the general fear of being fat. I want you to ask yourself this —How long does it take to build extreme muscle size? I would say 5-15 years in my opinion, —— — How long does it take to lose body fat once you have reached the huge muscle size you want? 3-5 months??!! You tell me what the focus should be on. A friend reminded me of something There are models and strippers out there that take a lot of steroids (some on the level of chronic abuse) who train hard, eat really clean because they have to stay lean for their job and yet — they look the exact same year after year after year. When they first started using steroids— yes they looked better — but they hit that plateau fairly quick and stayed there.

Do you see my point yet? What is your goal? Is it to be extremely big or extremely lean? If there is a 175 lb bodybuilder out there who wants to weigh 235 lbs with 8% body fat and thinks he will accomplish that with 2800 calories and nutrient density_ man you are really fooling yourself! It will not happen! I promise you, in four years time you just might weigh 195 lbs. If you went ahead and used illegal steroids you might make it to 215 lbs. But honestly, do you know the quickest way there? — Bulking up to about 285 lbs would get you there. Yes, you would probably be pretty fat, and not happy about being that fat but when you came down, you weigh 230-235 lbs. And be very happy. A sacrifice to get to your final goal. — — The people who tout low calorie diets (I'm not putting them down — I respect them) are their main objectives to keep lean or to build muscle? Read into that please. The examples of themselves and the students they give—Was most of the muscle they have now from past bulking diets? Of course they look better now—they are lean! But was the muscle from bulking up??!! Yes it was most of the time.

Do you know what I consider the hardest thing in bodybuilding? Oh yeah, the training and dedication is hard — but to continually pound down 6 meals a day on a continual basis is the utmost of chores and dedication. I don't miss meals. Ahh, that's too easy — I don't miss meals to the best of my ability…OK.

So this is where you have to ask yourself—what are my ultimate goals and what is the happiest way I can get there? Do I want to stay extremely lean and maybe compromise some muscle gains? If I bulk up, will the negative people who wait at every chance to say "Getting kind of fat" affect me? Will society keep me from what I truly want to accomplish? See, I admire Dorian and Nasser because they are driven. You will never see those two with a tucked in dress shirt an in the off-season. They are bulked up. Chubby if you like. But they know what kind of muscle they want to put on and don't give a shit what anyone else says on the way there. Dorian caught a lot of flak on how he looked at the Night of Champions at roughly 300LBS. So what? Did you see what he looked like at the 95 Olympia? DOMINATED is the word.

Segway: I personally think Parillo got a bad rap. I don't agree with his basic what to eat theories — but I do think he has some ideas that could be put to use. Let's start this first — I don't care what crap you read that bodybuilders only need 1.3 grams of protein per kilogram. Bullshit! Look at some of the recent studies that pertain to bodybuilders that lift very heavy and very intense. Not fitness bodyshapers . . .0K! Four grams per kilogram of bodyweight is a good goal to shoot for. Actually shoot for the protein content of the bodyweight you want to weigh.. i.e. 260LBS = 354 to 472 grams of protein a day. 300LBS = 409 to 545 grams a day. Second of all you are going to have to decide which way you are going to go(a) moderate/high carbs and varying fats or b) high fat and low carb diet — Duchaine's and Dipasquale's diet. The big problem everyone has with the high carb diet is that with the high carbs comes an onset of high insulin which will—yes tend to put fat on the body (lipogenesis). But that is not all bad because insulin also pushes nutrients (amino acids) into the muscle cells and there is nothing wrong with that. But when these nutrient stores are filled, this is where a lot of bodyfat is laid down on the body. So it is a catch 22 situation. The extra bodyfat could probably give you a little extra leverage in some movements. But this is not what I think most diet experts are looking at. They look at insulin from a leanness perspective instead of its benefits of pushing nutrients into the muscle cells.

The problem with the higher carb bulking diets is that you can get very groggy and sleepy especially after a very high carb meal. It comes from an onrush of insulin and the release of a chemical in the brain — serotonin (especially when nutrient/carb stores in the muscle are saturated already). So there are good points and bad points to high protein — moderate to high cart diets.

People with superb metabolisms can benefit greatly from them in the way of superb muscle gains if they can put up with the groggy episodes that will affect them from time to time. Others who decide to go this route with lesser metabolisms either put up with the extra bodyfat and realize that when the tines comes they will take it off or perform aerobic work to keep their bodyfat levels in check. But you must realize that yes, the aerobics will let you have a high density/high nutrient/calorie diet but it also is an additional form of stress on the body that can catabolize muscle if overdone. This is where I thought Parillo had some nice ideas as far as aerobics done only for l/2 an hour at a time morning and night. I would also think that on training days only the morning session (if that) would have to be done. Better yet, my opinion would be only do the aerobics on off training days if you feel you have to do them. To be totally honest, people who take steroids are probably not going to have to do much aerobically because anabolics have a slight thermogenic effect and also they will be in such a superior muscle building situation that most gains (initially at least— not long term) will be in the way of muscle, not bodyfat. With receptor sites saturated and slower muscle gains, body fat will accumulate, many add clenbuterol to bulking diets to keep bodyfat at a minimum. Phenformin, Metformin and Vanadyl Sulfate work extremely well for most people on high carb diets. They mimic insulin in a way — driving glycogen into the muscles. In theory this should make you fuller looking and have less glucose left over to be transformed into triglycerides — stored bodyfat. A word to the wise — Metformin and Phenformin are very strong drugs so use them with caution. If you are not insulin deficient to some degree I would stick to the Vanadyl Sulfate. You know everyone and his mother argues how high calorie diets don't work and their big point is the bodyfat. But I have yet to see someone disprove that it is the fastest way to put on muscle! Yes it puts on body fat, but there are ways to control that pretty much aerobically if someone is really serious about putting on the size. I look at someone like Michael O'Hearn (Natural USA champ) who has to stay fairly lean now because of work, but was a serious powerlifter and has been up to 285 LBS or so. That's about 60 LBS over his bodybuilding contest weight.

There are a lot of excesses in this sport and I personally believe that the body is an incredibly adaptive machine — and if there is a tremendous demand (brutal heavy workouts), the body will not just store every single excess calorie as bodyfat, but will slowly adapt itself into a greater and greater musculature. Before you debunk this, think back through history of how man has adapted and evolved. The command (heavy weights) has to be there, no doubt. Think about the Sumo study that we talked about in issue six. The Sumo wrestlers had greater lean body mass than the bodybuilders. How? They hardly weight train. But their caloric intake is a lot higher. What would happen if the Sumos both weight trained and kept their bodyfat in check with daily morning and night aerobics? You tell me! The only difference in that equation was food intake.

I am not saying that the nutrient density low calorie diets don't work, not at all! They work— they are great at keeping off excess bodyfat and slowly building muscle at the same time. I think they are great for the businessman/fitness person. But for an extremely Hardcore bodybuilder trying to build up mass to intimidating proportions, I really think you have to goad your body into believing it has to adapt to a bigger musculature. 2,700 calories tells it to stay midsize. 6,000 - 10,000 calories tells it something else — and in my opinion that something is get much bigger by storing bodyfat and a bigger musculature. Yes, the musculature is a slow adaptation and the bodyfat a fast one, but I feel the muscle adaptation is far greater than it is from the low calorie diets. And we have talked about how to keep the control of bodyfat with aerobics. I didn't say it was easy or simple. But if your body won't gain bodytat at 2,000 calories a day, why the hell do you think it will gain any muscle — which is so much harder to do!
I've mentioned the high protein/moderate to high carb diet. I'm going to skip Parillo's because I don't personally agree with all his dieting theories (Sorry John). But the other high calorie diet that I think is very worthy of mentioning is the high fat diet that both Dipausquale and Duchaine have worked on. Dipausquale has been kind ot vague with his theories somewhat on this diet, but I do believe Dan is going to be much more precise with his. He told us that. Both bulking diets I've talked about recommend red meat as a main cog in the diet. I agree totally. The creatine and amino acid pool in red meat is very beneficial. The high fat diet goes something like this— 5 days high fat (Monday thru Friday) /carbs kept under 30 grams a day each of those days / roughly 55-60% fat, 30-55% protein and 5-8% carbs. On the weekend there is a 2 day carb load where the breakdown is 30-40% fat. 10-15% protein, 45-60% carbs. So during the week, samples of food you can eat are — steak, sausage, bacon, ham, eggs, pork, chicken, lamb, veal, kielbasa, (no-carb) protein drinks, etc. - -

During the weekend pretty much anything goes and you can carb up to your hearts content. I know what some of you are thinking or have been programmed to think! That this diet is dangerous because fats are dangerous. Not altogether true!

The principles and theories behind this diet are extremely sound. Without the chronically elevated insulin levels of the high carb diet comes less stored bodyfat. OK, here it is laid out. You carb up over the weekend. and your body uses the stored glycogen in the muscle for energy during Monday and Tuesday (varying), and then switches over to using tree fatty acids and bodyfat as energy when the glycogen stores are gone. The free fatty acids are broken down from the high fat diet and triglycerides (from stored bodyfat)are broken down to free fatty acids and then to ketones—an energy source. In a sense, stored body fat acts as glycogen and the free fatty acids act as glucose. Lowering the calories uses more body fat as energy. To gain mass, a higher calorie intake is taken in. This diet looks to be right up the natural bodybuilder's alley. And I urge you to either try Dipausquales book or Duchaine's book when it comes available. There is too much info to summarize Dipausquale's book here- It is called the Anabolic Diet — 50 bucks or so. Some of Hardcore Muscle's readers have been giving me feedback on the high fat diet and most of them that stuck to it — think it is a godsend! If your body doesn't metabolize carbs very well and you have been stuck for a couple years with minimum gains — give this a try will you??!!

There is only one problem I have with the high fat diet. I wonder with only manipulating insulin on the weekends, if there is any loss of benefit during the week of not having insulin driving amino acids into the muscle cells. Something tells me Dan Duchaine, being the problem solver that he is — will have some sort of solution to this in his diet. Basically my opinion is this — you have 30 grams of carbohydrate to play with during the week days. Obviously the best way to utilize them would be to do so on training days right after a workout where your body would be most insulin receptive. Half a cup of grape juice (the rest water) in a no carb protein drink (would have only 17 grams of carbs) could probably do some good and still give you 13 grams of carbs to play with the rest of the day.

I'm not so sure that some sort of insulin spike (in an after workout scenario on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday — high fat / no carb days) would prove to be harmful. Im talking about only on workout days, of those 3 days. Something in an allowance over the 30 grams consisting of Dans prior recommendation of juice and ion exchange whey powder. A whopping dose of it! But that would bring you over 30 grams at carbs. On the high fat diet, you would definitely have to supplement multivitamins to ward off any chance of deficiencies anywhere. In theory, if you kept strict on this diet — it would be less likely to acquire an abundance of bodyfat even when bulking. But as in the other high calorie diet — you might have to include some aerobics if the bodyfat levels start getting over the level you have set to yourself. The downside to this diet is it can get very monotonous eating the same meats day after day. That is why you have to make a concerted effort to change things up. Chicken wings, scrambled, poached, boiled, eggs, steak, rnarinated with different marinades, pork chops, etc. Remember condiments and marinades have a lot of hidden carbs. People who are very sinewy, very muscular and have trouble putting on muscle could take their choice of these two diets and benefit from either one of them. African Americans and some taller whiles are usually in that group. Others would most likely have to keep a check on the bodyfat with very slight aerobics. Some lead a very active life style (work, play) and can keep that extra fat off. Endomorphs will really have to work hard with aerobics because they will really push the fat levels up. That is your genetic blueprint, I'm sorry.

In this sport, both you and I know people who train hard and heavy. There are so many bodybuilders out there now it's incredible. Go to your gym and count the people who lift hard. Now go thru all those people and think how many have gotten continually bigger over the years (including yourself). How many plateaus do you see? Most of those people are eating 2300-3000 calories a day. Are you one of those people who blindly thinks he is growing but then 10 years later looks back and realizes that thru all those years and all those workouts (the time put in) that you really are exactly the same??!! What a waste. Don't take no for an answer. The body is an adaptive machine. Force that mother to adapt. Strength is size. To be a 250LB bodybuilder you are going to have to eat like one and train like one. A 250 LB bodybuilder who wants to be a 280 LB bodybuilder will not get there if he eats 2500 calories. He has to eat his way up to 28O LBS. Muscle is a hard to come by commodity. To get fat is pretty easy. You know how to control that fat — it will range from no aerobics to 1/2 hour aerobics, morning and night 6 times a week. In 4 years from now do you want 4 more pounds of muscle or 30-45 LBS more muscle. I'm a bodyBUILDER, the choice is easy for me. I hope you reread this article and really look at the examples and comparisons I cited. It comes down to what makes you happy. In my eyes at least, a hardcore bodybuilders main emphasis is on muscle (hard work, strength, and dedication) and a secondary emphasis on body fat. Some people will put an emphasis on bodyfat and a secondary emphasis on muscle. If you take genetics and drugs out of the equation, how would you — the trainer — answer the following question?

"Im 180 LBS and I want to be 280 LBS. I want to gain muscular size at the quickest, fastest rate possible all the while keeping my bodyfat at a satisfactory level. There is a million dollars in it for you it you can do it in 6 years or less." What would you have to have him do to get him there??!! ME? — This guy would never miss a meal, get to know a treadmill on a regular basis, and be a rest pausing maniac. And I would have a million in 5 years. not six!