Training Theories :.

[GEARD UP]

wow

i just seen this thread.

talking about over thinking it. you could have gained ten pounds in the time it took you to read this.

you wanna get bigger.

progressive overload, periodical variety, continuous tension

vala

[sjfou]

Theres a few more that are worth reading. ill try get up - DC, HSS-100 & MAX-OT come to mind...

[Warrior]

Theres a few more that are worth reading. ill try get up - DC, HSS-100 & MAX-OT come to mind...

I got a DC plan typed up somewhere - I'll dig for it today. I don't have anything for HSS-100 & MAX-OT... so please post those up if you have them.

[sjfou]

HSS-100

The HSS-100 Program — Bodybuilding With an Edge
by Christian Thibaudeau

The Most Powerful Muscle Building Program Ever?

When you observe the strength training community, you quickly notice how each coach has his own "pet program." For example, Coach Staley has EDT, Coach Poliquin has GVT and GBC, Chad Waterbury has several different programs, Westside guys have, well, Westside training, and the list goes on and on.

My problem is that I love the iron game so much that I'm never able to design what I'd call my "ultimate program." Sure, when I first talked about Optimized Volume Training it made a lot of noise, and many people fell in love with the program and the results it brought on. But I have a deep-rooted, visceral need to experiment and find new ways to spark muscle growth. As such, I always hated to limit myself to the confines of one single training methodology.

I personally need to be allowed some freedom when designing or using a program, and I'm sure that a lot of you are the same way. That having been said, it's also important to have a certain framework to work from. So I recently designed a training system specifically for bodybuilding purposes; one that has proven to be super effective for all those who've used it, and which still allows for a lot of variation.

This system is called HSS-100. Quite frankly, I never used anything as powerful when it comes to building muscle mass.


HSS-100: What Does That Mean?

While it's a cool name for a program, it must mean something, right? It sure does:

H = Heavy lift

S = Superset (or triple set)

S = Special technique or special exercise

100 = 100 rep set


Let's break it down!

Exercise 1: Heavy lift performed as a stand-alone

Heavy lifting can stimulate muscle growth even though you're "technically" outside of the proper hypertrophy zones. It does so via three mechanisms:

1) Direct Action: Heavy lifting places an important growth stimulus on the fast twitch fibers. While the total volume might not be high enough to stimulate maximum muscle growth, it can certainly increase FT fiber size.

2) Indirect Action: Gaining strength will allow you to use more weight during a subsequent accumulation phase and this will translate into much improved gains.

3) Potentiating Action: Heavy lifting improves the CNS's capacity to recruit the high threshold fast twitch muscles fibers. These have the highest growth potential but are very difficult to stimulate. Increasing neural efficiency is a very effective way to develop the capacity to stimulate them and thus drastically enhance growth potential.

Plus, heavy lifting increases myogenic tone (tonus) which makes your muscles appear and feel "harder."

For this first exercise in your workout, you should pick a compound movement, preferably with free weights. For example:

Quads: Front or back squat

Hamstrings: Romanian deadlift or good morning

Back: Bentover barbell rowing or chest-supported dumbbell rowing

Pectorals: Incline, flat, or decline press (barbell or dumbbells)

Deltoids: Push press, military press, dumbbell shoulder press

Biceps: Standing barbell curl (barbell or EZ-bar)

Triceps: Close-grip press (incline, flat or decline) or JM press

Traps: Power shrugs (barbell or dumbbells)

You should train this first exercise mostly in the 4-6, 6-8, and 8-10 rep ranges, although it's possible to go down to 2-4 reps from time to time.

Between 3 to 5 sets should be performed (3 sets if working in the 8-10 range; 4 sets if working in the 6-8 range; and 5 sets if working in the 4-6 range).

Exercise 2: Superset (or triple set)

A superset (basically alternating between two different exercises) can stimulate hypertrophy via several pathways. First of all, it drastically increases training density, which has been shown to favor the onset of an anabolic hormonal milieu mostly via an increase in growth hormone release. While I'll be the first to admit that transient hormonal changes won't turn you into the incredible hulk, when you want to attain that perfect physique every little bit helps.

A superset can also allow you to thoroughly stimulate a certain muscle group. This is accomplished by coupling a compound exercise with an isolation exercise. While it's no secret that big multi-joint, complex exercises are the best growth stimulator, they do have their shortcomings, the most important being that your body will always strive to complete the exercise with the less energy expenditure/effort as possible. This means that it won't necessarily put the most training stress on the desired muscle group, but rather on the one best suited to do the job.

For example, you might perform the bench press to build up your pecs, but if your front delts and/or triceps are overpowering, chances are that your chest will be left sub-optimally stimulated from your bench pressing work. By adding an isolation exercise for the pectorals either after (post-fatigue), before (pre-fatigue), or before and after (pre and post-fatigue) you'll be able to fully fatigue the chest.

As we just saw, there are three main types of supersets:

1. Pre-fatigue (isolation first, compound second): Advantageous if you have problems recruiting a muscle group during a compound movement. Pre-fatiguing the muscle group will make it fail first during the compound lift.

Pre-fatiguing the muscle will also increase the mind-muscle connection as you'll "feel it" more because of the pre-existing fatigue/burn. So if you have problems "feeling" or recruiting a certain muscle group, pre-fatigue might be the solution. The downside is that you'll have to use less weight for the compound movement because of the pre-fatigued state of the muscle.

2. Post-fatigue (compound first, isolation second): The main advantage of this method is that it allows you to keep on using big weights in the compound lifts because you're finishing the muscle with the isolation exercise instead of fatiguing it first. In most cases, this will lead to better growth stimulation.

However, if you have problems recruiting or feeling a certain muscle group during the compound lift, the post-fatigue method might not be as effective as the pre-fatigue method.

3. Pre and post-fatigue (isolation, compound, isolation): This method combines the preceding two methods into one giant set of three exercises. It's very effective as it'll ensure that you fully annihilate the targeted muscle group, plus it'll improve the mind-muscle connection by pre-fatiguing it.

The downside is that this method is tremendously stressful on the body and nervous system. More than one such set is probably overkill for most natural trainees. However, if you decide to use this method and perform only one such giant set, it can prove to be quite effective.

Exercise 3: Special exercise or technique

The third exercise is used to really isolate the desired muscle group or portion of a muscle group. This is accomplished either by selecting a special exercise or a training technique favoring the development of the muscle group (e.g. iso-dynamic contractions are great to build the back, biceps, and hamstrings).

Here are some exercise suggestions:

Chest

Combo Press

Combo Low Incline Press

Multi-Angle Dumbbell Press

Start at a high incline, perform reps to failure, drop down to a low incline, perform reps to failure, drop down to a flat press, and once again rep out to failure. Keep the same weight for all angles and don't rest between positions.

Close-to-Wide Dumbbell Press

Press-to-Flies Dumbbells

Simply execute the concentric (lifting) portion of the movement as a dumbbell press then the eccentric (lowering) portion as a dumbbell flye.

Back

Rope Lat Pulldown

Eagle Pulldown

Seated Rope Rowing (trunk bent forward)

Spider Rowing

Rack Pull

Chest Supported Incline Shrug

One-Arm Barbell Rowing

Scapular Retraction

Quads

Sissy Hack Squat

Pulley Hip-Belt Squat

Isometric Bulgarian Squat (30-60 seconds per leg)

Sissy Squat

One-Leg Squat

Hamstrings

Pull-Through

Loaded Back Extension

One-Leg Back Extension

Biceps

Wide Grip/Elbows-In Preacher Curl

Close Grip/Elbows-Out Barbell Concentration Curl

Jettison Technique Barbell Curl

The Jettison curl is a form of drop set. You begin with a dual source of resistance: a barbell plus a resistance band. You perform reps to failure with both implements. As you reach failure, you drop the resistance band and continue to rep out with only the bar. When you once again reach failure, you drop the bar, grab the band, and finish off with more reps to failure.

Drag Curl

2/1 Curl

As you can see by the pics, you lift the weight with two arms and lower it using only one.

Triceps

Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extension

Rotating Triceps Extension

Bodyweight Triceps Extension

Traps

Lean Away One-Arm Shrugs

Calf Machine Shrugs

Haney Shrugs

Supinated Cable Shrugs

Deltoids

Ahrens Press

Exercise 4: 100-Rep Set

The final exercise of the workout is a "flushing" set of 100 repetitions. Ideally you'd complete the 100 reps without any rest, but at first, while you build up your work capacity, it's okay to take a few 3-5 second pauses during the set.

The purpose of this set isn't to stimulate hypertrophy directly, but rather to enhance recovery from the previous workload. The very high rep/low intensity set will increase muscle flushing which will help bring blood and nutrients to the muscle group as well as the tendons.

It'll also help get rid of the metabolic wastes accumulated during the workout. Plus, systematic use of very high rep sets can increase muscle capillary density (more blood vessels going to the muscles) which will further enhance recovery capacity as well as work capacity.

There will still be a minimal hypertrophy effect from such sets, mostly in the slow-twitch muscle fibers. While athletes don't want that, bodybuilders who are only interested in size will accept any added hypertrophy they can get!


Workout Breakdown

How do you put all this together? I'll show you! A workout will look like this:

Accumulation Phase (4 weeks)

Heavy: 4-5 sets in the 6-8 rep range (with occasional foray into the 4-6 range)

Superset (pre-fatigue) isolation movement: 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Superset (pre-fatigue) compound movement: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Special exercise: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps

100-reps exercise: 1 set of 100 reps

Intensification Phase (4 weeks)

Heavy: 4-5 sets in the 4-6 rep range (with occasional foray into the 1-3 range)

Superset (post-fatigue) compound movement: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

Superset (post-fatigue) isolation movement: 3 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Special exercise: 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps

100-reps exercise: 1 set of 100 reps

High Volume Phase (4 weeks)

Heavy: 4-5 sets in the 8-10 rep range (with occasional foray into the 6-8 range)

Superset (pre and post-fatigue) isolation movement: 1-2 sets of 10 to 12 reps

Superset (pre and post fatigue) compound movement: 1-2 sets of 8 to 10 reps

Superset (pre and post-fatigue) second isolation movement: 1-2 sets of 12 to 15 reps

Special exercise: 3 sets of 12-15 reps

100-reps exercise: 1 set of 100 reps

Max Strength Phase (4 weeks)

Heavy: 5-6 sets in the 1-3 rep range

Superset (post-fatigue) compound movement: 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps

Superset (post-fatigue) isolation movement: 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps

Special exercise: 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps

100-reps exercise: 1 set of 100 reps


Training Split

With HSS-100, I suggest training each muscle group once every 5-7 days to allow for maximum recovery. The following split is adequate:

Monday: Quads

Tuesday: Back/Traps

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Hamstrings

Friday: Chest/Shoulders

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Biceps/Triceps


Conclusion

The HSS-100 system is probably the most powerful muscle-building program I've ever designed or tried. Understand that this program is designed to put a lot of beef on your frame and necessitates a large caloric intake with at least 1.25 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight.

Proper post-workout nutrition is a must and so is during-workout nutrition. The latter will allow you to reap the most benefits of the 100-rep set: you'll have more nutrients floating in your bloodstream to carry in your muscles during the 100-rep set.

The beauty of this program is that it can be adapted to your liking and needs. It allows for some variety while keeping its powerful effect. Most of all, it makes training fun again!

[Warrior]

Doggcrapp

This is a good proram for the advanced... for people that want to decrease their volume while making way for more intensity - intensity only advanced and well-conditioned bodybuilders can reasonably muster.

Doggcrapp Training
by Dante

Note: DOGGCRAPP is a member here with several posts in the training forums.

It is so tough to talk about training when I am not in front of someone. In real life or at my gym people will see me or someone I train and be convinced that my system works very well. And in person I can explain how it all fits together. But for some reason giving an opinion on training online offends a lot of bodybuilders. It is like a blow to their ego as if your putting them down or telling them they don’t know how to train. And then you get every HIT, periodization, and brainwashed Wieder principle disciple arguing with me why their method is the best and I am wrong. People get pissed if they think what they might be doing training wise is wrong or not the most productive. It's human nature.

I can continually turn 170lb guys (who go along with me 100%) into 260lb plus monsters over and over but I cannot help guys who are 190-230lbs who are stuck in their ways. Those guys can continue to take the long road or never get there. In the past months since I’ve put my methods out there to view, I continue to hear different arguments against my way of training. Hey it’s radically different than the norm and like I said people can’t stand to think what they are presently doing training wise isn't the best! So far I’ve heard the usual gamut (overtraining, undertraining, undervolume, CNS saturation). One guy who said "not enough stimulation per workout"-sadly he has confused volume to equal gains. WRONG!!! If volume = gains go head and do 100 hard sets per bodypart and do each bodypart once every 3 weeks. Please tell me what incredible gains you get.

To me all this is an egotistical way to debunk a radically different method because you don’t want to believe what your presently doing is incorrect or 'slower gaining'. No one is overtraining or undertraining that I train. Every bodybuilder that I have trained has gained at least 47lbs! This sport is full of fragile egos, pseudo-experts, armchair bicep curlers. I am a very advanced bodybuilder but the only thing I am conceited about is I truly believe I could take anybody reading this and turn them into a 4.0lbs per inch bodybuilder. I love taking a humble bodybuilder who doubts his genetics and making him the largest guy in his gym. That is so fun for me. I love the people who whisper in the corners that "he must be loaded to the hilt" yet he is on the same things they are. I love hearing the petty jealousy and anger that comes over other bodybuilders now that the guy I trained is the big boy on the block. I’m not pushing my methods on anyone. I want you to decide for yourself with deductive reasoning. But if you have been lifting for 4-5 years and people aren't commenting, stating or asking questions about you being a bodybuilder on a daily basis-I think that’s embarrassing and you might want to question if what you are doing training wise has merit to it. I only train hardcore bodybuilders (and some fitness girls) down here in So Cal. (its not my main job--I turn down about 90% of people due to my own personal reasons--which are mostly after interviewing them I feel they wont do what I say 100%) I am very, very good at turning normal people into the biggest bodybuilders in their area. I’ve trained 7 people bodybuilding wise in the last 4 years (5 used super supplements 2 were clean). Every one of those people gained at least 47lbs on their bodyweight at roughly the same or less bodyfat.

1. 188 to 260(2.5 years)
2. 172 to 254 (3 years)
3. 208 to 261(clean! genetic mesomorph 1 year)
4. 218 to 275 (cut his juice in half, doubled his protein, showed him how to train correctly-2 years)

I don’t like to comment on others training philosophies directly because they get so offended if you don’t agree with them. I believe when you make something too complicated or hard people don’t want to follow it. I believe the baseline training protocol for bodybuilding is "progression" and whatever training is needed to get stronger (and therefore bigger). Here is my personal opinion on volume training...it’s a way for people who cannot generate inhuman intensity during a set to make gains. If that seems like a "putdown" so be it, I am sorry. Volume training to me is the long way to achieve trauma whereas there are shorter more productive ways of going about it.

If you were a world class sprinter with a time a couple tenths off the world record what would you do to break the mark? Would you run 5k races and repeated sprints at 60% intensity for hours at a time? Would that make you any faster? Or would you push the intensity limits with a wind bearing running parachute and do explosive sprints as hard as you can? You tell me.

I say 60% intensity with volume training because I know this: You cannot do 20 sets for a bodypart at a balls to the wall all out intensity-it’s impossible. I know this about myself, if I truly squat with everything I have (where its rep or death), with an extremely heavy weight and at 12reps I want to quit.....but somehow, someway I make myself do 13, then the 14th, the 15th--my face is now beet red and I’m breathing like a locomotive yet I 'will' myself to do another rep, another, another---with two more reps to go till 20, I feel faint but I am going to fucking do it because "I am not driving my car home thinking how I pussed out and didn’t make it"....19.....and 20 goes up agonizing slow and I am thinking to myself "oh please, please go up"----done! Ten minutes later I couldn’t even attempt to try to duplicate that. Not even close. I bet I would make it to maybe 14 reps tops. If you could duplicate that same set you are a robot.

Ninety percent of people in gyms around the world are doing some form of volume training but besides the rare genetically elite and heavy steroid users, why does everyone stay the same size year after year? (With volume training you see a lot of overtraining, joint injuries and people who are burning up all their energy stores) If you can't train at above normal intensity levels I feel volume training is beneficial to cause trauma (hey it works for genetic freaks like Flex Wheeler and Paul Dillett--two half-ass 60% trainers if that). Too bad with their incredible genetics that they don’t have the hardcore mindset of a Yates or Coleman who bypass them by force of willpower and effort. Personally I like the shortest route at the shortest time possible to get someplace. Do I think my way of training is the best? For myself and the people I train-yes. I have no way to gauge others intensity levels online. Someone training at 90% intensity for 6 sets is going to get more out of it than Joe Blow who is doing 20 sets per bodypart at forty percent. In the simplest terms, no matter what way you train-if you are way stronger than last year, 6 months ago, 3 months ago, last month, last week you are getting continually bigger no doubt about it. A lot of modern day training has been evolved pretty much from what Arnold and bodybuilders of the 60's did---and Arnold just winged it--there was no thought provoking science there. I want people to think their training out.

• If you train a bodypart every day you will overtrain and not get larger
• If you train a bodypart once a month you will not overtrain but you will only be growing 12 times a year besides the atrophy between workouts (pretty much a snails pace)
• If you train with 30 sets a bodypart it will take you a great deal of time to recover from that besides using up a great deal of energy and protein resources doing it (and maybe even muscle catabolism will take place)
• If you train one set for a very easy 8 reps per bodypart you could train that bodypart more often but you didn’t tax yourself to get larger.

So what is the answer? I’ll tell you the answer! The answer is doing the least amount of heavy intense training that makes you dramatically stronger (bigger) so you can recover and train that bodypart the most times in a year (frequency). If you can train/recover/GROW, train/recover/GROW, train/recover/GROW as many times as possible in a years time--you will be essentially gaining twice as fast as the bodybuilders around you.

Ok back to my training concepts—I’ve stated how my whole goal is to continually get stronger on key exercises which equals getting continually bigger. I will state this, the method I am about to describe to you is what I have found that makes people grow at the absolutely fastest rate possible and why I am being inundated down in this area to train people. It’s going to go against the grain but I'm making people grow about 2 times as fast the normal rate so bear with me.

A typical workout for the masses is (lets use chest for an example) doing a bodypart once every 7 days and sometimes even once every 9 days or more. This concept came to the front due to recovery reasoning and I agree with most typical workouts your going to need a great deal of recovery. Here’s the problem, lets say you train chest once a week for a year and you hypothetically gain 1/64 of an inch in pectoral thickness from each workout. At the end of the year you should be at 52/64 (or 13/16 ). Almost an inch of thickness (pretty good).

To build muscle we are trying to lift at a high enough intensity and load to grow muscle but with enough recovery so the muscle remodels and grows. The problem is everyone is loading up on the volume end of training and its taking away from the recovery part of it. Incredible strength GAINS will equal incredible size GAINS. And you sure as hell don’t need to do 3-5 exercises and 10-20 sets per bodypart to do that! In actuality you really don’t need to do much to grow. As long as your training weights continue to rocket upward you will always be gaining muscle. If you go in and do squats using your ultimate effort with 405lbs for 20 reps are you going to say you’re not going to grow from that? If you went all out on that effort, I'm sorry but throwing hacks, leg press, leg extensions and lunges into that same workout is going to do nothing but royally lengthen your recovery process when you were already going to grow in the first place.

You can train in a way so you can train a bodypart 3 times every nine to fourteen days and you will recover and grow faster than ever before. If you train chest 3 times in 9-14 days you are now doing chest roughly 91-136 times a year! So instead of 40-52 growth phases with regular once a week training you are now getting 91-136 growth phases a year. I personally would rather grow 91-136 times a year than 40-52 times a year. At a hypothetical 1/64th of an inch per workout you are now at 136/64 (or roughly 2.1 inches of thickness). So now you’re growing at roughly two times as fast as normal people who are doing modern day workouts are. Most people train chest with 3 to 4 exercises and wait the 7-9 days to recover and that is one growth phase. I use the same three exercises in that same 9-14 days but do chest 3 times during that (instead of once) and get 3 growth phases. How? Super heavy weights for low low volume so you can recover and train that bodypart again as quickly as possible.

Everyone knows a muscle either contracts or doesn’t, you cannot isolate a certain part of it (you can get into positions that present better mechanical advantages though that puts a focus on certain deep muscle fibers)--for example incline presses vs flat presses. One huge mistake beginning bodybuilders make is they have a "must" principle instilled in them. They feel they "must" do this exercise and that exercise or they won’t grow.

This is how I set bodybuilders workouts up. I have them pick either their 3 favorite exercises for each bodypart or better yet the exercises they feel will bring up their weaknesses the most. For me my chest exercises are high incline smith machine press, hammer seated flat press and slight incline smith press with hands very, very wide----this is because I look at my physique and I feel my problem area is upper and outer pecs---that is my focus. What you do is take these three exercises and rotate them, using only one per chest workout. I would do high incline smith on my first chest day, then 3-4 days later I would do hammer seated flat press on my second chest day. Three to four days after that wide grip slight incline smith press would be done and then the whole cycle is repeated again in 3-4 days.

Whenever I train someone new I have them do the following --4 times training in 8 days---with straight sets. Sometimes with rest pause sets but we have to gauge the recovery ability first.

Day one would be Monday and would be:
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
Back thickness

Day two would be Wednesday and would be:
Biceps
Forearms
Calves
Hams
Quads

Day three would be Friday and would be the same as day one but with different exercises:
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back width
Back thickness

(sat+sun off)

Day four would be the following Monday and would be the same as day two but with different exercises:
Biceps
Forearms
Calves
Hams
Quads

And so on Wenesday, Friday, Monday, Wenesday etc...

You’re hitting every bodypart twice in 8 days. The volume on everything is simply as many warmup sets as you need to do- to be ready for your ONE work set. That can be two warmup sets for a small muscle group or five warmup sets for a large muscle group on heavy exercise like rack deadlifts. The ONE work set is either a straight set or a rest pause set (depending on your recovery abilities again). For people on the lowest scale of recovery its just that one straight set---next up is a straight set with statics for people with slightly better than that recovery----next up is rest pausing (on many of the of movements) with statics for people with middle of the road recovery on up.

As you progress as a bodybuilder you need to take even more rest time and recovery time. READ THAT AGAIN PLEASE AS YOU PROGRESS AS A BODYBUILDER IN SIZE AND STRENGTH YOU NEED TO TAKE EVEN MORE REST AND RECOVERY TIME. EXAMPLE: My recovery ability is probably slightly better now than when I started lifting 13 years ago but only slightly...but back then I was benching 135lbs and squatting 155lbs in my first months of lifting. Now I am far and away the strongest person in my gym using poundages three to six times greater than when I first started lifting. With my recovery ability being what it is both then and now, do you think I need more time to recover from a 155lb squat for 8 reps or a 500LB squat for 8 reps? Obviously the answer is NOW! Yet remember this-the more times you can train a bodypart in a years time and recover will mean the fastest growth possible! I’ve done the training a bodypart every 10 days system in the past and while recovering from that--the gains were so slow over time I got frustrated and realized the frequency of growth phases(for me)was to low. I want to gain upwards of 104 times a year instead of 52--the fastest rate that I can accumulate muscle (YET AGAIN WITHIN ONES RECOVERY ABILITY-I CANT SAY THAT ENOUGH)

I have been slowly changing my philosophies of training over the past 13 years to where I am now. I’ve been gaining so fast the last couple of years it’s been pretty amazing. I’ve got my training down to extremely low volume (a rest pause set or ONE straight set) with extreme stretching, and with recovery issues always in the back of my mind. I realize the number one problem in this sport that will make or break a bodybuilder is overtraining. Simply as this--you overtrain your done as a bodybuilder gainswise. Kaput. Zip. A waste of valuable time. But I also think there is a problem with underfrequency (only if you can train hardcore enough with extremely low volume to recover). I skirt right along the line of overtraining--I am right there...I’ve done everything in my power (Stretching, glutamine, "super supplements", sleep)to keep me on this side of the line and its worked for me. I believe everyone has different recovery abilities--the job of a bodybuilder is to find out what their individual recovery ability is and do the least amount of hardcore training to grow so they can train that bodypart as frequently as possible. For anyone who wants to follow my lead that would mean starting out with straight sets training 4 times in 8 days and strictly gauging yourself recovery wise with every step up you take (statics, rest pauses)--I would rather you wait until my next article comes out to go over the details of this kind of training before you attempt it--as its important to me that everyone who wants to do this does it correctly.

Dogg Pound Training

Now to get into specifics regarding training. Stay with me here. You are only doing one exercise per muscle group per day. You are doing your first favorite exercise for chest on day one, you're doing your second favorite exercise for chest the next time chest training rolls around and then your third favorite exercise for chest the time after that when chest training rolls around. Then you repeat the entire sequence again. You're doing the same exercises you would be doing anyway in a 7-14 days time and training chest 3 times in that same period with minimal sets so you can recover. You cannot do a 3-5 exercise, 10-20 set chest workout and recover to train chest again 3-4 days later. It's absolutely impossible!! But you can come in and do 2-5 warmup sets up to your heaviest set and then do ONE working set (either straight set or rest paused) all out on that exercise then recover and grow and be ready again 3-4 days later. This kind of training will have you growing as fast as humanly possible. Again the simple equation is "the most times per year you can train a body part incredibly heavy, with major strength gains, and recover will equal out to the fastest accumulation of muscle mass possible".

Why don't most pros do this kind of training? Why don't you?!?! Because every form of training has been taught to someone, passed down from the magazines for decades with no thought out rhyme or reasons. Every form of modern day training stems from what the guys in the 60's and Arnold was doing. Finally Yates and some others got people thinking about what truly is working when it comes to training. If you think about it-it's ridiculous some of these recommended routines in the magazines. Most training comes from peoples egos. People are so driven and desperate to get big that they believe they MUST do this and MUST do that every workout. Thirty sets here, with multiple exercises to hit every angle there. You know what that does? It dramatically cuts into your recovery ability (never mind amino acid pools and glycogen stores) so you cannot train that body part again in a couple days time. That defeats the purpose of rapid accumulation of muscle mass. I'll state this as a matter of fact because I believe it's true. I believe if you, the person reading this, trained the way I am recommending, you will be 20-40lbs of muscle larger in 3 years than if you kept training the way you are presently training. If that offends you or seems ballsy to state-SO BE IT!!! I've done enough studying and real life experimentation on aspiring bodybuilders to state that.

To start-Three key exercises are picked for each body part. USING ONLY ONE OF THOSE EXERCISES PER WORKOUT you rotate these in order and take that exercise to it's ultimate strength limit (where at that certain point you change the exercise to a new one and get brutally strong on that new movement too). That can happen in 4 weeks or that can happen 2 years later but it will happen some time (You cannot continually gain strength to where you are eventually bench pressing 905 for reps obviously) Sometime later when you come back to that original exercise you will start slightly lower than your previous high and then soar past it without fail.

Some principles I believe in:

A) I believe rest pausing is the most productive way of training ever. I've never seen a way to faster strength gains than what comes from rest pausing. I'll use an incline smith bench with a hypothetical weight to show you my recommended way of rest pausing.

Warmups would be 135x12, 185x10, 250x 6, 315x4 (none of these are taxing--they are just getting me warmed up for my all out rest pause set)

MAIN REST PAUSE SET-375x8 reps (total failure) rack the weight, then 15 deep breathes and 375x 2 to 4 reps (total failure) rack the weight, then 15 deep breathes and 375x 1 to 2 reps. I personally do a static right after that but I'll explain that later. Remember every time you go to failure you always finish on the negative portion and have your training partner help you or rack the weight yourself. To explain further on my first rest pause above I struggled with every iota of my strength to get that 8th rep up. At that point instead of racking the weight up top I brought the weight down to my chest again slowly (6 seconds) and had my training partner quickly help me lift the weight back up to the top to rack it. That "always finishing on the negative rep" will accrue more cellular damage over time and allow for even greater gains.

B) Every exercise is done with a controlled but explosive positive and a true 6-8 second negative phase. The science is there just read it. Almost every study states an explosive positive motion is the priming phase and the negative portion of an exercise should be done controlled and slowly. I have the mindset that I hope you guys develop. I try so hard to get the weight up only for the sole reason I can lower it slowly to cause eccentric phase cellular damage.

C) Extreme Stretching: it must be done, it's imperative. It stretches fascia and helps recovery immensely. It will dramatically change your physique in a short amount of time if done right, trust me on that. I hit on it in the first article of this series.

OK you guys have to use some deductive reasoning here. If I do a 375 or so LB smith incline press rest paused for 10-15 reps with statics on Monday morning (which is the time of day I lift) by that same Monday night, 12 hours later I am viscously sore. By Tuesday morning I am still pretty sore but to a lesser degree. By Tuesday night I have very little soreness. By Wednesday morning I have absolutely no soreness and Wednesday night the same, so I could probably train chest again on Thursday no problem but I currently wait till Friday and train chest again. If your training chest on Monday and on Thursday your still pretty sore, a couple things are happening--either you're training with more volume than I recommend, or you're not extreme stretching (as recommended in my first article for AE), or more likely your recovery ability is not your greatest asset. If the last one is true you are going to have to take note of that and broaden the workout days between bodyparts hit. Most of you reading this (90%) will be able to go the Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Monday again route hitting bodyparts twice in 8 days. A chosen few might be able to go Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday especially if they really work their extreme stretching and get the proper rest. That's very rare though that someone can recover that quickly even from one working set per bodypart. My recommendations are to start out Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Monday first and gauge how that goes. I am currently seeing that most people go best with that protocol. I know some of you want to train a bodypart as many times as possible in a weeks time, hell I would love to be able to train a bodypart 4 times a week and grow but it can't be done. So this is something I can't help you on.....you need to check yourself and find out where you are recovering and then work with that. I can do a 20 plate leg press for reps and be sore for the next day and a half and feel fresh and ready to go on my next leg day. High dose glutamine has been a godsend to my recovery ability as has extreme stretching. My training weights continue to rocket upward on everything. What I cannot do is 3 leg exercises for multiple sets in a workout session and recover 3-4 days later to do legs again. I think you're begging for injury if you are still very, very sore the next time a body part comes up.

Example Day One
First exercise smith incline presses (I'll use the weights I use for example):
135 for warmup for 12
185 for 8 warmup
250 for 6 warmup
315 for 4 warmup

Then all out with 375 for 8 reps to total absolute failure (then 12-15 deep breaths) 375 for 2-4 reps to total absolute failure (then 12-15 deep breaths) 375 for 1-3 reps to absolute total failure (then a 20-30 second static hold) DONE!-that's it 375lbs for 8+4+3= 375 for 15 reps rest paused..... next week I go for 385 (again rest paused)-----directly after that rest pause set I go to extreme stretching flyes as described earlier and then that's it for chest and on to shoulders, triceps and back. The next time I come in to do chest I would do hammer flat presses in the same rest paused manner (and then extreme stretching again)---the time after that I come in to do chest I would do my third favorite exercise rest paused/stretched and then the cycle repeats.

In simple terms I am using techniques with extreme high intensity(rest pause) which I feel make a persons strength go up as quickly as possible + low volume so I can (recover) as quickly as possible with as many growth phases (damage/remodel/recover) I can do in a years time.

Some exercises involving legs and some back rowing exercises don't allow themselves to rest pause too well. A sample couple of days for me would be the following (IM not including warmup sets--just working sets).

Workout 1
CHEST: smith incline 375 x 15 reps rest pause (RP) and a 30 second static rep at the end (then stretches)
SHOULDERS: front smith press-330 x 13 RP and 30 second static (then stretches)
TRICEPS: reverse grip bench press 315 for 15-20 reps RP-no static (then stretches)
BACK WIDTH: rear pulldowns to back of head 300 x 18 RP (20 second static at end)
BACK THICKNESS: floor deadlifts straight set of 8-20 reps (then stretches for back)

The information below is from Peter O'Hanrahan's "Body Types, Part 1". It is a brief and incomplete description of the mesomorph's temperament.

Workout 2
BICEPS: preacher bench barbell curl RP for 14 reps and 30 second static
FOREARMS: hammer curls straight set for 15 reps (then stretches for biceps)
CALVES: on hack squat straight set for 12 reps but with a 20 second negative phase
HAMSTRINGS: Cybex hamstring press (pressing with heels up top) RP for 20 reps
QUADS: hack squat straight set of 6 plates each side for 20 reps (of course after warming up)

Then stretches for quads and hams.

The absolutely most important thing of any of this is I write down all weights and reps done from the working set on a notepad. So every time I go into the gym I have to continually look back and beat the previous times reps/weight or both. If I can't or I don't beat it, no matter if I love doing the exercise or not, I have to change to a new exercise. Believe me this adds a grave seriousness, a clutch performance or imperativeness to a workout! I have exercises I love to do and knowing I will lose them if I don't beat the previous stats sucks! But there is a method to this madness because when you get to that sticking point of strength (AND YOU WILL, THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN HACK SQUAT UP TO 50 PLATES A SIDE) that is when your muscle=strength gains will stop. At that point you must turn to a different exercise and then get brutally strong on that one. Then someday you will peak out on that one too. You can always come back to that loved exercise in the future and you'll start somewhat lower and build up to a peak again--and trust me that peak will be far more than the previous one. Some exercises you'll stay with and gain strength at for almost up to a year and some exercises you'll be at the limit in 4 weeks and lose them but its all in the plan. For example-- I love reverse grip bench presses, knowing that I have to beat 315 for 17 reps RP or else I have to change to maybe dips next time puts a serious sense of urgency into workouts. I either have to beat it by doing something to the effect of 320 for 15 RP or if I stick with 315, I have to get at least 19 reps RP or so. If I'm feeling crappy or having an off day I might give myself a little leeway and allow myself another go at it next time around but that's it. The notepad is your intensity level, how badly you want to keep doing an exercise will be how hard you push to beat the previous. Looking at that piece of paper knowing what you have to do to beat it will bring out the best in you. Again, it's all in the plan to make you the strongest bodybuilder possible which will equal out into the biggest bodybuilder possible.

I find myself irritated now when people look at me and say "genetics" or something to that effect--its amazing to me that at 19 I was 6 foot and 137lbs (yes 137) and eating 6 meals a day and people would chuckle at me the stickboy trying to be a bodybuilder. I seriously did not miss a meal for my first 3 and a half years, I would set my alarm at 2am and wake up and eat scrambled eggs and pancakes if I missed a meal during the day. Two years later I looked "normal" at 196lbs or so. Two years just to look like a normal person! I kept bombing away, eating and not taking no as an answer and now I am up at 300lbs and people say "you must have always been big" and genetics. That's tough for me to hear thinking how psyched I was to weigh more than 170 at one point. I've only trained one true mesomorph. Mesomorphs don't need trainers usually. I train ectomorphs and endomorphs. The last 3 people I've trained have been a pudgy Mexican who was 172 (now 258lbs hard)--a skinny marine, and a guy stuck at 188lbs for many years (now 260). These people all thought the same thing seeing how my workouts were set up-"am I doing enough?"--If you can show someone how to train so hard that they realize they were holding back tremendously during their 8-20 set workouts, that's half the battle. The other half is making them realize how impossible it is to do 8-20 sets per bodypart if you truly, truly train balls to the wall hard. Personally, if I do a 20 rep hack squat with slag iron heavy weights....at 10 reps I am seriously doubting I am going to make it---at 14 reps IM seeing colors---at 17 reps IM asking God for help--and the last 3 reps are life, death, or rigor mortis---I know for a fact that there is no way in hell I could do another 4-5 sets of hacks like that. I gave everything I had right there on that set. If I can do another 4-5 sets like that I'm cruising at 70% at the most. If all you get out of my articles is the mindset of heavy weights, low volume, stretching, and frequency of body parts trained-I would be very happy because then I would have you on the right path to get you where you want to be.

Random thoughts by Dogg

a) I have no problem with anyone on leg training switching the exercises they do from the 6-8 heavy set to the 20 reppers on as long as the 20 repper gets done. Alot of the super large guys I train (270-340lbers) have serious trouble breathingwise doing a 20 rep free squat. Hell I have trouble doing it myself. You are carrying alot of bodyweight, breathing like a locomotive and hey lets not die on leg training day-LOL. Ill give you an example--One of my guys does smythe squats, free squats and leg presses as his three leg movements. On leg press day he does the heavy 6-10 (I make him do 10 reps on it) and then does the 20 repper on the same leg press. On smythe day he does his heavy 6-8 and then does the 20 repper on a horizontal hack machine. On free squat day he does his heavy 6-10 and does the 20 repper on a Cybex (different) leg press machine at a slightly different angle than the other leg press day. I got no problem with any of you guys doing that especially you large beasts. Now if you start doing only leg presses with the same leg press machine for all your 20 reppers then Im going to call you on it that your taking the easy way out.

b) Alot of people ask me how I come to conclusions on things.....alot of all this you can deduct from what you see going on around you at gyms and from just watching people. Alot of what I do is "reverse engineering"--I think things out backwards to find out the reasoning. You can sit there and study medline all day long but until you have a practical brain to think how it pertains to bodybuilding, your not going to get very far in applying it. For example alot of people freak out about the controlled negative on reps in DC training and why the heck its done. Besides what science agrees with, think of certain instances or hobbies or jobs with repetitive movements with the repeated same load. Boat rowers, sawing lumberjacks and gymnasts. They all do repetitive movements with the same load, a boat or canoist rower is trying to power along a boat as fast as he can, a sawing lumberjack is using power to saw down a tree, a gymnast does repeated movements with bodyweight. All are pushing the limits trying to use as much power as possible for the task at hand. Which one of those three has a discernable musculature? Boat rowers dont have huge backs, sawing lumberjacks dont have huge arms but gymnasts always have that musculature. They sure arent eating to get huge and most likely they arent doing incredibly heavy weight training but you can always see the musculature on a gymnast. Why? Well which one of those three does controlled negative movements? The rowers and sawers are just using positive movements and it does virtually nothing for their musculature (science agrees with that theory-concluding that the positive movment is a strength/priming phase and the eccentric is where the magic happens)--the gymnasts on the other hand are all doing heavy eccentric and controlled negative work (iron cross/rings, pommel horse etc etc etc)--the moral of the story is your whole thinking in all this should get to the point where your curling a weight up just for the simple reason of controlling the descent downward so you can get bigger

c) There was a study some years back which included 3 groups--elite sumo wrestlers who did no weight training whatsoever, advanced bodybuilders and advanced powerlifters--about 20 in each group. Now there is a lot of variables here but they took the lean muscle mass of each group and divided it by their height in inches. Surprisingly the sumo wrestlers came out well ahead of the powerlifters (2nd) and the bodybuilders (very close 3rd). This is a group who did no weight training at all but engorged themselves with food trying to bring their bodyweight up to dramatic levels. How is a group that is doing no weight training having more muscle mass per inch of height than powerlifters and bodybuilders? For anyone that doubts food is the greatest anabolic in your arsenal, you better get up to speed and on the same page as what my trainees have found out. Gee now what would happen if you actually ate to get dramatically larger like a sumo, but actually weight trained like a powerbuilder (which is what we train like), and also did enough cardio/carb cuttoffs etc to keep bodyfat at bay while doing all this? Are you guys coming around to how I think yet....in how to become the biggest bodybuilder at the quickest rate but keeping leaness on that journey?

d) Something you guys might want to try for your forearm belly that has worked better for me than alot of other things is a (belly of the forearm) extreme stretch done exactly after biceps or wrist curls or whatever you are doing for forearms. Its as simple as this--once youve done biceps and forearms and have already stretched your biceps--or directly after your last rep of seated wrist curls...sitting on a seat with your forearms resting on your legs and the barbell in your palms face up...let your hands sag downward and let the barbell roll down the palm of your hand and hold onto it with your fingers until you feel that stretch and then the fun begins (30-90 seconds thats what your trying for)..dont let the topside of your hands hit your shin because that defeats the purpose....at about 30 seconds youll start shaking...45 seconds your head will be twitching from side to side because there is so much pain and it feels like your going to lose the barbell with your grip and if you make it to 60 YOU ARE THE MAN...but 90 seconds is the goal...(trust me you wont make it--its too fucking painful)....youll get to the point youll have to drop the barbell on the floor and take 30 seconds just to get your wits about you. Be very careful with this movement, I dont want you tweaking your wrists here so be cautious. For those who do this, take a long look at your forearms the very next day in the mirror, flex your forearm and I think youll be very surprised at how different/swollen it is. Thats all that needs to be done---let me know 3 months from now how different they look

e) It's about time I start showing you guys some new exercises from the DC arsenal--I got about 50 you guys have never seen but Ill throw this one at you for now. Maybe Ill just have you guys throw out a bodypart one of these days in a post and ill give you new exercises you can do for that bodypart (time willing)...

Pulley row high pulls-awesome for lat width here guys--this is going to be a pain in my ass to explain but lets see if i can do it--god its so much easier showing someone these in person. First up--do you know that position that is at the bottom of a stiff leg deadlift if you do it very deep (some people dont)--remember that position because that is key here ok?

Ok-Your on a seated cable row with a close grip parallel handle--your legs are slightly bent--your aiming for the greatest amount of stretch possible at the very beginning of the pull ok so remember that you should be in that "position" above or close to it (I talked about earlier) thruout this whole movement. With your back rounded and you leaning forward (huge stretch) you pull the handle to right about 3 inches above the kneecaps, thats it. At no point do you stick your chest out and arch your back and pull the handle into your midsection and sit straight up as in a seated pulley row, what you do instead is flare your lats at the stretch at the very beginning and keep your lats flared till you pull right over your kneecaps and then control the return to the stretch and repeat. Because your bent forward in a position that doesnt put your back in a precarious safety position you will have no worries with a rounded back. I guess a simple way i could describe it is
a) huge stretch at beginning
b) do half a pulley row movement but dont lean your torso backward or arch your back--keep it stabilized maybe only moving a few inches the whole movement
c) keep your lats flared outwards the whole way thru and dont crunch your scapula together--pull with your lats and pull the handle 2-3 inches over your kneecaps and return------15-30 reps rest paused is the deal on these and you will not be using the weight you use on seated pulley rows so wipe that from your memory banks

PAYING YOUR DUES

This post is for everyone in this forum--its very important to read over--VERY IMPORTANT. Want to know the average trainee that comes to me? He is 35-45 years old and after 10-15 years of lifting weighs 175 to 210lbs. He looks at me as the guy that somehow can pull a bunny out of a hat and make him that 250lb ripped bodybuilder walking the streets.... where he couldnt even get close to that level by himself. He is scrambling around because he doesnt want to get to 50 years old never feeling what it was like to walk thru a crowd and people gawk, stare, and point because he is a damn good bodybuilder. Well what the hell have you been doing all these years?!?!?! You should of put in your f*^&ing dues like the rest of us. These same guys think Im a miracle worker that can somehow add 80lbs of muscle mass on their frame while losing 30lbs of fat while keeping incredibly lean thruout the journey to get there. Well guess what? YOU FUCKED UP. Want to know the fastest way to walk around at 250 ripped--THE ABSOLUTELY G'DAMN FASTEST WAY TO GET THERE? TAKE 2 YEARS AND EAT HUGE AMOUNTS OF FOOD, AND TRAIN WITH BRUTALLY HEAVY WEIGHTS, AND BECOME A BIG FAT OFFENSIVE LINEMAN LOOKING GUY AT 330LBS....AND NO IT WONT BE PRETTY...AT ALL. MOST OF ALL DONT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY EVEN IMPEDE THE SLIGHTEST IN MUSCLE MASS GAIN. Just eat copious amounts of food (up to 500-600 grams of protein) and bring your bodyweight up the charts which will allow you leverage and strength gains to allow you use the incredible weights you have to use in the gym to accomplish this. Then after being at that level for density reasons for awhile, you can slowly take it down and I mean slowly and most likely have the most muscle mass gain your genetics allowed in that time frame. That is the probably the fastest way in the shortest time to get there. But definitely not the most desirable but truth is truth. Am i recommending that approach--HELL NO, but if we are talking about getting this done as fast as humanly possible then I have to be blunt. Noone wants to look like a fat slob even if it means the end result will be much closer to their ideal. And these guys 35-45 years old want me to keep them pretty boy lean and wave the magic wand and make them into Milos Sarcev after they pretty much just wasted 10-15 years of training.

I dont like using myself for an example but I will here. I started training at about 20 at 137lbs and predominantly spent the next 15 years eating tremendous amounts of food, training with very heavy weights but keeping active so I am at a leaness I personally am satisfied with. I topped out at about 303lbs and but currently hang around 283-288 because thats what I like to be at. I put my dues in here. I might jump in a show if time allows but because of my schedule currently we will have to see how that works out. Mainly Im looking forward to the day I can kind of relax and not push the limits like I have all these years. The 6 meals a day every day, and the war with the logbook along with lugging around 285-300lbs sometimes becomes very tedious. I go to bed at nite thinking exactly what Im going to do and what all this hard work will easily allow myself to do when I decide to crank the dial downward. Cardio will be done 6 times a week for health and bodyfat reasons and that will take priority.

Back to the subject on hand here. So what will all this hard work for the past 15 years allow me to do? I'm in my mid 30's now so for the rest of my 30's and thru my 40' and 50's i can pretty much walk around at 250lbs hard as a rock at a very low bodyfat percentage. Ive set myself up so that will be very very easy. I actually have to do much less than everything I do now (except cardio) to be there. Ill use guys in this forum for examples, Inhuman and massive G are both around 5'9", 5'10" and are offseason 280 to 300. They have spent the time and food consumption and paid their dues to get there. Massive G I believe is mid 30's and Inhuman is early 40's I believe. Both these guys will be able to crank this down and enjoy walking around with full abs, hard as granite with veins everywhere at 240-260lbs. They have set themselves up and paid their dues in their 20's and 30's to do that. You guys that are 35-45 years old who want this but weigh 175-210lbs are playing catchup and are so behind the race its sad. My point of this post is to get guys in their early 20's to think, to get guys who just blew 10 years of training who are in their 30's to think, and to get guys who just blew 10-15 years of training who are in their 40's to think. Am I advising bulking up? No that was a hypothetical example. Im advising you get your freaking head on straight if you want this so bad. That means extreme food intake pronto, with the heaviest weights in good form that you can use progressively, extreme stretching and enough cardio (and bodyfat protocols) that it keeps you at a leaness your satisfied with as you get dramatically larger. This sport isnt unlike a career. You have to set yourself up early so you can be right where you want to be late. Theres alot of you guys 35-45 years old in this forum, some that I even train, that think they want it but really dont have what it takes to go get it. I see it in their workouts they send me (they take the easy comfortable road never pushing the limits) and for those that I dont train I sometimes see it in your posts---you just dont have what it takes. I can only provide a guide to get there, I cant create an inner drive for you.
You have to start thinking in terms of point B from point A. Do you really think that eating 3000 calories with 225 grams of protein and doing the Weider "confusion training principle" to keep your body offguard will somehow magically make your 175lbs into 250lbs of rock granite monstrosity? Every year of training is so damn important. If you just trained for a whole year and only gained 2lbs of muscle mass, you just pretty much wasted a productive year of training--its gone--its lost and you arent getting that year back. Three weeks ago I was contacted by someone in his early 40's who had been lifting for many years, weighed about 170lbs and showed me a picture of Geir Borgan Paulsen and said thats what he wanted to look like and can i get him there?!. Laughable. Geir Borgan Paulsen is 50 years old and looks freaking phenomenal. He is a tiny bit (and i mean every so slightly tiny bit smaller) than he was when he competed in his 30's. Instead of wasting years and years of lifting getting absolutely nowhere, Geir spent his 20's and 30's eating huge amounts of food and training with heavy heavy weights so that he could walk around all thru his 30's, 40's and now 50 years old jacked to the hilt. Not many people have a better front double biceps than Geir no matter what age they are.....here he is http://www.nutritionoutlet.nu/galler...02/borgan.html
What Im hoping to relay to you slackers and dreamers that are in this forum is that you have to put your time in and pay your dues in this sport. Your 2-3lbs gain a year arent going to get it done so unless you want to get to 55 years old and look back and think "wow besides the people I told and myself, noone even knew I was a bodybuilder and I never made it"....you better get your ass in gear and your head on right and get this done now. Gaining fat is easy but if you never lifted how long would it take for you to gain 80lbs of fat from 175 to 255lbs? Probably a year and you would have to forcefeed yourself to get there. Just think how long it takes to put on 80lbs of muscle mass which is an extremely "hard to come by" commodity. This sport is about extremes--using weights you havent used previously, taking in amounts of food to build greater muscle mass-in amounts you never have done previously, and GETTING THE CARDIO DONE to keep you at an acceptable offseason training bodyfat that keeps you happy. Get your act together and think this all out or quit your complaining and dreaming and take up tennis.

OVERANALYZING

Im seeing a repetitive phenomenon with the people I train that I want to state here. Ive trained alot of people now in the last 2 years on the net and also in person previously. I keep noticing the same things-basically on how various trainees brain's work. When people contact me for training, the guys who have a big work ethic and believe in a system of training whether its mine or westside or 5x5 or whatever, and hammer it and hammer it hard come to me as big people already. These are the bodybuilders you see out there in the street. Big guys that you know lift, there is no doubt that they are bodybuilders. On the other hand I have gotten alot of guys who have been lifting 5-10 years and you would never know they lifted even once unless they made it a point to tell you about it (and many do--LOL). And Ill tell you what the overwhelming continual trait those guys have. THEY OVERTHINK THIS, OVERANALYZE, keep second guessing themselves, follow this routine this month and that routine the next, and Flex magazine the third month. It all depends on what they happen to read that week. HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT WORKS IF YOU SWITCH IT EVERY DAMN MONTH? Ive showed TPC some of these emails in the warehouse and he didnt realize the extent of what I was telling him about. Ive had a couple guys in the last 2 months who have been lifting for 5-10 years and by their pics it would be embarrassing to tell anyone that they actually lift. Both of these guys are sending me emails talking about iso-tension at the top of bicep curls, worrying up and down about the statics, should i flex the pinky finger inward to make more of a contraction on my alternate curl, should my forearm be perpendicular to the earths axis at the bottom of the shoulder press (you get the drift). I went off on one guy and felt bad about it after but he kept saying "well how I used to do it is..." and "well Ive always done it this way" My answer was "well why do you look like shit if your old way worked so well"? Noone will ever know who these trainees are because its my business only but I want them to read this to get it clear in their heads. If you double triple or quadruple your training weights in good safe form over the next year/s or so your basically (with diet) going to be double or triple your current muscular size. If your going to sit there and overanalyze this shit like its rocket science (which it isnt I dont care what anyone tries to make it out to be) and worry about things that really arent going to add up to pounds of muscle mass, then blame yourself when you never get there. Are you going to be a happy man at 50 years old when you look back and think "Wow I screwed up, I never looked like a bodybuilder, never achieved my goals, never got dramatically bigger, and its gone now.....IM too old to make up for that lost time" because thats where alot of you are heading if you dont get your heads on straight. I blame alot of the muscle magazines for this. Alot of articles are ghost written for pros or are solo articles by people who are 165lbs who never made a huge change in their physique themselves. They try to portray lifting weights as this huge science (and they splurge up their articles with 8 vowel words and searching thru the thesaurus to find a word that makes them look extremely intelligent)--I go back to the beggining of cycles for pennies on this---The absolute strongest you can make yourself in all exercises, coupled with food intake to eat your way up to the new musculature will allow you to hold the most muscle mass on your body that your genetics predetermine. You want to worry bout something? Worry about that damn logbook. Worry about staying uninjured in your quest. Worry about not missing any meals. Worry about somehow someway making yourself the strongest bodybuilder you can become. Im not talking singles here. Im talking 9-15 reps rest paused. A brute. A behemoth. A human forklift. I guess i had to use this post to vent because TPC saw me pissed off in the warehouse today after answering emails such as "Dante should I try to isolate the upper portion of the pec muscle and hold the peak contraction and flex hard at the top of every rep for about 5 seconds?" If you have been lifting many years with no muscle mass to show the last thing you need to worry about is peak contraction--GET THE DAMN WEIGHT UP AND BEAT THE LOGBOOK WITH BIG WEIGHT JUMPS (and then Ill and you will be happy)

MISCELLANEOUS

Someone asked about DC mods here in a post last week and I thought i would add my input here. I always stay in the scheme of things but I tune things to myself.
For example: I always look for ways to make an exercise harder and safer for myself. By safer-such as back thickness movements such as deadlifts, rack deads and rack drag deads....I have gotten very strong on these and now I will only do them with overhand grips instead of an over under. I dont want to be tearing a bicep due to the very heavy weight i have to use on these and going overhand forces me to lighten up somewhat and takes alot of stress off that undergrip bicep. (Ive gone as high as 765lbs on rack deads and really felt it pull there and will never tread those dangerous waters again)
Tricep exercises: i will not do any extension movements at any less than 15rp and ill keep the range 15-30rp on those. I can get very heavy on ez bar movements and feel the potential for a muscle tear is great when you start grinding out sets like 6+3+2=11rp
Bicep exercises I always keep in the 20rp range just because i seem to respond better that way and also for the safety factor.

Quads, I tell everyone to do a 4-8 backbreaker set with very heavy tonnage and then a widowmaker set of 20 reps and i do this myself but honestly at this heavy of a bodyweight, there have been times where I really thought I was going to cease living after getting off a 20 rep squat because I was breathing so hard and couldnt get enough oxygen in my lungs to sustain me. My gym is on the second floor with no open windows at all, just central air ducts---for some strange reason, its ok breathing sometimes and other times (especially in a crowded gym) your gasping for air after a heavy chest set nevermind the 20 rep squat set. I do believe the lighter guys in the 150 to 250lb range in this forum can still get away with doing things normally but the very heavy guys might be biting carpet on a hot day after a 20 rep squat. So at times Ive done it like the following--on day one i do free squats shit heavy and then the hack for my 20 repper (which leaves me breathing like a locomotive anyway) and on the other day I do the newer leg press for both my heavy and widowmaker sets and on the last leg day i do smythe squats shit heavy and then the widowmaker on the older leg press. So as you see same scheme just some tweaks i do for myself if you were curious.

DC workout schedules for various people

I probably should of written this a while back but I see alot of people asking about it now. Schedules. Most of the people I personally train I have them on the monday wenesday friday monday scheme with bodyparts split like this

a)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
Back Width
BAck Thickness
b)
biceps
forearms
calves
hams
quads

What is important about that is there is always a day between workouts and that lends itself to all important recovery/rest. Another variation of this above that some of the really heavy trainers I train like is Tues (full workout) Thurs (full workout) Sat (half workout) Sun (other half workout)

Some of my extremely advanced trainers and some of the guys who need very short workouts I have them do the following. What I do with those people works right along the same lines as the M W F M scheme I always use--almost the same frequency with extremely short workouts. And if anyone who has been doing DC training for a long while, likes this schedule better I have no problem with them going over to it. It is Mon Tues Thurs Fri (with weekends off) or something to that effect according to their schedule and the body is split up like this:

a)
biceps
forearms
back width
back thickness
b)
Chest
Shoulders
Triceps
c)
Calves
Hams
Quads

So you see that on Friday biceps and back is hit again and then the next week workout b will be hit twice and during week 3 workout c will be hit twice. The frequency of bodyparts hit is almost like the original M W F M plan. On this split which i use with highly advanced trainees I use it to bomb their weak bodyparts (which I dont feel you can do without potentially overtraining on the MWF scheme) The downsides to this 3 way split are the obvious non day off between workouts and you have to be very very careful with order of exercises on this plan. For example I would never have you doing full range deadlifts the day after a squat day--you would be destroyed. You have to look over the whole scheme and make sure your back thickness exercise is not going to be effected by your hamstring or quad exercise. I would probably skip stiff legged deadlifts for hamstrings totally during this routine because of the heavy back thickness exercises. I would probably rotate seated standing and lying leg curls for someone doing this. Your workouts though would be 30-60 minutes tops and thats tops and your out of there. The bad points of setting it up this way is that you lose that whole day of rest between workouts and Ive seen over time that most people seem to gain a slight bit better with that full day of rest. The other bad point is although the frequency of bodyparts trained is similiar, its a bit less over time (bodyparts trained about 81 times a year in the M W F scheme and 69 times a year in the second scheme above) .........

PS: I put back/bis before chest/shoulder/tri in the rotation because alot of people get really sore in the shoulder/chest area the day after chest. This can make it very hard sometimes on back width and back thickness exercises (especially back width) and Im trying to keep injuries to a minimum. The downside to this is when leg day falls directly after chest day, you are going to have to stretch out thoroughly in the delt/chest area to get your shoulders/arms on the bar for squatting.

Without a doubt--the mon wed fri split gets people bigger faster than any other split and the 3 way mon tues thurs fri split is a step below it on that front, but I am able to get up weak bodyparts a little bit better on the 3 way split--so remember that if you are overanxious to jump to the 3 way split, your actually gaining overall muscle mass slightly faster with the mon wed fri split.


List of approved exercises from DC

CHEST
incline smythe
decline smythe
hammer strength press (incline and decline)
other good machine press
incline barbell
decline barbell
incline dumbbell press
flat dumbbell press
decline dumbbell press

SHOULDERS
smythe presses to front
smythe presses to back of head
hammer strength press
other good machine press
barbell press to front
barbell press to back of head
dumbbell shoulder press

TRICEPS
close grip bench in smythe
reverse grip bench in smythe
skull crushers
dips (in upright position)

BACK WIDTH
rack chins to front
rack chins to back of head
reverse grip rack chins (close grip)
assisted pullups
hammer strength "pulldown" machines
other good "pulldown" machines
pull downs to front
pull downs to back of head

BACK THICKNESS
deadlift
rack deadlift
T-bar rows
smythe rows
barbell rows

BICEPS
barbell curls
alternate dumbbell curls
barbell preacher curls
hammer strength machine curls
other good machine curls
cable curls
incline db curls
close grip ez-bar preacher curls
standing medium grip ez-bar curls

FOREARMS
hammer curls (alternated)
pinwheel curls (alternated)
reverse grip one arm cable curls

CALVES
calves on a leg press
standing calf raises
calves in hack squat
seating calf raises
any calf machine with a good range of motion

HAMSTRINGS
seating leg curls
standing leg curls
lying leg curls
stiff leg deadlift
sumo presses

QUADS
squats
smythe squats
hack squat
leg press

Extreme Stretching
by Jason Mueller

One must temper their newfound strength and appetite with the wisdom to apply them properly, we’re certainly not advocating that one lift weights to the point of injury or that an endomorph stuff themselves with everything in sight. Both Dogg and I are major advocates of stretching prior to working out and MORE IMPORTANTLY STRETCHING TO THE POINT OF THRESHOLDS AFTER working out. I (Meuller) even more so after having torn a triceps and having 200 cc’s of pus removed from a bicep in May of this year. At a bodyweight of over 310 lbs, I am the very definition of “muscle-bound” and find it very difficult to perform actions that most people take for granted (like tying my shoes, and I’m not joking). As such, I am routinely stretched every week by another trainer to try and maintain some modicum of flexibility, and stretch prior to and while working out to avoid further injuries (or exacerbate the ones I currently have). I happily take my hat off to Dogg and give credit where credit is due, the guy is an amazing trainer and showed a young and cocky Jason Meuller what hardcore was really all about back in ’94. He believes like Jon Parillo did, that "extreme stretching" directly after a bodypart is trained is key for recuperation, recovery, and a primer for growth via fascial stretching and maybe even hyperplasia (more on that in a future article). He’s outlined a series of stretches that he finds extremely effective at both avoiding injuries and adding size during cycles. These includes the weights he uses, which readers will obviously have to adjust (more than likely down) according to their own strength levels. Every extreme stretch is done right after that body part has been trained.

Chest

Flat bench 90lb dumbbells chest high--lungs full of air--first 10 seconds drop down into deepest stretch and then next 50 seconds really push the stretch (this really, really hurts) but do it faithfully and come back and post on the AE message board in 4 weeks and tell me if your chest isn't much fuller and rounder.

Triceps

Seated on a flat bench-my back up against the barbell---75lb dumbbell in my hand behind my head (like in an overhead dumbbell extension)--sink dumbbell down into position for the first 10 seconds and then an agonizing 50 seconds slightly leaning back and pushing the dumbbell down with the back of my head.

Shoulders

This one is tough to describe--put barbell in squat rack shoulder height--face away from it and reach back and grab it palms up (hands on bottom of bar)---walk yourself outward until you are on your heels and the stretch gets painful--then roll your shoulders downward and hold for 60 seconds.

Biceps

Just like the above position but hold barbell palms down now (hands on top of bar)--sink down in a squatting position first and if you can hack it into a kneeling position and then if you can hack that sink your butt down--60 seconds--I cannot make it 60 seconds-- I get to about 45—it’s too painful--if you can make it 60 seconds you are either inhuman or you need to raise the bar up another rung.

Back

Honestly for about 3 years my training partner and I would hang a 100lb dumbbell from our waist and hung on the widest chinup bar (with wrist straps) to see who could get closest to 3 minutes--I never made it--I think 2 minutes 27 seconds was my record--but my back width is by far my best body part--I pull on a doorknob or stationary equipment with a rounded back now and it’s way too hard too explain here--just try it and get your feel for it.

Hamstrings

Either leg up on a high barbell holding my toe and trying to force my leg straight with my free hand for an excruciating painful 60 seconds.

Quads

Facing a barbell in a power rack about hip high --grip it and simultaneously sink down and throw your knees under the barbell and do a sissy squat underneath it while going up on your toes. Then straighten your arms and lean as far back as you can---60 seconds and if this one doesn't make you hate my guts and bring tears to your eyes nothing will---do this one faithfully and tell me in 4 weeks if your quads don’t look a lot different than they used to. Calves - my weak body part that I couldn’t get up too par until 2 years ago when I finally thought it out and figured out how to make them grow (with only one set twice a week too). I don’t need to stretch calves after because when I do calves I explode on the positive and take 5 seconds to get back to full stretch and then 15 seconds at the very bottom "one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand etc" --15 seconds stretching at the bottom thinking and trying to flex my toes toward my shin--it is absolutely unbearable and you will most likely be shaking and wan to give up at about 7 reps (I always go for 12reps with maximum weights)--do this on a hack squat or a leg press--my calves have finally taken off due to this and caught up to the rest of me thank God.

If you doubt the extra muscle growth possible with stretching I urge you to research hyperplasia (and the bird wing stretching protocols) where time X stretch X weight induced incredible hyperplasia. Our stretching is done under much lower time periods but fascial stretching and the possibility of induced hyperplasia cant be ignored. I’ve had too many people write me or tell me in person that the "extreme stretching" has dramatically changed their physique to ever doubt its virtues.

Unofficial Exercise Rep Ranges and Summary of DC
by Unknown

(DISCLAIMER: that the answers here are just my understanding of DC, I'm not pretending I'm Dogg or IH or a certified trainer in DC, this is just how I do it - and it's working extremely well for me)

1. Yeah, you basically have six workouts, three for upper body minus biceps/forearms and three for lower body and biceps/forearms. So you need three exercises for each muscle, and you cycle through these; in two weeks you'll have done all six workouts (training 3 days a week) and done all exercises once.

You don't rest after 16 days, basically you 'blast' (go balls out, trying to increase weight each time) for 6-12 weeks (they recommend 8 and see how you handle it, if you can go on for longer do longer) and then take a 'cruise' for two weeks - this is two weeks where you drop a meal (to get your appetite back) and train with straight sets (no rp) at about 90% of your max weight, if you want to skip a workout or two feel free, this is to get your mental and physical sanity back. A lotta guys do specialised routines like 6-week blasts and 10-day cruises but they're generally trained by DC or IH, I started with 8 weeks blast, two weeks cruise, then it went to 7 weeks, 2 weeks and has stayed around there since. If you feel like you gotta stop earlier, stop earlier, this program borders on overtraining if you don't eat and rest properly so it's best to stop before you burn out (as is sensible).

The key is progression (extra weight) so every two weeks you're cycling through your exercises again, so for every two weeks of blast you've got a chance to beat the logbook on each exercise and that's where growth happens.

2) Each exercise is as many warmups as you feel you need, then one rest-pause set which is the workset. Like you warm up, then hit the exercise until failure, 15 deep breaths, hit it again until failure (you should get half the reps or thereabouts), 15 more deep breaths then one more set (again, half the reps of the previous mini-set). Then you stretch, you can stretch after the exercise or after a few related exercise, like I do bicep workset, forearms workset, then stretch biceps and forearms (makes sense to me). You can do chest/triceps/shoulder worksets and then stretch all three bodyparts or stretch the muscle in question after its exercise, either way works.

Incidentally not all exercises are rest-paused, only chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, backwidth and some hamstring exercises; calves and forearms are straight-setted for 12 reps; other exercises have their own protocols. Quads are one heavy set (4-6 if a squat, 6-10 if a leg press or hack squat) and then a 20 rep widowmaker, incidentally Dante has often said that you don't have to do the widowmaker on the same exercise as the heavy set, like you can do free squats for 4-6 and then hack squats for your 20 repper. (he said that 'cause really big guys have problems breathing for 20 rep free squats but it doesn't just apply to them); deadlifts and rack deadlifts are 6-8 heavy, 3-4 heavier (50-60lb difference for me but I doubt that's absolute); bent rows and t-bar rows are a straight set of 12; sumo leg press is a 12-20 straight set, leg curls are 20-30 rest-paused, SLDL to be honest I'm not sure, I've seen conflicting advice, one is a straight set of 12, the other is to do six reps, and keep adding 10lbs to the bar until you can't get six, then next time start around 40lbs under the weight that stumped you.

Other muscles get a rep range in which your rest pause set must come under, for chest and shoulders it's 11-15rp, triceps it's 11-15rp (except skullcrushers which is 15-30 rp), biceps is 15-20 (preacher curls 11-15rp), back width (pulldowns etc) and dips are 15-20rp, err, what've I forgotten..

3) The eating is individual, DCers don't count fats, carbs or calories, they go by their hunger, they get their protein down, eat carbs until they're full and take their EFAs. Meals are kept pro/fat or pro/carb but that's individual again, some people don't seperate macros if it doesn't bother them...

DC says you don't count calories because you don't need a magic number of calories each day, and I agree with him, some days you'll need more and others you'll need less. Like today I've eaten like 100g of carbs because I've sat on my arse most of the day, weekdays I eat more like 400. Get the protein in and eat as much as you need to get through the day and work out at peak efficiency.

4) Cardio is individual as well. To start with you do it on offdays and see whether you need less or more to control bodyfat. It's generally low-intensity so as not to intefere with leg recovery. I personally managed HIIT over the summer and still made progress with the 3way DC split (as an experiment) but not if I was training legs twice a week.

For pre-cardio nutrition it's up to you mate, some people have a small whey shake, others BCAAs, others a completely empty stomach.. if you go into the Roundtable forum on intensemuscle and look up the cardio topic you'll see the experts suggesting all of those, I guess you gotta see what works for you.
DC has said BCAAs if you want to gain muscle and lose bodyfat, otherwise whey is just fine.. I go with that personally but sometimes do it on empty.

Warrior's sample DC routine
by Warrior

(DISCLAIMER: I have never spoken with big Dogg. This is what I have done in the past and I am offering it as an example of his ideas.)

DoggCrapp is an abbreviated training approach preached by Dante using progressive overload, rest-pause sets and static reps to maximize strength and size. I also use the extreme stretching techniques explained by Jason Mueller to stretch muscle fascia to make room for growth and remain agile.

The DoggCrapp Program
Rest pause days will use one movement performing 8 repetitions, racked for about 15 breaths then 3-5 more reps - racked again for another 15 breaths followed by whatever else can be completed – pushing with maximum effort. Undocumented static reps will follow a set to inflict a little more training damage to the muscle. After the muscle group has been trained - I follow with Mueller’s extreme stretching outline.

Day 1: A-1
Day 2: REST
Day 3: A-2
Day 4: REST
Day 5: B-1
Day 6: REST
Day 7: REST
Day 8: B-2
Day 9: REST
Day 10: C-1
Day 11: REST
Day 12: C-2
Day 13: REST
Day 14: REST
Repeat

The whole body gets trained three times every two weeks

The DC split will run on an every other day protocol with two days off here and there... I start with a Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday split; taking an extra day for cardio and core training when energy levels are high and time permits.

ALPHA-1
Back Thickness - Rack Dead Lifts (6 Reps, Rest Then 3 reps)
Back Width - Hammer Strength Lat Front Pull Downs (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Chest - Hammer Flat Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Shoulders - Front Military Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Triceps - Close Grip Bench (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)

ALPHA-2
Quads - Hack Squats (10 Reps, Rest Then 20 Reps)
Hams - Hammer Seated Leg Curl (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Calves - Hammer Seated Calve Raises (12 Reps)
Biceps - Barbell Curls (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Forearms - Reverse Grip Cambered Curls (12 Reps)

BRAVO-1
Back Thickness - Barbell Rows (12 Reps)
Back Width - Close Grip Pull Ups (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Chest - Flat Bench Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Shoulders - Hammer Military Front Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Triceps - Incline Tri Extensions (15-30 Rest-Pause Reps)

BRAVO-2
Quads - Squats (6 Reps, Rest Then 20 Reps)
Hams - Romanian Dead Lift (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Calves - Leg Press Calve Raises (12 Reps)
Biceps - Incline Dumbbell Curls (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Forearms - Dumbbell Hammer Curls (12 Reps)

CHARLIE-1
Back Thickness - Hammer Rows (12 Reps)
Back Width - Wide Grip Pull Ups (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Chest - Incline Dumbbell Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Shoulders - Dumbbell Shoulder Press (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)
Triceps - Seated Dumbbell Extensions (11-15 Rest-Pause Reps)

CHARLIE-2
Quads - Leg Press (10 Reps, Rest Then 20 Reps)
Hams – Back Extensions (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Calves - Hack Calve Raises (12 Reps)
Biceps - Cambered Preacher Curls (15-20 Rest-Pause Reps)
Forearms - Machine Rope Curls (12 Reps)

[needsize]

wicked, I had no idea my routine was posted up on this board, I just found this forum a few days ago
personally I dont use it anymore as I always got too strong from it, and my joints cant handle it anymore

[DOGGCRAPP]

Wow that was kind of a walk thru memory lane reading some of that stuff. Most of it is from 8-9 years ago....some of it I didnt even write. Warrior you might want to take that first paragraph out of there after Note:.....as again that was 8 years ago, thats what I charged way back then, and I dont even think ziplip.com is around as an email provider anymore. I know I havent checked that email for at least 6 years probably.

Alot of that is just random posts I left on bodybuilding boards cut and pasted together by someone (dont know who)...I hope nobody thinks thats one article I wrote as I would be noted as the worst "flowing" writer on this earth.

[Warrior]

Wow that was kind of a walk thru memory lane reading some of that stuff. Most of it is from 8-9 years ago....some of it I didnt even write. Warrior you might want to take that first paragraph out of there after Note:.....as again that was 8 years ago, thats what I charged way back then, and I dont even think ziplip.com is around as an email provider anymore. I know I havent checked that email for at least 6 years probably.

Alot of that is just random posts I left on bodybuilding boards cut and pasted together by someone (dont know who)...I hope nobody thinks thats one article I wrote as I would be noted as the worst "flowing" writer on this earth.

Good to see you over here! You have several journals on here - people trying to adhere to the dogg principles.

I'll cut that part out but I can put anything you want in there - I believe in proper attribution. If you have something else - URLS, contact info or current training fees - let me know and I'll insert it.

Also, do you have any current supplementary info about DC training and how you have evolved it over the last several years?

[Brian Nassar]

Man! I must have spent over $500.00 in books and e-books on all these methods!!

[sjfou]

Ill try get a Westside Workout For Skinny Bastards template up soon...

[TexanSwede07]

These training articles are incredible. I was ready to go out and drop $60 a session on a trainer just to find out stuff like this. I got so hooked on these articles, I took my laptop into the head for some pre-workout deuce reading material!!

[S x S]

Great theory

[TooBIG]

Great read

This is great - especially for priming to lose some fat before jumping on some AAS (see the sticky in the Chem fourm)...

What sticky? link please?

[Warrior]

Great read


What sticky? link please?

Diet: Warrior's 14-Day CKD for Pre-Cycle Priming :.

AAS: Priming 101; Preparing for an AAS growth spurt

[TooBIG]

thanks man