DC Training

[TrainDC4life]

tried DC today for the first time and found it great.

did the chest/shoulder/tri/back split the first time and combined with the stretching gave me an awesome pump.

looking forward to seeing the results.

thanks for all the advice on this thread as its what got me going on DC.

cheers
costa

Awesome. Do it the way it is outlines and trust me, you will see results!!

[rainjack]

no, a nice slow, controlled negative is all that's required. DC has said a number of times that he regrets putting a number on the negative time-his intention was to have people do a nice slow negative and he had people who were actually bringing a stopwatch to the gym to time out the negatives.

the point of the program is to make massive gains in terms of poundages moved while keeping the rep range consistant. If you do a true 6-8 second negative you won't be able to move forward with your poundages at an acceptable rate.

so to cliffnote it-NO. you only need to do a nice slow controlled negative.

...With everything but the calves. The extremely slow eccentric and hold at the bottom is the heart of the exercise.


Other than that, you are dead on.

[TrainDC4life]

...With everything but the calves. The extremely slow eccentric and hold at the bottom is the heart of the exercise.


Other than that, you are dead on.

Totally. You have to really hold and stretch the calves to get the muscle to grow, because it is hold us up all day and really needs a good shock. My calve always consist of 10-12 reps, straight, but I start at the top, lower for 5 secs, then stay at the botttom, hold the stretch, and count to 15 . Long, and excruciating as hell, but so worth it! Feel the burn!! Go great shape and build doing that.

[TrainDC4life]

Most people choose not to do bench press because of the risk of injury. Most guys will tell you to avoid bench press, at all cost, when doing DC. But if you think you "just have to bench," then do it. Just don't blame the program for your injuries.

Exactly. If you take you ego out of the equation and be real with yourself on how strong you are, you can probably bench safely. I do benches on one of my rotations and I've been progressing quite nicely, never had an injury. Don't think any less o yourself if you have to drop in weight to do DC and do it right with good form and slow negatives. That is how you will grow and get stronger! Just be real and leave your ego at home. Who gives a shit how much you bench??

[Marduk The UnREPable]

Exactly. If you take you ego out of the equation and be real with yourself on how strong you are, you can probably bench safely. I do benches on one of my rotations and I've been progressing quite nicely, never had an injury. Don't think any less o yourself if you have to drop in weight to do DC and do it right with good form and slow negatives. That is how you will grow and get stronger! Just be real and leave your ego at home. Who gives a shit how much you bench??

Great job keeping movement in this thread , with solid info on each post ..I salute you !

[Conrad]

Exactly. If you take you ego out of the equation and be real with yourself on how strong you are, you can probably bench safely. I do benches on one of my rotations and I've been progressing quite nicely, never had an injury. Don't think any less o yourself if you have to drop in weight to do DC and do it right with good form and slow negatives. That is how you will grow and get stronger! Just be real and leave your ego at home. Who gives a shit how much you bench??

Some guys enjoy incorporatin bench press into their routine. However, I ruptured my fron deltoid a few years ago so I look for alternatives to bench pressing with a barbell. I really enoy heavy DB press (flat, incline, decline) and also Hammer Strength. If I do falt bench, it is maybe once every couple months just to shocked the body and suprise it. But I hit 225 for reps.

[The Thinker]

I decided to try DC for the next 10 weeks of my off season. Today was my first workout and I think it is going to take a while to get used to. I think I went a little too heavy for the working/rest pause sets given the recommended tempo. I was failing in the 6-8 rep range on the first one, then it dropped to the to the 3-4 and then only 1-2. Is this normal or should I be shooting for the 8-12 rep range for the first set to failure?

Walking out of the gym I thought I did alright but had a lot of room to improve before I hit my stride with DC. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed with the workout as I felt I could have given more and didn't have a HUGE pump. Then about an hour later it hit me and I am tore up! I've been laying around all day and I'm already sore and freaking EXHAUSTED. So all in all I'm pleased with my first workout. I'm definitely hoping to push myself every workout.

[a-dog]

I decided to try DC for the next 10 weeks of my off season. Today was my first workout and I think it is going to take a while to get used to. I think I went a little too heavy for the working/rest pause sets given the recommended tempo. I was failing in the 6-8 rep range on the first one, then it dropped to the to the 3-4 and then only 1-2. Is this normal or should I be shooting for the 8-12 rep range for the first set to failure?

Walking out of the gym I thought I did alright but had a lot of room to improve before I hit my stride with DC. Honestly, I was kind of disappointed with the workout as I felt I could have given more and didn't have a HUGE pump. Then about an hour later it hit me and I am tore up! I've been laying around all day and I'm already sore and freaking EXHAUSTED. So all in all I'm pleased with my first workout. I'm definitely hoping to push myself every workout.

on most rest paused movements the recommended rep range would be a total of 12-15 reps (rest paused). If you're getting 12, keep that weight for the next workout and try to beat your rep total. I would say if you are getting anything less than 12 reps you're going too heavy. Remember don't rest puase back thickness, quads or calves.

[rainjack]

on most rest paused movements the recommended rep range would be a total of 12-15 reps (rest paused). If you're getting 12, keep that weight for the next workout and try to beat your rep total. I would say if you are getting anything less than 12 reps you're going too heavy. Remember don't rest puase back thickness, quads or calves.

If you are over the age of 34, Dante is pretty adamant about bumping those rep ranges up.

I trained with one of his guru guys over at IM, and I would get in trouble with him if my rep ranges were 12-15.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/26753-e...t=older+lifter

[a-dog]

If you are over the age of 34, Dante is pretty adamant about bumping those rep ranges up.

I trained with one of his guru guys over at IM, and I would get in trouble with him if my rep ranges were 12-15.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/26753-e...t=older+lifter

how old is the guy that asked the original question? There is a thread over on IM where Dante suggests that but I was under the impression that the guy wasn't 35ish.

I'm 37, totally natural and I go back and forth, sometimes my rep range will be 15-18 sometimes I bump it up to 22-30ish. As long as you are smart and listen to your body you can still do well with the lower rep range but you need to pay attention to what your body is telling you.

[rainjack]

how old is the guy that asked the original question? There is a thread over on IM where Dante suggests that but I was under the impression that the guy wasn't 35ish.

I'm 37, totally natural and I go back and forth, sometimes my rep range will be 15-18 sometimes I bump it up to 22-30ish. As long as you are smart and listen to your body you can still do well with the lower rep range but you need to pay attention to what your body is telling you.

I don't know how old the OP is. I just thought I would throw the old-man DC out there for people like me.

I have to stay in the higher rep ranges or I get injured straight away because my pride drowns out what my body is trying to tell me.

[a-dog]

I don't know how old the OP is. I just thought I would throw the old-man DC out there for people like me.

I have to stay in the higher rep ranges or I get injured straight away because my pride drowns out what my body is trying to tell me.

see I'm the complete opposite, I sometimes move at a snails pace when I'm upping my poundages. I've never had a BB training related injury and I wanna stay that way. I'll usually go with 15-22 reps-I will never bump up the weight if I'm getting less than that and even if I get 15 I'll only bump it up 2.5 or depending on how I feel I'll keep it the same and beat my rep total next time. I usually take a note right when I complete a set and that will indicate what I do next time.

[rainjack]

see I'm the complete opposite, I sometimes move at a snails pace when I'm upping my poundages. I've never had a BB training related injury and I wanna stay that way. I'll usually go with 15-22 reps-I will never bump up the weight if I'm getting less than that and even if I get 15 I'll only bump it up 2.5 or depending on how I feel I'll keep it the same and beat my rep total next time. I usually take a note right when I complete a set and that will indicate what I do next time.

Keeping a log book has been a godsend to me and avoiding stupid injuries. But every now and again, I will have one of those magical sessions where the weight feels extraordinarily light. It never fails, I will up the weight too much next time and pull something, or wrench something.

[The Thinker]

If you are over the age of 34, Dante is pretty adamant about bumping those rep ranges up.

I trained with one of his guru guys over at IM, and I would get in trouble with him if my rep ranges were 12-15.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/26753-e...t=older+lifter

I can live with the 12-15 rep range but the 20-30 range just sucks. I will try it as I am not the expert but mentally that's a huge drop in weight compared to the volume training I've done in the past.

[rainjack]

I can live with the 12-15 rep range but the 20-30 range just sucks. I will try it as I am not the expert but mentally that's a huge drop in weight compared to the volume training I've done in the past.

Are you talking about the example Dante was using? I think that was just an arbitrary rep range.

I rarely did anything in the 30 rep range, unless I was nursing an injury.

The 20 RP range is just about perfect for me. If you just focus on beating the log book, the weights will come up.

But yeah - you have to check your pride at the door sometimes.

It's all a matter of personal preference. I think it's safer in the long run for older guys to swallow some pride, lower the weight and raise the reps. You'll still get stronger - probably stronger than you think. It's a tortoise and hare kind of thing, though.