I can NEVER tell if I'm gonna have a good workout...

[punkguitarist]

Does anybody else feel like they can never tell if there gonna have a good workout and hit PR's? There's times when I go out drinking the night before, get a shitty night sleep, and only get half of my meals in and I go into the gym feeling like crap and then I end up having a really good workout and hitting PRs. And then theres other times when I sleep really well the night before, my diet has been perfect, and I feel super amped to go to the gym and then once I start warming up the weight feels really heavy and I end up being weaker than previous workouts.

I seems like theres no pattern at all to when I'm gonna have a good workout or not. I think thats why when I tried doing DC for 3 months my results sucked. Because DC is so low volume you have to have good workouts pretty much every single session.

Any ideas why this is? Does anybody else experience this?

[IRserge]

Because you aren't consistent outside to gym with eating and sleeping and not getting shitfaced.

[theroymccoy]

I noticed the same thing brotha...here's what I'm thinking.

Being mentally tired is far worse than physically tired. Sometimes when I don't do much during the day all I'll think about is working out or my meals or whatever. Just really mentally draining myself by being psyched up about trying to beat a PR.

Whenever I have a busy day and just do stuff without much thought (running errands, get to point A, B, C, etc.) I go into the gym physically tired but my mind is not cluttered with thoughts of the workout. Then I beat PR's.

The mind is a very powerful tool and can work against you if you don't approach things properly.

Don't think too much about your workouts. Distract yourself with the other (hopefully more important) things in your life until you actually park in the gym lot.

I dunno, works for me.

[Carlito Gambino]

Because you aren't consistent outside to gym with eating and sleeping and not getting shitfaced.

Yeah because everyone should be a hermit and constantly focus on their workouts and nutrition because they're the most important things in life, right?


Anyway, I have the same problem. And I agree with Roy, the less I'm occupied with my workout the better I do. Usually when I have to rush and get my workout done before class or work I do much better because I'm focused on getting out on time and all the shit I have to do.

[RedSkull]

Because you aren't consistent outside to gym with eating and sleeping and not getting shitfaced.

Did you even read what he wrote? lol

[bernimx]

My thought on this is that I think you simply can't predict how your CNS is gonna feel on any particular day.

[punkguitarist]

My thought on this is that I think you simply can't predict how your CNS is gonna feel on any particular day.

Ya I agree with this. But what I dont understand then is how DC works well for so many people. Because in order to beat PRs every single session like your suppose to with DC your CNS needs to be "firing" or whatever optimally every session. Do some people just have this natural ability?

Also just to clarify I hardly every miss meals and I don't get "shit faced" every weekend.

When I was doing DC I didn't go out or drink once the entire 3 months and never missed a single meal. Now I've relaxed a little bit with everything (still hitting all my meals but I won't freak out if I miss one or two on the weekends because I'm doing something) and Ill drink once a week and I have found it makes ZERO difference to when I was more "dedicated".

[darkguitars2000]

Ya I agree with this. But what I dont understand then is how DC works well for so many people. Because in order to beat PRs every single session like your suppose to with DC your CNS needs to be "firing" or whatever optimally every session. Do some people just have this natural ability?.

DC training is all around taxing, but workouts that hit the CNS hardest are powerlifting workouts when going close to your 1 RM.

I understand what you mean about needing to be 100% nearly every session, but thus this is the decreased volume already built in to the program that allows this to happen. I think that's why when DC and Homon and others talk about people who aren't ready to start DC training they often talk about not being mentally ready yet to add enough intensity to every workout to get the job done. (Not saying that's you at all).

[RedSkull]

what you re describing is pretty normal I think. The thought that you could be at peak strength levels throughout the year with no flux would be considered ludicrous in strength sports/athletes etc, wouldn't it? Even for people with ridiculous genetics...

[LG1]

I have never done DC myself. But, from what I have seen and read mostly on here, why is DC considered low volume by some?

[Michael Travis]

....But, from what I have seen and read mostly on here, why is DC considered low volume by some?

Because you aren't doing 4-5 exercises per bodypart, you are doing one ALL OUT work set, RP'd, for a particular number of total reps, For example, you'd do say incline smith for chest, then move on to shoulders (after the extreme stretch of course)..You aren't doing 3-4 sets of incline smith 8-12 reps per set, then moving to dumbbell decline for 3 sets 8-10 reps, then finishing with pec dec for 3 sets of 12 etc.. In this way its considered low volume/high intensity.

MT

[MaxNat]

I have experienced everything that you have in the past. I have gone to the gym tired as shit and had great workouts, and then in turn gone there all fired up and everything felt extremely heavy (even the warm ups). I think many things play into this including the mentioned CNS, stress, sleep, food, time off, recovery ability, etc, but the point I wanted to mention was that not everyone doing DC is beating the log book EVERY workout and always having great training sessions EVERY time! DC has a stated that you need to beat the log book, but you get a "mulligan" every once in awhile for this exact reason..sometimes your body just doesn't react the way you want it to, plain and simple. That is why if you don't beat the log book after a "couple" of sessions you ditch that exercise and move on to a new exercise. I may be delusional, but I honestly don't think ANYBODY on this board doing DC beats the log book in every exercise EVERY single work out... except maybe DH and Dusty! ;-) The important part is TRYING to beat the log book every time!!

[LG1]

Because you aren't doing 4-5 exercises per bodypart, you are doing one ALL OUT work set, RP'd, for a particular number of total reps, For example, you'd do say incline smith for chest, then move on to shoulders (after the extreme stretch of course)..You aren't doing 3-4 sets of incline smith 8-12 reps per set, then moving to dumbbell decline for 3 sets 8-10 reps, then finishing with pec dec for 3 sets of 12 etc.. In this way its considered low volume/high intensity.

MT

I get that.... but, you are not starting your RP set cold. Isn't one going to do warm-up sets prior to? For instance if you are doing RP with 315lbs, perhaps you would do 135X14, 185X12,225X10, 275X8 and then RP 315....

Would this still be considered low volume???

[jeffro]

I notice the same thing. I work a 24 hour shift (fireman/paramedic) and sometimes I get ZERO sleep at work. I will limp into the gym after killer shift so I can just get my WO over with and just relax the rest of the day. I have found I have some of the best sessions and put up some of the best weight at this time, when I feel mentally and physically spent. I always attributed it to being so tired I don’t overthink things and just get after it; a second wind kind of thing. Or in other words, my mind is so numb there is nothing to inhibit me from going all out. This probably has no scientific or legitimate merit; it’s just something I have theorized for myself.

[homonunculus]

Does anybody else feel like they can never tell if there gonna have a good workout and hit PR's? There's times when I go out drinking the night before, get a shitty night sleep, and only get half of my meals in and I go into the gym feeling like crap and then I end up having a really good workout and hitting PRs. And then theres other times when I sleep really well the night before, my diet has been perfect, and I feel super amped to go to the gym and then once I start warming up the weight feels really heavy and I end up being weaker than previous workouts.

I seems like theres no pattern at all to when I'm gonna have a good workout or not. I think thats why when I tried doing DC for 3 months my results sucked. Because DC is so low volume you have to have good workouts pretty much every single session.

Any ideas why this is? Does anybody else experience this?

PG,

Do you every had day when you feel like shit and have a shitty workout?... Or days when you feel like you're dead on and you go in to the gym and kill it?...

Since you didn't go out drinking at all when doing DC and hit all your meals the situations in your first paragraph don't really apply to that period of time and that program. I.e., there were none of those days when you were hungover and had missed meals and then did a DC training session.

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Couple thoughts:

Stress relief: Going out and easing off the regimen may have relaxed you such that you can focus better.

A night out means you're more recovered (you wouldn't go out if you were overtrained) and despite the hangover, you kick ass in the gym b/c you're not overdoing it in the broader picture.

theroymccoy had some good thoughts too about mental fatigue.

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-S