Background
Hey guys, I am relatively new...joined about 7 months ago. I am a casual poster, but I literally search this site for an hour each and every day to just consume as much information as I possibly can. This is hands down the best BB forum on the net. I first started reading about DC training last November...I gave it a shot at the end of December '10, but I just wasn't ready at all. I didn't understand what it really took to give it your all in 3 RP sets and my diet just EFFING SUCKED. The result was me getting the damn flu TWICE in 4 weeks.
So I took the advice of the forum members here and the last 7 months I busted my ass to gain weight and add as much to my main compound lifts as I possibly could. I used a lot of the DC principles, but didn't rest pause..basically did a routine with two straight sets for upper body and one heavy and one drop down for lower body. The result was my deadlift going from 450 to 520 and getting 415 for 10 reps. My squat went from 350 to 415 and 185 x 15 to 315 x 13 and I got my bench press to 320, although I have dropped that from my routine.
I also have taken the last 3 months to get my diet in check...I was a lifetime bulker before this and I got to 245 but it wasn't pretty at all! I took the last 3 months to slowly diet down using carb cycling. I purchased Starne's lean gains book and used the sample diet in there and adjusting the macros to my needs. Also watched, several times, the DC training DVD and project superheavy weight.
Pics
Here are some before and after pics...
I am almost 28 and I started the diet at 6'5" 245, although these before pics are at 233...so you can imagine how bad it was. I have been lifting since I was 24 and I was about 180 pounds then. Luckily, I started the right way by doing solid routines like starting strength and madcow 5x5 and got my compounds and body weight up rather quickly. Lifetime natural as well.
FRONT AND BACK - Relaxed
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7450/img2979r.th.jpg
http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/6...2975oir.th.jpg
Back Flexed, lost the front flexed pic
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4...g2980zw.th.jpg
Two weeks ago at like 222
Just messing around, no relaxed
Front and back sort of flexed
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/6255/img3024i.th.jpg
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3397/img3025n.th.jpg
I got all the way down to 215 but I went a little to extreme and got a bit depleted, so I took the last 5 days off the diet and gym training and am back to about 219. I will continue losing weight at a steady rate until I am at or close to around 10%. I estimate I am 13% now.
Some crappy vids
Bench:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUANtNsfNtw[/YOUTUBE]
510 deadlift, don't have 520 on vid. Crappy vid because I had to be stealth because LA Fitness doesn't allow video.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3DfA4EL7DQ[/YOUTUBE]
My blast
I learned a ton about my body during the last 7 months and know what I need to stay injury free. My trigger points are my lower back after deads and my left shoulder 1-2 days after squatting. For whatever reason, squatting kills my left shoulder. These rep ranges are what I found work the best for me. I generally use a 4 rep span for movements I can go up 5 lbs on and I use an 8 rep span for movements like DBs since you can only move up 10 pounds at a time minimum...( dont have micro plates)
Upper 1:
Chest: Incline Bench (11-15, rp)
Shoulders: Seated DB Shoulders (12-20, rp)
Triceps: Skullcrushers (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Chins (11-15, rp)
Back Thickness: Deads (heavy set of 4-6, back down of 10-12)
Lower 1:
Biceps: Standing BB curls (16-20, rp)
Forearms: Hammer Curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Leg Press Calf (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Seated Leg Curls (20-24, rp)
Quads: Leg Press (heavy set of 8-12, then widow)
Upper 2:
Chest: Flat DB Bench (12-20, rp)
Shoulders: Seated BB Military (11-15, rp)
Triceps: Reverse Grip Smith (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Neutral Chins (11-15, rp)
Back Thickness: DB Rows (1 set of 6-10, 1 set of 10-14)
Lower 2:
Biceps: Incline DB Curls (16-20,RP)
Forearms: Reverse grip cable curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Seated Calf (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Lying Leg Curls (20-24, RP)
Quads: Squats (heavy set of 4-6, then widow)
Upper 3:
Chest: Hammer Incline (16-20, rp)
Shoulders: Hammer Shoulders (16-20, rp)
Triceps: Rope Pulldown (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Curl grip pulldowns (16-20, rp)
Back Thickness: Barbell Rows (1 set of 4-8, 1 set of 8-12)
Lower 3:
Biceps: Seated EZ Bar Curls (16-20, rp)
Forearms: Pinwheels Curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Standing Calf Raise (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Sumo Leg Press (12-20, 1 set)
Quads: Walking DB Lunges (heavy set of 4-8 each leg, back down of 8-12 each leg)
Thought process behind the program...
I start with deads..typically it takes my lower back 3-4 days to recover from that, so I made sure to give myself plenty of time by putting Leg press as the next leg day.
The upper 3 day is a higher rep machine day. Typically after a squat session my left shoulder aches...it doesn't effect my actually pressing power, however, stabilizing weights becomes a problem. So my solution for that is to put a machine only day aside from the BB rows.
I also realize chins aren't typically used (people prefer rack chins), however, I just absolutely love curl and neutral grip chins. I progress on them just fine and they crush my lats very nicely. I can always swap em out for rack chins later if they stall.
Hey guys, I am relatively new...joined about 7 months ago. I am a casual poster, but I literally search this site for an hour each and every day to just consume as much information as I possibly can. This is hands down the best BB forum on the net. I first started reading about DC training last November...I gave it a shot at the end of December '10, but I just wasn't ready at all. I didn't understand what it really took to give it your all in 3 RP sets and my diet just EFFING SUCKED. The result was me getting the damn flu TWICE in 4 weeks.
So I took the advice of the forum members here and the last 7 months I busted my ass to gain weight and add as much to my main compound lifts as I possibly could. I used a lot of the DC principles, but didn't rest pause..basically did a routine with two straight sets for upper body and one heavy and one drop down for lower body. The result was my deadlift going from 450 to 520 and getting 415 for 10 reps. My squat went from 350 to 415 and 185 x 15 to 315 x 13 and I got my bench press to 320, although I have dropped that from my routine.
I also have taken the last 3 months to get my diet in check...I was a lifetime bulker before this and I got to 245 but it wasn't pretty at all! I took the last 3 months to slowly diet down using carb cycling. I purchased Starne's lean gains book and used the sample diet in there and adjusting the macros to my needs. Also watched, several times, the DC training DVD and project superheavy weight.
Pics
Here are some before and after pics...
I am almost 28 and I started the diet at 6'5" 245, although these before pics are at 233...so you can imagine how bad it was. I have been lifting since I was 24 and I was about 180 pounds then. Luckily, I started the right way by doing solid routines like starting strength and madcow 5x5 and got my compounds and body weight up rather quickly. Lifetime natural as well.
FRONT AND BACK - Relaxed
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/7450/img2979r.th.jpg
http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/6...2975oir.th.jpg
Back Flexed, lost the front flexed pic
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4...g2980zw.th.jpg
Two weeks ago at like 222
Just messing around, no relaxed
Front and back sort of flexed
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/6255/img3024i.th.jpg
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/3397/img3025n.th.jpg
I got all the way down to 215 but I went a little to extreme and got a bit depleted, so I took the last 5 days off the diet and gym training and am back to about 219. I will continue losing weight at a steady rate until I am at or close to around 10%. I estimate I am 13% now.
Some crappy vids
Bench:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUANtNsfNtw[/YOUTUBE]
510 deadlift, don't have 520 on vid. Crappy vid because I had to be stealth because LA Fitness doesn't allow video.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3DfA4EL7DQ[/YOUTUBE]
My blast
I learned a ton about my body during the last 7 months and know what I need to stay injury free. My trigger points are my lower back after deads and my left shoulder 1-2 days after squatting. For whatever reason, squatting kills my left shoulder. These rep ranges are what I found work the best for me. I generally use a 4 rep span for movements I can go up 5 lbs on and I use an 8 rep span for movements like DBs since you can only move up 10 pounds at a time minimum...( dont have micro plates)
Upper 1:
Chest: Incline Bench (11-15, rp)
Shoulders: Seated DB Shoulders (12-20, rp)
Triceps: Skullcrushers (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Chins (11-15, rp)
Back Thickness: Deads (heavy set of 4-6, back down of 10-12)
Lower 1:
Biceps: Standing BB curls (16-20, rp)
Forearms: Hammer Curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Leg Press Calf (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Seated Leg Curls (20-24, rp)
Quads: Leg Press (heavy set of 8-12, then widow)
Upper 2:
Chest: Flat DB Bench (12-20, rp)
Shoulders: Seated BB Military (11-15, rp)
Triceps: Reverse Grip Smith (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Neutral Chins (11-15, rp)
Back Thickness: DB Rows (1 set of 6-10, 1 set of 10-14)
Lower 2:
Biceps: Incline DB Curls (16-20,RP)
Forearms: Reverse grip cable curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Seated Calf (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Lying Leg Curls (20-24, RP)
Quads: Squats (heavy set of 4-6, then widow)
Upper 3:
Chest: Hammer Incline (16-20, rp)
Shoulders: Hammer Shoulders (16-20, rp)
Triceps: Rope Pulldown (20-24, rp)
Back Width: Curl grip pulldowns (16-20, rp)
Back Thickness: Barbell Rows (1 set of 4-8, 1 set of 8-12)
Lower 3:
Biceps: Seated EZ Bar Curls (16-20, rp)
Forearms: Pinwheels Curls (16-20, 1 set)
Calves: Standing Calf Raise (8-12, 1 set)
Hamstrings: Sumo Leg Press (12-20, 1 set)
Quads: Walking DB Lunges (heavy set of 4-8 each leg, back down of 8-12 each leg)
Thought process behind the program...
I start with deads..typically it takes my lower back 3-4 days to recover from that, so I made sure to give myself plenty of time by putting Leg press as the next leg day.
The upper 3 day is a higher rep machine day. Typically after a squat session my left shoulder aches...it doesn't effect my actually pressing power, however, stabilizing weights becomes a problem. So my solution for that is to put a machine only day aside from the BB rows.
I also realize chins aren't typically used (people prefer rack chins), however, I just absolutely love curl and neutral grip chins. I progress on them just fine and they crush my lats very nicely. I can always swap em out for rack chins later if they stall.
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