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It's interesting to see how some of the successful pro's train & diet.
Dorian Yates seems to have used some similar techniques to those advocated by DC.
I found a few interesting similarities in an interview with Dorian Yates.
Here are a few quotes:
1. Precomp
My biggest mistake was probably trying to use the same weights and same intensity (i.e., training beyond failure) right up to competition. High-intensity techniques are great for stimulating growth if you have sufficient calories and rest. But when you get ready for a competition, your goal should shift toward maintaining muscle and reducing the injury factor. This is especially true if your energy and body fat levels are low and you're pushing your muscles and joints hard. Also, when dieting and training hard you don't sleep so well, which means you can't focus as well. All those factors increase your risk of injury. This also increases your risk of being catabolic because you're applying all that stress, and lack of calories and rest make it harder to recover. If I were to do it all again, I would downshift to training to failure only, or even subfailure, stopping 1-2 reps short of all-out effort. This would give enough stimulation to maintain the muscle while you concentrate on reducing body fat.
2. Emphasising the negative & rest-pause
I did always emphasize the negative since it is just as important or more important than the positive portion, which a lot of people forget as they concentrate only on lifting the weight. Damage primarily occurs during the negative phase, which is responsible for the growth response. When I did negatives at the end, they were done on machines due to better control.
I would also sometimes do a modified rest pause, training heavy for 5-6 reps, resting for about 10 seconds, then squeezing out another 1-2 reps.
3. Keeping a logbook
I've had certain bodybuilders ask me questions on training. I would ask them what they did last time, or last year. They would reply, "I'm not really sure... I can't really remember." You're never going to learn anything if that's the case. If you keep a record you can see how you progress, how your body reacts, what works and what didn't. That allows you to refine it. But if you leave it to guesswork, it's like a captain on a ship without mapping out a course, floating out there and hoping to get where he wants to get.
4. AAS
I used the same thing as everybody else... deca durabolin, testosterone, orals... they've all been out there for 20-30 years. People think that they can take this stuff and make incredible gains. It doesn't work that way. Steroids help the muscle building process, but they are not solely responsible. You still need to train hard, eat well, and get sufficient rest.
5. Cardio
The weight training I did in the off-season and in-season was pretty much the same. So, to burn the fat, besides lowering calories, I performed aerobics up to one hour a day. I did half-hour in the morning and half-hour in the evening, or as needed. It wasn't high intensity aerobic training, but low in intensity, so I used primarily fat for energy. You can lose fat by increasing exercises and sets, but you run the risk of being more catabolic and losing muscle tissue. It makes it more difficult to recover from a higher than normal volume of training as well.
6. The need for exercise variety
You can't get the whole physique. You will increase strength and get basic development, but you will not get full development of all muscle groups. It just isn't possible. You can't develop your lat width and thickness, rhomboids, trapezius, and lower back with just one exercise.
7. Adequate Protein
My first concern was making certain I had adequate protein in regular intervals throughout the day. I averaged 1.5 grams per pound of body weight. Then it was just a matter of balancing the rest of the calories I needed between fat and carbohydrates. I'm not sure of the exact percentages, but it was probably around 30-40% protein, 50% carbs and 15-20% fat. It varied, but I saw the fats and carbohydrates as energy foods, and of course the necessity of essential fatty acids for the nervous system, etc.
It was around 5500-6000 calories daily... yes. Of that, my protein was around 400-450 grams per day.
Dorian Yates seems to have used some similar techniques to those advocated by DC.
I found a few interesting similarities in an interview with Dorian Yates.
Here are a few quotes:
1. Precomp
My biggest mistake was probably trying to use the same weights and same intensity (i.e., training beyond failure) right up to competition. High-intensity techniques are great for stimulating growth if you have sufficient calories and rest. But when you get ready for a competition, your goal should shift toward maintaining muscle and reducing the injury factor. This is especially true if your energy and body fat levels are low and you're pushing your muscles and joints hard. Also, when dieting and training hard you don't sleep so well, which means you can't focus as well. All those factors increase your risk of injury. This also increases your risk of being catabolic because you're applying all that stress, and lack of calories and rest make it harder to recover. If I were to do it all again, I would downshift to training to failure only, or even subfailure, stopping 1-2 reps short of all-out effort. This would give enough stimulation to maintain the muscle while you concentrate on reducing body fat.
2. Emphasising the negative & rest-pause
I did always emphasize the negative since it is just as important or more important than the positive portion, which a lot of people forget as they concentrate only on lifting the weight. Damage primarily occurs during the negative phase, which is responsible for the growth response. When I did negatives at the end, they were done on machines due to better control.
I would also sometimes do a modified rest pause, training heavy for 5-6 reps, resting for about 10 seconds, then squeezing out another 1-2 reps.
3. Keeping a logbook
I've had certain bodybuilders ask me questions on training. I would ask them what they did last time, or last year. They would reply, "I'm not really sure... I can't really remember." You're never going to learn anything if that's the case. If you keep a record you can see how you progress, how your body reacts, what works and what didn't. That allows you to refine it. But if you leave it to guesswork, it's like a captain on a ship without mapping out a course, floating out there and hoping to get where he wants to get.
4. AAS
I used the same thing as everybody else... deca durabolin, testosterone, orals... they've all been out there for 20-30 years. People think that they can take this stuff and make incredible gains. It doesn't work that way. Steroids help the muscle building process, but they are not solely responsible. You still need to train hard, eat well, and get sufficient rest.
5. Cardio
The weight training I did in the off-season and in-season was pretty much the same. So, to burn the fat, besides lowering calories, I performed aerobics up to one hour a day. I did half-hour in the morning and half-hour in the evening, or as needed. It wasn't high intensity aerobic training, but low in intensity, so I used primarily fat for energy. You can lose fat by increasing exercises and sets, but you run the risk of being more catabolic and losing muscle tissue. It makes it more difficult to recover from a higher than normal volume of training as well.
6. The need for exercise variety
You can't get the whole physique. You will increase strength and get basic development, but you will not get full development of all muscle groups. It just isn't possible. You can't develop your lat width and thickness, rhomboids, trapezius, and lower back with just one exercise.
7. Adequate Protein
My first concern was making certain I had adequate protein in regular intervals throughout the day. I averaged 1.5 grams per pound of body weight. Then it was just a matter of balancing the rest of the calories I needed between fat and carbohydrates. I'm not sure of the exact percentages, but it was probably around 30-40% protein, 50% carbs and 15-20% fat. It varied, but I saw the fats and carbohydrates as energy foods, and of course the necessity of essential fatty acids for the nervous system, etc.
It was around 5500-6000 calories daily... yes. Of that, my protein was around 400-450 grams per day.
--so obviously rotating my favourite exercises is the perfect solution. Larry Scott endorses the same concept to offset joint problems which result from repetative movements along the same range of motion. So as soon as I discovered DC training and understood the concepts I knew it was for me as it was the accumulation of what I needed, enjoy, and thrive on!
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