considering switching from RP to SS

[nator]

I just finished my third blast and think I might be falling a little short on the duration of my blasts. I have been doing the standard DC 2 way split and rest pausing everything that is recommended. My worry is that I am only making it about 6 weeks before I take a cruise. At the end of 6 weeks I usually start falling off on a few exercises and start getting a little tendonitis and felling beat up.

What I am wondering is do you DC vets out there think I should switch over to strait sets for a while, and see if I can carry my blasts on for a few more weeks. Or stick with the standard RP and continue on doing 6 week blocks, taking a week or so off after every blast.

For some training background before I started training DC I competed in PL for 4-5 years.I trained mostly volume/sheiko style.

[[email protected]]

I just finished my third blast and think I might be falling a little short on the duration of my blasts. I have been doing the standard DC 2 way split and rest pausing everything that is recommended. My worry is that I am only making it about 6 weeks before I take a cruise. At the end of 6 weeks I usually start falling off on a few exercises and start getting a little tendonitis and felling beat up.

What I am wondering is do you DC vets out there think I should switch over to strait sets for a while, and see if I can carry my blasts on for a few more weeks. Or stick with the standard RP and continue on doing 6 week blocks, taking a week or so off after every blast.

For some training background before I started training DC I competed in PL for 4-5 years.I trained mostly volume/sheiko style.

Don't try and re-invent the wheel. If you feel you can only make it six weeks then just do six. Are you pretty strong? If you are throwing around some decent poundage you may just need a longer cruise than a week. Try two weeks. Take the first whole week off from the gym all together, then the second week go in a few times and get a pump and get out.
I feel you on the tendonitis, I have it pretty bad in both elbows.
You could also consider using a higher rep range for exercises that bother your tendonitis.
How is your nutrition? If you are not beating the log book on your sixth week maybe you need more calories?

[Kidrok (Hop)]

6 weeks isn't completely out of the norm. Mine always fell into the 5-6 week range as well. As MD suggested, you should take a look at the other factors in your cover, eating, rest, stress, etc to be sure everything is in line for optimal recovery. If everything is up to speed and you are falling UNDER 6 weeks consistently, only then would I look to switch to straight sets.

[socialdfan]

^^^^^^^^^^^^this

[clh5341]

You could also take the occasional Friday off during a blast if you're tired and have a mini cruise of four days right in the middle of your blast. If I didn't feel like I could give it my all I'd do that and feel surprisingly refreshed by the time Monday came around again.

[SAHD]

I am no expert in any way but have recently been doing a fair bit of other fitness stuff and also cut out all caffine and many other "bad" foods and found my blast length has increased. I think it is just because I am healthier overall. Could be worth a try if you aren't ticking all the other boxes.

[homonunculus]

I just finished my third blast and think I might be falling a little short on the duration of my blasts. I have been doing the standard DC 2 way split and rest pausing everything that is recommended. My worry is that I am only making it about 6 weeks before I take a cruise. At the end of 6 weeks I usually start falling off on a few exercises and start getting a little tendonitis and felling beat up.

What I am wondering is do you DC vets out there think I should switch over to strait sets for a while, and see if I can carry my blasts on for a few more weeks. Or stick with the standard RP and continue on doing 6 week blocks, taking a week or so off after every blast.

For some training background before I started training DC I competed in PL for 4-5 years.I trained mostly volume/sheiko style.

While as KR said, this could be just how long blasts last for you, but I'd look at some other things:

How much strength are you gaining each blast?... Are you microloading your weights to ensure you eek out as much from each exercise as possible or are you making large jumps and then hitting a brick wall after a large jump in weight?

How much body weight are you gaining each blast? Are you adjusting your diet?...

How often are you having to switch up exercises?... It's normal to switch exercises in the middle of a blast or even at the start if you'd been riding out an exercise for a very long time. Plateauing on a few exercises does not necessarily mean the end of a blast. (It could just be when things are getting fun.)

What are you doing to treat / prevent the tendinitis?...

How is your sleep? What other activity are you doing?... Are you well-rested in general?... (What's your job, other hobbies, other responsibilities, etc?)

-Scott

[nator]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am going to try working in the micro loading into my next blast and see how that effects things. My inner powerlifter always wants to add 20 lbs to the bar when things are going good instead of 5. Thanks again for everyone's input.

[Andre Gregoire]

Don't try and re-invent the wheel. If you feel you can only make it six weeks then just do six.

I was recently reading Dante's old posts back from 2002-2003 and his first posts he was talking about straight sets and if your recovery ability permits then throw in statics or rest pause and finally rest pause and statics.

In his new stuff he seems to be more set on the RP sets though.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am going to try working in the micro loading into my next blast and see how that effects things. My inner powerlifter always wants to add 20 lbs to the bar when things are going good instead of 5. Thanks again for everyone's input.

You got a lot of good feedback up above so I won't add anything except comment on the micro-loading, the 2.5lbs plates are your best friend.

I actually like numbers so I add 2.5% to the bar every week. When I start a blast I pick a weight I can do for about 15 reps on the first portion of the RP set and then add 2.5% to the bar each week. I usually get 8-10 weeks out of it before I get to 6-8 reps on the first portion of the set.