Doggcrapp Training in review

by: DannyStevens - March 30th, 2008

I just wrapped up my 6 week long Doggcrapp training cycle. Overall, I am pleased. My goal was to hit 220 LBS. and I was able to hit 219 LBS with a bodyfat % of around 13. This will be a nice starting point for when it comes time to diet for the NPC Collegiate Nationals in mid-July.

DC training combines a series of heavy rest-pause sets with a big emphasis on rest and recovery. The gym work is intense and the rest is usually well deserved but personally, I found myself going crazy with the larger than normal amount of cardio days and non-weight days. Hitting the gym only 3 times a week was hard for me. I train hard every time I am in the gym even outside of DC training. For people that don't, DC training will kill them, but for me, it was a nice change of pace.

My strength however did go up. Once I found the exercises that worked well with rest-pause sets (and were safe) I made nice gains. Some of my heavy lifts were as follows-

Leg press- 1,380 LBS. x 9 reps (deep)
Finished off with a 20 rep widow-maker with 975 LBS. (again, deep)

Squats-
405 LBS. x 6 reps

Deadlifts
515 LBS. x 2 reps

Smith incline press
365 LBS for rest pause sets

The DC eating philosophy was a little odd to me. It says that one can eat whatever they want, as long as they get a fair amount of protein in them before hand. This works well if all you want to do is bulk but most of the people I've seen who have followed this method end up packing on some size in the gut. In the off-season, I eat clean most/some of the time but my calories and protein are always high enough to enable muscle growth and repair.

The extreme stretching approach is another DC concoction. After each muscle group is worked, you perform a 60-90 second stretch of that muscle. It can actually be fairly painful but once you finish, it feels good. I will most likely continue utilizing some of the stretches in my training as I'm a firm believer in stretching to begin with. Some of them are a little goofy, but they do work.

Overall, DC training is no doubt an interesting approach. In my opinion, I think for competitors, it's a good off-season change of pace split to keep things interesting. For the weekend warrior gym rat, it will no doubt be taxing but you will most likely see nice gains. My advice is to read about it and put your own spin on it. You'll see guys say that it MUST be done this way but to me, that's B.S. Everyone is different and you might find a way that works for you and your body. My gripes with it is the large amount of rest and the eating theories. The plan also seems to neglect back some what. I'm sure if you have tried DC, you know what I mean. By the time you finally get to your back, you're really pretty spent.

The supplements I was using throughout my DC cycle are as follows-
ON Fish Oil caps.
ON Joint Aid
ON Pro Complex
ON Glutamine, Creatine and BCAA powder
ON Threshold
ON ZMA
ON casein protein powder
ABB steel bars or ON Lift bars (mmm)

Thanks all for reading!!!!

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