Random Thoughts by Dante

8/6/2019 Random Thoughts by Dante

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Random thoughts by Dante (READ THIS)

a)I have no problem with anyone on leg training switching the exercises they do from the 6-8 heavy set

to the 20 reppers on as long as the 20 repper gets done. Alot of the super large guys I train (270-

340lbers) have serious trouble breathingwise doing a 20 rep free squat. Hell I have trouble doing it

myself. You are carrying alot of bodyweight, breathing like a locomotive and hey lets not die on leg

training day-LOL. Ill give you an example--One of my guys does smythe squats, free squats and leg

presses as his three leg movements. On leg press day he does the heavy 6-10 (I make him do 10 reps on

it) and then does the 20 repper on the same leg press. On smythe day he does his heavy 6-8 and then

does the 20 repper on a horizontal hack machine. On free squat day he does his heavy 6-10 and does

the 20 repper on a Cybex (different) leg press machine at a slightly different angle than the other leg

press day. I got no problem with any of you guys doing that especially you large beasts. Now if you start

doing only leg presses with the same leg press machine for all your 20 reppers then Im going to call you

on it that your taking the easy way out.

b)Alot of people ask me how I come to conclusions on things.....alot of all this you can deduct from what

you see going on around you at gyms and from just watching people. Alot of what I do is "reverse

engineering"--I think things out backwards to find out the reasoning. You can sit there and study

medline all day long but until you have a practical brain to think how it pertains to bodybuilding, your

not going to get very far in applying it. For example alot of people freak out about the controlled

negative on reps in DC training and why the heck its done. Besides what science agrees with, think of

certain instances or hobbies or jobs with repetitive movements with the repeated same load. Boat

rowers, sawing lumberjacks and gymnasts. They all do repetitive movements with the same load, a boat

or canoist rower is trying to power along a boat as fast as he can, a sawing lumberjack is using power tosaw down a tree, a gymnast does repeated movements with bodyweight. All are pushing the limits

trying to use as much power as possible for the task at hand. Which one of those three has a discernable

musculature? Boat rowers dont have huge backs, sawing lumberjacks dont have huge arms but

gymnasts always have that musculature. They sure arent eating to get huge and most likely they arent

doing incredibly heavy weight training but you can always see the musculature on a gymnast. Why? Well

which one of those three does controlled negative movements? The rowers and sawers are just using

positive movements and it does virtually nothing for their musculature (science agrees with that theory-

concluding that the positive movment is a strength/priming phase and the eccentric is where the magic

happens)--the gymnasts on the other hand are all doing heavy eccentric and controlled negative work

(iron cross/rings, pommel horse etc etc etc)--the moral of the story is your whole thinking in all thisshould get to the point where your curling a weight up just for the simple reason of controlling the

descent downward so you can get bigger

c)There was a study some years back which included 3 groups--elite sumo wrestlers who did no weight

training whatsoever, advanced bodybuilders and advanced powerlifters--about 20 in each group. Now

there is a lot of variables here but they took the lean muscle mass of each group and divided it by their


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height in inches. Surprisingly the sumo wrestlers came out well ahead of the powerlifters (2nd) and the

bodybuilders (very close 3rd). This is a group who did no weight training at all but engorged themselves

with food trying to bring their bodyweight up to dramatic levels. How is a group that is doing no weight

training having more muscle mass per inch of height than powerlifters and bodybuilders? For anyone

that doubts food is the greatest anabolic in your arsenal, you better get up to speed and on the same

page as what my trainees have found out. Gee now what would happen if you actually ate to get

dramatically larger like a sumo, but actually weight trained like a powerbuilder (which is what we train

like), and also did enough cardio/carb cuttoffs etc to keep bodyfat at bay while doing all this? Are you

guys coming around to how I think yet....in how to become the biggest bodybuilder at the quickest rate

but keeping leaness on that journey?

d)Something you guys might want to try for your forearm belly that has worked better for me than alot

of other things is a (belly of the forearm) extreme stretch done exactly after biceps or wrist curls or

whatever you are doing for forearms. Its as simple as this--once youve done biceps and forearms and

have already stretched your biceps--or directly after your last rep of seated wrist curls...sitting on a seat

with your forearms resting on your legs and the barbell in your palms face up...let your hands sag

downward and let the barbell roll down the palm of your hand and hold onto it with your fingers until

you feel that stretch and then the fun begins (30-90 seconds thats what your trying for)..dont let the

topside of your hands hit your shin because that defeats the purpose....at about 30 seconds youll start

shaking...45 seconds your head will be twitching from side to side because there is so much pain and it

feels like your going to lose the barbell with your grip and if you make it to 60 YOU ARE THE MAN...but

90 seconds is the goal...(trust me you wont make it--its too fucking painful)....youll get to the point youll

have to drop the barbell on the floor and take 30 seconds just to get your wits about you. Be very

careful with this movement, I dont want you tweaking your wrists here so be cautious. For those who do

this, take a long look at your forearms the very next day in the mirror, flex your forearm and I think youll

be very surprised at how different/swollen it is. Thats all that needs to be done---let me know 3 months

from now how different they look

e)Its about time I start showing you guys some new exercises from the DC arsenal--I got about 50 you

guys have never seen but Ill throw this one at you for now. Maybe Ill just have you guys throw out a

bodypart one of these days in a post and ill give you new exercises you can do for that bodypart (time

willing)

Pulley row high pulls-awesome for lat width here guys--this is going to be a pain in my ass to explain but

lets see if i can do it--god its so much easier showing someone these in person. First up--do you know

that position that is at the bottom of a stiff leg deadlift if you do it very deep (some people dont)--

remember that position because that is key here ok?

Ok-Your on a seated cable row with a close grip parallel handle--your legs are slightly bent--your aiming

for the greatest amount of stretch possible at the very beginning of the pull ok so remember that you

should be in that "position" above or close to it (I talked about earlier) thruout this whole movement.

With your back rounded and you leaning forward (huge stretch) you pull the handle to right about 3

inches above the kneecaps, thats it. At no point do you stick your chest out and arch your back and pull

the handle into your midsection and sit straight up as in a seated pulley row, what you do instead is flare


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your lats at the stretch at the very beginning and keep your lats flared till you pull right over your

kneecaps and then control the return to the stretch and repeat. Because your bent forward in a position

that doesnt put your back in a precarious safety position you will have no worries with a rounded back. I

guess a simple way i could describe it is

a)huge stretch at beginning

b)do half a pulley row movement but dont lean your torso backward or arch your back--keep it

stabilized maybe only moving a few inches the whole movement

c)keep your lats flared outwards the whole way thru and dont crunch your scapula together--pull with

your lats and pull the handle 2-3 inches over your kneecaps and return------15-30 reps rest paused is the

deal on these and you will not be using the weight you use on seated pulley rows so wipe that from your

memory banks

Paying Your Dues

PAYING YOUR DUES

This post is for everyone in this forum--its very important to read over--VERY IMPORTANT. Want to

know the average trainee that comes to me? He is 35-45 years old and after 10-15 years of lifting weighs

175 to 210lbs. He looks at me as the guy that somehow can pull a bunny out of a hat and make him that

250lb ripped bodybuilder walking the streets.... where he couldnt even get close to that level by himself.

He is scrambling around because he doesnt want to get to 50 years old never feeling what it was like to

walk thru a crowd and people gawk, stare, and point because he is a damn good bodybuilder. Well what

the hell have you been doing all these years?!?!?! You should of put in your f*^&ing dues like the rest of

us. These same guys think Im a miracle worker that can somehow add 80lbs of muscle mass on their

frame while losing 30lbs of fat while keeping incredibly lean thruout the journey to get there. Well guess

what? YOU FUCKED UP. Want to know the fastest way to walk around at 250 ripped--THE ABSOLUTELY

G'DAMN FASTEST WAY TO GET THERE? TAKE 2 YEARS AND EAT HUGE AMOUNTS OF FOOD, AND TRAIN

WITH BRUTALLY HEAVY WEIGHTS, AND BECOME A BIG FAT OFFENSIVE LINEMAN LOOKING GUY AT

330LBS....AND NO IT WONT BE PRETTY...AT ALL. MOST OF ALL DONT DO ANYTHING THAT COULD

POSSIBLY EVEN IMPEDE THE SLIGHTEST IN MUSCLE MASS GAIN. Just eat copious amounts of food (up to

500-600 grams of protein) and bring your bodyweight up the charts which will allow you leverage and

strength gains to allow you use the incredible weights you have to use in the gym to accomplish this.

Then after being at that level for density reasons for awhile, you can slowly take it down and I mean

slowly and most likely have the most muscle mass gain your genetics allowed in that time frame. That is

the probably the fastest way in the shortest time to get there. But definitely not the most desirable but

truth is truth. Am i recommending that approach--HELL NO, but if we are talking about getting this done

as fast as humanly possible then I have to be blunt. Noone wants to look like a fat slob even if it means

the end result will be much closer to their ideal. And these guys 35-45 years old want me to keep them

pretty boy lean and wave the magic wand and make them into Milos Sarcev after they pretty much just

wasted 10-15 years of training.

I dont like using myself for an example but I will here. I started training at about 20 at 137lbs and


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he could walk around all thru his 30's, 40's and now 50 years old jacked to the hilt. Not many people

have a better front double biceps than Geir no matter what age they are.....here he

is http://www.nutritionoutlet.nu/galler...02/borgan.html

What Im hoping to relay to you slackers and dreamers that are in this forum is that you have to put your

time in and pay your dues in this sport. Your 2-3lbs gain a year arent going to get it done so unless you

want to get to 55 years old and look back and think "wow besides the people I told and myself, noone

even knew I was a bodybuilder and I never made it"....you better get your ass in gear and your head on

right and get this done now. Gaining fat is easy but if you never lifted how long would it take for you to

gain 80lbs of fat from 175 to 255lbs? Probably a year and you would have to forcefeed yourself to get

there. Just think how long it takes to put on 80lbs of muscle mass which is an extremely "hard to come

by" commodity. This sport is about extremes--using weights you havent used previously, taking in

amounts of food to build greater muscle mass-in amounts you never have done previously, and

GETTING THE CARDIO DONE to keep you at an acceptable offseason training bodyfat that keeps you

happy. Get your act together and think this all out or quit your complaining and dreaming and take up

tennis.

Overanalyzing

Im seeing a repetitive phenomenon with the people I train that I want to state here. Ive trained alot of

people now in the last 2 years on the net and also in person previously. I keep noticing the same things-

basically on how various trainees brain's work. When people contact me for training, the guys who have

a big work ethic and believe in a system of training whether its mine or westside or 5x5 or whatever,

and hammer it and hammer it hard come to me as big people already. These are the bodybuilders you

see out there in the street. Big guys that you know lift, there is no doubt that they are bodybuilders. On

the other hand I have gotten alot of guys who have been lifting 5-10 years and you would never know

they lifted even once unless they made it a point to tell you about it (and many do--LOL). And Ill tell you

what the overwhelming continual trait those guys have. THEY OVERTHINK THIS, OVERANALYZE, keep

second guessing themselves, follow this routine this month and that routine the next, and Flex magazine

the third month. It all depends on what they happen to read that week. HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW

WHAT WORKS IF YOU SWITCH IT EVERY DAMN MONTH? Ive showed TPC some of these emails in the

warehouse and he didnt realize the extent of what I was telling him about. Ive had a couple guys in the

last 2 months who have been lifting for 5-10 years and by their pics it would be embarrassing to tell

anyone that they actually lift. Both of these guys are sending me emails talking about iso-tension at the

top of bicep curls, worrying up and down about the statics, should i flex the pinky finger inward to make

more of a contraction on my alternate curl, should my forearm be perpendicular to the earths axis at the

bottom of the shoulder press (you get the drift). I went off on one guy and felt bad about it after but he

kept saying "well how I used to do it is..." and "well Ive always done it this way" My answer was "well

why do you look like shit if your old way worked so well"? Noone will ever know who these trainees are

because its my business only but I want them to read this to get it clear in their heads. If you double

triple or quadruple your training weights in good safe form over the next year/s or so your basically

(with diet) going to be double or triple your current muscular size. If your going to sit there and


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overanalyze this shit like its rocket science (which it isnt I dont care what anyone tries to make it out to

be) and worry about things that really arent going to add up to pounds of muscle mass, then blame

yourself when you never get there. Are you going to be a happy man at 50 years old when you look back

and think "Wow I screwed up, I never looked like a bodybuilder, never achieved my goals, never got

dramatically bigger, and its gone now.....IM too old to make up for that lost time" because thats where

alot of you are heading if you dont get your heads on straight. I blame alot of the muscle magazines for

this. Alot of articles are ghost written for pros or are solo articles by people who are 165lbs who never

made a huge change in their physique themselves. They try to portray lifting weights as this huge

science (and they splurge up their articles with 8 vowel words and searching thru the thesaurus to find a

word that makes them look extremely intelligent)--I go back to the beggining of cycles for pennies on

this---The absolute strongest you can make yourself in all exercises, coupled with food intake to eat your

way up to the new musculature will allow you to hold the most muscle mass on your body that your

genetics predetermine. You want to worry bout something? Worry about that damn logbook. Worry

about staying uninjured in your quest. Worry about not missing any meals. Worry about somehow

someway making yourself the strongest bodybuilder you can become. Im not talking singles here. Im

talking 9-15 reps rest paused. A brute. A behemoth. A human forklift. I guess i had to use this post to

vent because TPC saw me pissed off in the warehouse today after answering emails such as "Dante

should I try to isolate the upper portion of the pec muscle and hold the peak contraction and flex hard at

the top of every rep for about 5 seconds?" If you have been lifting many years with no muscle mass to

show the last thing you need to worry about is peak contraction--GET THE DAMN WEIGHT UP AND BEAT

THE LOGBOOK WITH BIG WEIGHT JUMPS (and then Ill and you will be happy)

Someone asked about DC mods here in a post last week and I thought i would add my input here. I

always stay in the scheme of things but I tune things to myself.

For example: I always look for ways to make an exercise harder and safer for myself. By safer-such as

back thickness movements such as deadlifts, rack deads and rack drag deads....I have gotten very strongon these and now I will only do them with overhand grips instead of an over under. I dont want to be

tearing a bicep due to the very heavy weight i have to use on these and going overhand forces me to

lighten up somewhat and takes alot of stress off that undergrip bicep. (Ive gone as high as 765lbs on

rack deads and really felt it pull there and will never tread those dangerous waters again)

Tricep exercises: i will not do any extension movements at any less than 15rp and ill keep the range 15-

30rp on those. I can get very heavy on ez bar movements and feel the potential for a muscle tear is great

when you start grinding out sets like 6+3+2=11rp

Bicep exercises I always keep in the 20rp range just because i seem to respond better that way and also

for the safety factor

Quads, I tell everyone to do a 4-8 backbreaker set with very heavy tonnage and then a widowmaker set

of 20 reps and i do this myself but honestly at this heavy of a bodyweight, there have been times where

I really thought I was going to cease living after getting off a 20 rep squat because I was breathing so

hard and couldnt get enough oxygen in my lungs to sustain me. My gym is on the second floor with no

open windows at all, just central air ducts---for some strange reason, its ok breathing sometimes and

other times (especially in a crowded gym) your gasping for air after a heavy chest set nevermind the 20

rep squat set. I do believe the lighter guys in the 150 to 250lb range in this forum can still get away with


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doing things normally but the very heavy guys might be biting carpet on a hot day after a 20 rep squat.

So at times Ive done it like the following--on day one i do free squats shit heavy and then the hack for

my 20 repper (which leaves me breathing like a locomotive anyway) and on the other day I do the newer

leg press for both my heavy and widowmaker sets and on the last leg day i do smythe squats shit heavy

and then the widowmaker on the older leg press. So as you see same scheme just some tweaks i do for

myself if you were curious.

__________________

DC workout schedules for various people

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I probably should of written this a while back but I see alot of people asking about it now. Schedules.

Most of the people I personally train I have them on the monday wenesday friday monday scheme with

bodyparts split like this

a)

Chest

Shoulders

Triceps

Back width

BAck thickness

b)

biceps

forearmscalves

hams

quads

What is important about that is there is always a day between workouts and that lends itself to all

important recovery/rest. Another variation of this above that some of the really heavy trainers I train

like is Tues (full workout) Thurs (full workout) Sat (half workout) Sun (other half workout)

Some of my extremely advanced trainers and some of the guys who need very short workouts I have

them do the following. What I do with those people works right along the same lines as the M W F Mscheme I always use--almost the same frequency with extremely short workouts. And if anyone who has

been doing DC training for a long while, likes this schedule better I have no problem with them going

over to it. It is Mon Tues Thurs Fri (with weekends off) or something to that effect according to their

schedule and the body is split up like this:

A)


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biceps

forearms

back width

back thickness

B)

Chest

Shoulders

Triceps

C)

Calves

Hams

Quads

So you see that on Friday biceps and back is hit again and then the next week workout b will be hit twice

and during week 3 workout c will be hit twice. The frequency of bodyparts hit is almost like the original

M W F M plan. On this split which i use with highly advanced trainees I use it to bomb their weak

bodyparts (which I dont feel you can do without potentially overtraining on the MWF scheme) The

downsides to this 3 way split are the obvious non day off between workouts and you have to be very

very careful with order of exercises on this plan. For example I would never have you doing full range

deadlifts the day after a squat day--you would be destroyed. You have to look over the whole scheme

and make sure your back thickness exercise is not going to be effected by your hamstring or quad

exercise. I would probably skip stiff legged deadlifts for hamstrings totally during this routine because of

the heavy back thickness exercises. I would probably rotate seated standing and lying leg curls for

someone doing this. Your workouts though would be 30-60 minutes tops and thats tops and your out of

there. The bad points of setting it up this way is that you lose that whole day of rest between workouts

and Ive seen over time that most people seem to gain a slight bit better with that full day of rest. The

other bad point is although the frequency of bodyparts trained is similiar, its a bit less over time

(bodyparts trained about 81 times a year in the M W F scheme and 69 times a year in the second

scheme above) .........

PS: I put back/bis before chest/shoulder/tri in the rotation because alot of people get really sore in the

shoulder/chest area the day after chest. This can make it very hard sometimes on back width and back

thickness exercises (especially back width) and Im trying to keep injuries to a minimum. The downside to

this is when leg day falls directly after chest day, you are going to have to stretch out thoroughly in the

delt/chest area to get your shoulders/arms on the bar for squatting.

Without a doubt--the mon wed fri split gets people bigger faster than any other split and the 3 way mon

tues thurs fri split is a step below it on that front, but I am able to get up weak bodyparts a l ittle bit


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better on the 3 way split--so remember that if you are overanxious to jump to the 3 way split, your

actually gaining overall muscle mass slightly faster with the mon wed fri split

__________________

Im kind of stuck here with all this

There is alot I could write about for advanced trainers and every time I start, I stop. And the reason is,

the basic way Ive set everything up here is to bring people to the "advanced level" as quickly as possible.

I know if I start talking about what I do with advanced guys, alot of ego's will start churning and people

will start thinking "well im advanced too!"

I see guys in here weighing 170lbs asking why their chest and arms wont grow. Heres the most likely

reason. YOUR 170LBS at 6 foot tall!!!! Your not supposed to have 20 inch arms and huge pecs at 170lbs.

Do you think your idol Arnold at 235-240lbs onstage with huge guns and pecs would of had huge guns

and pecs at 170lbs? No that means 65-70lbs less muscle mass on him and he would of lookedlike......well....like YOU!

Im pretty good with basic human nature. And if I say "here do this, this will bring you from 150 to 225

the quickest way I know possible" to a beginner to intermediate bodybuilder, and then say "ok lets do

this, with a highly advanced bodybuilder"....what path do you think that beginner to intermediate

bodybuilder is going to take? He is going to follow the advanced guys routine because thats what he

wants to be like.

Alot of the guys I train in this forum who are highly advanced that I put on that 3 way split (4 day a

week) program....with unique adjustments I do for that specific individual, end up saying the same thing

to me in emails. "Dante I see why you dont tell those guys in the dogg pound about this stuff, it would

just get screwed up beyond belief"Look at the guys who come in this forum lately and pretty much do their own thing even though Ive laid

it out to them how you go about all this. All I hear of late is "hybrid, tweaking, adding" etc. And thats

with the basic way of doing things. Now what do you think is going to happen if I tell you what I have the

Pro's and nationals/usa guys I train do?

"Newbiebodybuilder Chippy Walker": "oh hey Dante Ill add that to my regimen too even though im only

182lbs and been lifting for 2.5 years!"

Maybe I have a different way of looking at things than alot of the guys reading my stuff. Ive always

looked at things as a long term plan, and Ive noticed even with the guys I train that alot of them look at

things from a "this past 2 weeks, this week, or even "TODAYS WORKOUT" plan. If you gain 20-25lbs of

muscle mass this year, thats amazing and you should hang your head high with pride. But that didnt

happen in one workout--that takes a year! Thats 150 to 200 workoutsstrung together with progressive

training and progressive eating and cardio to tie up lose ends, not "TODAYS WORKOUT"

My basic plan is


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a)take you from the run of the mill lifter you are today and turn you into an advanced bodybuilder the

absolutely quickest way possible

b)that doesnt happen in 5 weeks. Thats a 2 to 3 year plan usually and if you think you can turn yourself

into a 3.5 LBS per inch of height lean bodybuilder in the next couple months, your sadly misinformed

and no wonder alot of you guys are jumping back and forth from routine to routine and are so

clusterfucked in the head you dont know what the hell your doing.

c)Once i get you up to that advanced muscle mass size....and thats all Im asking for, 2-3 years of your

time, that aint much when you consider all the people around you in the gym who have been slaving

away at it for 10-15 years.... and most of them you would of never thought touched a weight in their life

walking down the street. Is that going to be you? Are you the guy who 10 years from now is in the gym

and nobody knows in everyday life that you even lift unless you make it a point to tell them you do?

(embarrasing)

d)So you can fast track this and get there quickly (where were you as a bodybuilder 2-3 years ago, thats

not so long ago now is it?) or you can longtrack this and take the next 8-10 years of lifting and try to

become something special by worrying about the little things (slightly weaker bodyparts) on the way up

to becoming a big thing (advanced bodybuilder).

e)Again once I get you there, where you have a great deal of muscle mass accumalated and yes you

might have some weaker bodyparts than others but you are definitely carrying alot more muscle mass

than the next guy....we get down and brutal and start grinding out some unique ideas to get those

weaker bodyparts caught up with everything else.

Alot of you guys try to ride off on the horse before it starts even pulling the cart. YOU WANT IT NOW!

Well in that confused overanalyzing hyperactive quest to "get it NOW" you might be setting yourself

back as far as how advanced you could become as a bodybuilder timewise. I personally hate

accomplishing something in 5 years when I knew I could of done it in 2.5 There are alot of things I did

when I started out that I wish to god I could get that time back.....because I honestly waisted YEARS not

months, YEARS of productive building time by trying to disect this stuff with an electron microscope

when a sledgehammer would of done the trick.

There are alot of local bodybuilders who I trained before I started training people online who I see now

and then at the gym or around the San Diego area, and they actually listened to me when they were

beginning or intermediate bodybuilders...they did exactly what I told them to do because I guess in

person Im a little more convincing than words on a webpage online. And now they are advanced

bodybuilders and I still hear some of them say "thanks for helping me Dante" or "thanks for getting my

head on straight with this stuff"

I take pride knowing that I helped them "not waste valuable time", years if you will. I also saw how the


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visual side of this sport is all encompassing to people. Some of these guy's freinds scoffed at the training

they were doing, you know the same old "not enough sets, you need to do cable crossovers for the inner

pec bro, what about burnout sets?) bullshit. When these same guys started flying by their compadres

and co-workers guess who were the first people spreading rumors of "juicing" or came running asking

them questions "tell me what your doing bro, your getting swole!"

As you can tell of late ive been getting very frustrated with all this crap, because I keep wanting to shake

some sense into alot of the people that come into this forum and say to them "I am trying to help you

here, and your fighting against me"...so my attitude has changed somewhat to "well Ive done all I can

do, if all the pictures, posts, and examples Ive left over the last 6 years proving this out to you, doesnt

mean anything, then screw it....do your own thing then"

One of you emailed me and asked why I wasnt correcting people in the pound anymore on various

threads. Why? Because I really dont feel I have to anymore...it is what it is. I dont need to and dont want

to try to convince people anymore. Do what you want to do training wise. With my methods, either do it

and do it right or do something else.

So you guys see my dilemna here, I put alot of stuff out in the open the last 6 years and you see the

arguments and how completely screwed up it gets, with people doing hybrids and adding, whatever. If i

talk about new stuff Im doing, my headache gets 10x of what it is right now.

__________________

Updated--DC Training Newbies ***read This First And Then Ask Questions Later

DC training Newbies ***read this first and then ask questions later

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dantes Inferno

Who is he, and why is Doggcrapp training building so much muscle mass?

Interview by Ron Harris

RH: Would you please tell us a little bit about yourself? Lets start with Dante, is that your actual name

or an alias?

D: That is my actual name. It's my middle name but its what I go by, unless we are talking about the guy

on the freeway yesterday who called me something else. (kidding)

RH: Do you have a background in sports, and how did you get involved in bodybuilding?

D:I have always been a good athlete in every sport, but back in the day, when I got into Junior High

school something strange happened. I stopped growing. I went into my high school as the 3rd shortest

person out of about 1000 people in the school and I was a complete stick to boot. My freshman year in


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high school I was 92lbs and I ended up graduating at 5'7" and a strapping, robust 122lbs (laughing). I had

always excelled at basketball and baseball but found it very tough going-being so small. I grew 5.5 inches

after high school and wound up at 137lbs at 6 foot tall at nineteen years old. While driving my car by a

grocery store one day in my hometown of Gardner Massachusetts, I saw two time AAU Mr

Massachusetts (and AAU America and Universe competitor) Donnie Lemiuex. The man was monstrous

at 5'7" and a lean 240lbs and I was shocked to see someone look like that. I was determined right then

and there to put my nose to the grindstone and I researched/studied every single facet about

bodybuilding I could find right down from the basics to the molecular level. Donnie Lemiuex actually

became my training partner later on and to this day we remain great freinds.

RH: Did you publish your own newsletter at one point?

D:Yes i published Hardcore Muscle from 1993-1995 and that is when I started to first put out my

thoughts on multi-rep rest pause and other theories I had to the public. It was a very cutting edge

newsletter and I was very proud to say that my readership was a list of who's who in bodybuilding at

that time. I had a whole slew of pro's, top amateurs, doctors and researchers on that subscriber list. I

was on the phone with Phil Hernon, Tom Prince, Curtis Leffler and a majority of other competing

bodybuilders at that time gathering information for each issue. Even your old boss Lou Zwick was a

reader of that mag Ron.

RH: Have you competed in powerlifting or bodybuilding? If not, do you have any desire to?

D: Three times in the last few years I have dieted down for shows and every time I pull out because of

the same reasons. I have worked 2 jobs for a long time now (usually working 7 days a week) and I just

get absolutely burnt out with the 1 hour of training and (up to 2 hours) of cardio I need to do to come

into shows just absolutely shredded to the bone. I admire anyone that can compete in todays modern

society working 40-60 hours a week because I know I sure as heck cant do it. This last time (early 2005) I

was determined to follow thru and I went from 292lbs to 258lbs (15 weeks) but with 5 weeks to go my

father was diagnosed with a tumor on his liver and both my wife (competing in figure) and I both pulled

out of the show. Bodybuilding shows come and go but family is forever-that was an easy decision to

make, and luckily my father was operated on and is fine and in good health now.

RH: How and why did you come up with DC Training? Had you grown frustrated with other styles of

training? Did DC Training evolve over time?

D:I started out with the old volume training concepts just like everyone else does who reads what

Arnold and the boys did and what the newstand magazines put out there as "the golden rules".....but I

got to a point where I started thinking "there is no rhyme or reason to this". It all seemed based on

obsessive-complusiveness instead of deductive reasoning to what truly builds muscle mass. I think alot

of modern day bodybuilding routines are built on "the must principle" which is fanatical bodybuilders

thinking "I must do inclines and declines and cable crossovers and flat bench and pec deck and flyes for

chest this workout or I wont have all the bases covered and I wont grow". I think thats flat out wrong

and again comes from direct obsessive-compulsiveness. DC training did evolve over time as I trained

more and more bodybuilders and noted their results. Back in the early 90's it was the same basic

concepts as today but had slightly more volume to it. Thru trial and error over the last 13 years or so Ive


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honed it down to what you see today.

RH: Why the name, Doggcrapp? I mean, from a marketing point of view, youll remember it, but didnt

you have second thoughts that it would be mocked?

D:Yea that was a real ingenious move on my part was'nt it? I definitely should be nominated "idiot of the

year" for that one (laughing). What happened was 6 years ago I was a member of a small but elite

bodybuilding board on the net which had about 50 members. I never posted, I just read the board. I had

viewed some posts by advanced bodybuilders on that board that I felt were very detrimental toward

their health. I decided to respond and posted with the anomynous screenname of Doggcrapp. I thought

it would be one post and kaput, done and over with. BIG BIG HUGE MISJUDGEMENT! People were

intrigued with what I had to say and kept asking questions and I kept answering and it became an

encyclopedia. That post became 118 pages long and had over a quarter of a million views. My posts back

then were cut and pasted onto bodybuilding sites all over the net, people started using my methods and

gaining rapidly, telling freinds....and it carried on thru word of mouth like a wildfire and sadly to say Im

stuck with the name "Doggcrapp" now. If I could do it all over again Ron trust me, I would of given

myself a much classier name.

RH: What are the basic principles of DC Training?

D:Heavy progressive weights, lower volume but higher frequency of bodyparts hit, multi-rep rest pause

training, extreme stretching, carb cuttoffs, cardio, high protein intake and blasting and cruising phases

(periodization).

RH: Can you give me an example of how the bodyparts might be arranged in a typical training week?

D: For the majority of bodybuilders who are in need of size the following works the best

monday=chest, shoulders, triceps, back width, back thickness

wednesday=biceps, forearms, calves, hamstrings, quads

friday-repeat of mondays bodyparts

monday-repeat of wenesdays bodyparts

This above way bodyparts are hit twice every 8 days or so

For advanced bodybuilders (and with that I'm talking very elite bodybuilders and extremely strong

people) I sometimes go with the following

monday=chest shoulders triceps

tuesday=biceps forearms backwidth backthickness

thursday=calves hams quads

friday-repeat of mondays bodyparts

monday-repeate of tuesdays bodyparts

tuesday-repeat of thursdays bodyparts


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This way bodyparts are hit twice every 9 days or so and I can work on advanced bodybuilders lagging

bodyparts somewhat better with this split.

RH: One very radical aspect of DC Training is that there are no isolation movements. How do you answer

those that believe muscles need to be worked from several angles at each workout for complete

development?

D:Let me clarify that. My trainees have kind of put the notion out there that no isolation exercises are

ever being used. I honestly dont care what exercise someone uses as long as he can be progressive on it

over time. If someone really believes in an exercise then they can have at it. Obviously a tricep dumbell

kickback which you can hypothetically go from 15 to 45lbs is going to be alot less effective than a close

grip bench press where you can start at 200lbs and end up at 405 in my scheme of doing things. I think

this all comes down to the "Must" principle again I was talking about earlier and obsessive

compulsiveness. When Ronnie Coleman came into this sport from powerlifting did anyone see big gaps

of muscle missing from his physique? Is Johnnie Jackson playing catch up with certain bodyparts from

powerlifting all those years? I dont see distinct weaknesses in their physiques. They were just somewhat

smaller versions of what you see today. People are doing every foo foo exercise under the sun thinking it

bombs muscles from all angles and in my opinion all your doing alot of the time is wasting energy

resources. Once a growth response is reached in a workout then pretty much everything done after that

is just cutting into recovery time and burning up glycogen (and god forbid muscle mass). Steve Michalik

and his gang were doing up to 75 sets per bodypart and with elite genetics to boot set absolutely no

difference in size or advanced development than the people doing 20, 15, 10, 5, or even 1 set a bodypart

(mentzer).

RH: Could you walk the readers through a set, DC style? Lets assume the person is properly warmed up

and ready to do a set on say, close-grip lat pulldowns.

D: They would explosively pull it down to the chest and then on the negative return they would resist

(control) on the way up. I don't want specific seconds, or a certain time amount, I just want control on

the negative to the point if they had to, they could easily reverse direction. They would keep going to

the point in the set where they would reach failure, hopefully between rep 7 and 10. At that point, they

would take 10-15 deep breaths (usually 22 seconds or somewhere in that area) and then start the

exercise again and go to failure once again . Then another 10-15 deep breaths. And then once again to

failure. During the rest pauses you do not stay strapped to the bar or anything, you take your 10-15

deep breaths and then get back in there. Oxygen is the key here. What I'm looking for in a restpause set

usually is a 11-15 rest pause total (with 3 failure points in that set). That usually comes out to something

like 8 reps (failure) ...10-15 breathes....4 reps (failure)....10-15 breathes.... 2 reps (failure) = 14 rp.

(hypothetically a total of 11-15 rest paused reps is what im after).

RH: Because of the rest-pause nature of DC Training, there tends to be a good mix of machines used. Do

you believe that machines like Hammer Strength can stimulate muscle growth as effectively as barbells

and dumbbells?

D: I would like to see everyone build a base and use free weights whenever possible. If someone has a

training partner, there is no worry at all using free weights with my methods. But sometimes my


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trainees don't have a spotter and in those cases I try to set them up on machines that they can "save"

themselves on while going to the 3 failure points during a rest pause set.. For example, it's very easy to

save yourself on an incline smith press at a failure point, you just turn the bar and rack the weight, while

with the free weight barbell incline press, i would hate to see one of my trainees sitting there with a

guillotine bar on his neck at failure and have no way to get out of it without screaming "help!"

Regardless a lot of people misconstrue this as a love for machines when in actuality I'm trying to keep

safety in mind for someone who does not have a spotter. Its as simple as that. If push comes to shove

my choice would always be a free weight exercise over a machine if it can be done safely. Thats why I

tend to use power racks and smythe machines alot, so someone can go to the well and back and not

worry about becoming "tomato canned" for lack of better words (laughing)

RH: Heres a direct quote from an Internet hater regarding DC Training: Its a lazy mans training

program guaranteed to turn you into a fat tub of lard. How do you respond to a statement like that?

D:Well with any training routine regardless if it's mine or someone elses, if you throw cardio to the

wayside and eat like a glutton your going to end up with an accumulation of adipose tissue (bodyfat). I

have seen many people use different training methods while not having their diet dialed in - who end up

eating gross amounts and the wrong types of food thinking thats the secret. They end up being a fat pile

of "lard" and blame it on the training routine instead of the real reasons...lack of cardio and an idiotic

diet.

RH: How is DC Training fundamentally different from other abbreviated training systems like Heavy

Duty?

D:To be honest Ron this one always rankles me. The HIT advocates love to shove anything thats a lower

volume training routine under their gigantic HIT umbrella. I don't beleive in Menzter's theories, I kinda

though he went off the deep end at the end there getting crazy about overtraining and in no way want

to be associated with "HIT" protocols. My methods are lower volume but extremely heavy. My whole

mentality is based around progression over time. With the normal bodybuilder training a bodypart 52

times a year (once a week) and with my clients training bodyparts 75-92 times a year (hence that body

part growing 75-92 times/yr instead of 52), thats how I am getting these guys up in muscle size so fast. I

can't have them doing 15-20 sets per body part or I cant get them recovered and that defeats the

purpose of this all. So its heavy, progressive, lower volume training with recovery in mind so I can get

these guys training that bodypart frequently. People have such a hard time grabbing this low volume per

workout concept. But in actuality Im doing the exact same things as most volume trainers out there if

they look at the big picture. They might be doing 4 different exercises for their back in todays workout

(hitting back once a week). Im doing those same exact 4 exercises in a weeks time, but in two separate

workouts while training back twice in a week.

RH: From talking with Dave Henry, I understand that record keeping and beating the numbers from the

previous week is a critical component of DC Training. Can you explain why?

D: Progression. Simply progression. Some people go into the gym with no plan at all and just absolutely


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wing it. I've never understood that. I bet any money that if I logged their workouts that 2 weeks later or

6 weeks later or even 12 weeks later when they do those same exercises again they are probably using

the same 120LBS or 225LBS or 315LBS they used 2,6,12 weeks previous. Thats not progression! Nothing

has changed, that to me is repeating something you've already done and will not force the body to grow

further. Thats a waste of time in my opinion. With my methods, you are held accountable for todays

workouts versus the last time you did this workout. Trust me, when you have that kind of

imperativeness and your log book is your arch mortal enemy, you are in for the fight of your life! You

have the man in the mirror to answer to. Do you want to drive home knowing the logbook kicked your

ass? Or do you want to drive home knowing you destroyed the logbook and showed it who the damn

boss is around here?!?! My trainees look back sometimes on their log books and find out that they are

50 to 200 lbs higher on those exercises months later. What does that equal out into? Adaption and rapid

muscle mass accumulation.

RH: Do you think a person would get better results with DC training as opposed to standard volume

training if he was using steroids, not using steroids, or would that have no impact either way?

D: To be totally honest, anyone using steroids on any training routine known to man is going to advance

forward faster than if they did it au natural.

RH: Obviously Dave Henry is the most visible example of what can be done with DC Training. Can you

give me a couple other specific examples of the types of gains your clients have made?

D: I have seen some pretty amazing things in my time, some things I dont even have an answer for

(laughing). Ive seen a person have their bodyfat measured before and a year later where it was a little

over 1% higher and in that time he had gained 52 lbs. Ive made numerour lightheavies into

superheavies. Ive made numerous middleweights into heavyweights. I think alot of people are coming to

realize with all the posts and photos online involving my methods, that the old thought of "you can only

gain 8-10 lbs of lean mass a year" is complete utter bunk. I would venture to say that I can't remember a

trainee of mine that has been with me for a whole year that has gained less than 15 lbs of lean tissue. I

did have a trainee one time who came to me after an injury so he obviously lost some previous muscle

mass, but I saw the before and after pictures with body fat percentage measured and 8 months later he

had gained 67 lbs.and he was completely natural. To this day, that shocks me. Those are elite genetics

though and for anybody reading this article, Im telling you straight out, there ain't a chance in hell I can

repeat that with everyone. In my mind that was and is still virtually impossible. I have made many,

many, people 30-50 lbs heavier in a years time but those people have to be absolutely meticulous and

follow exactly what I want them to do--which is pretty much eating like a 300LBER, but cardioing like a

guy who is 8-9% bodyfat and turning your body into a muscle building fat burning blast furnace. You

pretty much get to a point in which your tricking your body into becoming muscularly larger.

RH: Obviously you dont have to name names if you arent comfortable with doing so, but are there any

other pros or top amateurs you are working with or have worked with as a trainer?


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D: There is another pro besides Dave Henry but due to his sponser's contract rulings I don't mention him

publicly. I also have trained INPA Natural Pro Travis Macduff. As far as top amateurs.....how much space

do we have? Junior Nationals champ Ralph Garcia, top NPC/USA competitor Rob Lopez, Junior USA

champion Jason Wojciechowski, 2nd place Junior USA Tom Whorley, top Junior USA competitor Josh

Barnett, top USA and Junior National competitor Joey Mobareki, Junior USA competitor Jason Hamner,

Junior USA/National competitor Chris Genkinger, NPC competitors Scott Stevenson, Robert Hopper, Joey

Bonacia, Joey Mobareki, Stone Laszly, Ramey Benfield, Mike Piacentino, Jason Torres, and a whole slew

of others including Canadian and European champions like Ivan Gasser (two time Swiss champion)

RH: Do you train anyone in person? Are you available as such, or do you prefer to do everything online

and on the phone?

D:I used to train people in person. But training people is just a side job for me and I usually reject 70% of

the people who contact me regarding training them.. Im very particular on who i want to train. They

have to have the right, determined mind set, and its my way or no way. This is my reputation on the line

and Im not going to screw with that reputation by taking someone on who isnt going to listen to me. I'll

train a genetically gifted pro or I'll train someone with genetics like Woody Allen, it does not matter to

me. I just need to feel that we will work well together, so I have an extensive questionairre everyone

must fill out before I make my decision.

RH: One odd thing is that you dont believe in doing any direct work for the traps. Whats your reasoning

for that?

D:Name the 2 bodybuilders out of the 400 pros that have the most gigantic traps. Ronnie Coleman and

Johnnie Jackson. Everyone and their brother is doing shrugs but why did those two former powerlifters

join the bodybuilding ranks and have traps that stand up to their ears? Deadlifts. In my opinion there

isn't a 225-275lb shrug on this planet that could ever equal the trap size you can accomplish by doing

300-650lb floor deadlifts and rack deadlifts.

RH: Where do you stand on cardio? Do you believe everyone should do it year-round, that those trying

to gain mass shouldnt do it at all, or that it should never be done by bodybuilders?

D: I believe highly in cardio, almost universally. The problem is with most bodybuilders, thats the first

thing they skip. The only people I believe should not be doing cardio are some severely ectomorphic

people, with fast metabolisms and/or teenagers who could pretty much eat anything and not gain any

appreciative bodyfat. I feel almost everyone else should do it to varying degrees according to that

specific individual. Its very hard to give recommendations and cookie cutter that without knowing

anything about the individual of course. One of the staples I've found through training people who had a

difficult time gaining weight, was when I had them do cardio (walking on treadmill or around the

neighborhood) first thing in the morning upon arising that the rest of the day they would be as hungry

as a bull and would eat so much that they would finally gain muscular weight. Whereas they couldn't

gain weight when they weren't doing cardio because their appetite was lacking.

RH: I also understand that you dont believe in the concept of bulking up, correct?


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D: I believe in the following Ron, I am trying to get people to put on as much muscle mass in the shortest

amount of time possible. I don't believe ANYONE should become a fat pile of crap in that quest. I have

people eating gross amounts of food up to a new level in size, but I shore up bodyfat gain by limiting

carbs at times during the day, food combining, cardio, carb cuttoffs and using certain fat burning

supplements like green tea, etc. My trainees most likely eat more food than people "bulking up" per se

but I am adamant about not letting people use the "bulking up" excuse to become sumo wrestlers in the

offseason.

RH: Do you believe in taking scheduled breaks or layoffs from training?

D: yes, my whole concept is based on "blasting" and "cruising". I have every trainee of mine "blast" for

somewhere between 6-12 weeks all out and then I have them do a cruising phase which is maintenance

training for 10-14 (sometimes 21 days) depending on how long their blast was. It has to be done. The

people who try to go all out all year round with this are the ones who go into overtraining mode and

eventually recede in gains.

RH: Should a bodybuilder stay on the DC style of training year-round, or do you recommend phases

where they do something different, like higher volume or a routine that features more isolation

exercises?

D:I think as long as they blast and cruise correctly (some obsessive compulsive bodybuilders refuse to do

so) they can do DC style training year round

RH: As Dave Henry put it, DC Training isnt for everybody. What type of traits would you say an

individual needs to possess to successfully follow it?

D:You have to be a bulldog, no doubt about it. And above all else you need to debrainwash yourself of

the preconcieved notions that everyone in this sport has which come directly from being taught from an

obsessive-compulsiveness viewpoint and reasoning. And I think you have to be a little bit crazy. If your 2

bolts short of a carwreck, DC training is for you jack!!!

RH: I doubt its possible to put a number on how many bodybuilders out there are using DC Training or

have used it, but it does seem to be gaining momentum. Could you see a day when it becomes as

widespread as standard volume training?

D:God I hope not, Im already overwhelmed and have too much on my plate currently. I had absolutely

no idea of Dave Henry's following and fanbase until I started training him 2 years ago. Every time he

does really well in shows my emails go thru the roof. He just got second in the Ironman Pro show and Im

getting emails from Africa, Europe, all over the place about DC training. I had a priest contact me

yesterday about "Dave Henry's training routine"...Amen

RH: Do you have any books or videos available on DC Training, or are any in the works?

D:I believe Dave Henry is doing a DC training video pretty soon so that will be available to the public in

the future. I really should put a book out there for people to read but right now I have a rare disease

that is keeping me from doing so called "being a slacker". In all seriousness my articles online are in the


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process of being copyrighted so Ill get some literature in book form out there to people as soon as I can

free up some time.

RH: You are also the owner of a supplement company, True Protein (www.trueprotein.com). I know

from a friend of mine that its a little different from the average supplement company in a few ways,

right?

D:We are very different. We will give the buyer the highest quality supplements known for the best

prices they will find. We are able to do this by buying the highest tested proteins/supplements in large

amounts to get the price we want and then packaging it to the consumer in food grade jugs or food

grade storage bags (their choice). So where the buyer wins out is he isnt paying for the 5000 dollar per

page advertising campaign, the fancy jug label or the fancy packaging. People walk into nutrition centers

now and plop down 30 dollars for 2 LBS of Whey protein concentrate. Compare this with two pounds of

a top tested whey protein concentrate from Trueprotein which is going to cost you about 8 dollars. All

because your not paying for all the frills/advertising going with it.

We allow people to custom design their own protein powders if they choose to do so. We have a

specific part of our website that allows for this customization. Basically if you want it, we will make it for

you. Alot of supplement companies will list the ingredients of their protein powder or supplements on

their jug but they refuse to list the percentages of each component. Well that could mean you could be

getting 98% of a very cheap lower quality protein, and 1% each of two high quality expensive proteins

making up the rest, which really isnt fair to the consumer paying for it. We only offer the highest quality

materials from all of the top manufacturers around the world, and we have the certificates of analysis to

prove any and all of our products. If you tell us you want 60% of this and 20% of that and 20% of

something else in your protien mix, be reassured thats exactly what your going to get.

Most of our customers understand and know what they are looking for, but if a customer is not

comfortable or does not understand what would be best for them, we do have a few extremely well

versed individuals on the True Protein team, that can help the novice up to the expert into offering them

a better and more refined supplement for their needs and goals, all free of charge 7 days a week. We all

started in fitness the same way, with most of us being bombarded with the marketed hype that many

retail supplement products promise. Many would-be customers come to our website and become

overwhelmed with the endless possibilities of supplement mixes, but we always encourage the novice to

ask questions and to read through our unbiased information on our site to learn, after all it is your body.

Ask our opinion on something and we will gladly give it to you.

RH: Hopefully this interview will solve the mystery of the mysterious Dante and give a clear overview of

what DC Training is all about. I thank you very much for speaking with me.

D:Us Massachusetts guys have to stick together Ron! thanks for the interview

**(SIDEBAR

(please just list the exercise or exercises a client might use (since I know back gets two), and only

indicate sets if its being done for straight sets rather than rest-pause)


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****D:as said earlier any exercise that you can be progressive and safe on could be used but Ill list a

short hypothetical sampling of what someone could do (after fully warming up thru progressive sets)

DC Training by bodypart

Chest:

incline smythe press (11-15rp)

hammer strength press (11-15rp)

decline barbell press (11-15rp)

Backwidth:

front rack chins (11-20rp)

close grip pulldowns (11-15rp)

front pulldowns (11-15rp)

Backthickness: (back thickness exercises and quad exercises arent rest paused due to safety reasons of

fatigue and loss of form)

deadlifts straight sets (6-9reps) + (9-12reps)

T-bar rows straight set (10-12 reps)

rack deadlifts (6-9reps) + (9-12reps)

Shoulders:

military presses (11-20rp)

hammer strength presses (11-15rp)

upright rows (11-20rp)

Quads: (quads are done again with no rest pause because of safety reasons, but after progressive

warmups there is a heavy set and then what I call a "widowmaker set" for 20 reps with a still heavy, but

lighter weight)

free squats (6-10 rep straight set) 3-5 minute rest and then (20 rep widowmaker)

hack squats (as above)

leg press (as above)

Hamstrings:

lying leg curls (15-30rp)

seated leg curls (15-30rp)

sumo press leg press (pressing with heels only- straight set of 15-25 reps)

Biceps:

preacher curls (11-20rp)

barbell drag curls (11-20rp)


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dumbell curls (11-20rp)

Forearms:

pinwheel curls (straight set 10-20 reps)

hammer curls (straight set 10-20 reps)

reverse grip one arm cable curls (straight set 10-20 reps)

Triceps:

reverse grip bench presses (11-20rp)

close grip bench presses (11-20rp)

EZ bar tricep extentions (15-30rp) (elbow safety)

Calves: (all calves are done with an enhanced negative, meaning up on big toe, 5 seconds lowering down

to full stretch and then a brutal 10-15 seconds in the stretched position and then back up on the big toe

again. It really separates the mice and the men--this is an all straight set)

leg press toe press (10-12 reps)

hack squat toe press/sled (10-12 reps)

seated calf raises (10-12 reps)

Official DC Training web site: www.intensemuscle.com

Online training inquiries: [email protected]

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