Finished with DC... Strenght going down

[CB38AC]

Dogcrap training and eating was going GREAT till the last week or two but now after 2 months it seems I am getting weaker.

What type of program have people had success with... I'm at an alltime high from this program and LOVED it but I'm loosing strength and thats not going to cut it for the purpose of this train style which is to us bigger and bigger wieghts every workout.

 

[JOKER47]

Check the sticky's at the top of the board. There are afew different programs with details there.


Joker

 

[gonelifting]

I have`nt read the DC post in a while but are`nt you supposed to take a scheduled break. If so, then it`s time for your break my man. REST- repeat

 

[bignate73]

Dogcrap training and eating was going GREAT till the last week or two but now after 2 months it seems I am getting weaker.

What type of program have people had success with... I'm at an alltime high from this program and LOVED it but I'm loosing strength and thats not going to cut it for the purpose of this train style which is to us bigger and bigger wieghts every workout.

2 months and you took off how much time? 6-8 weeks is the longest you want to do a full on push with a program, then you take a week or 2 of "down time". hence the reason DC recommends "cruising" for a week or 2. its not a term used exclusively for anabolics, it refers to a time when you lighten your workload, skip a workout, hit "normal" reps with lighter weights. basically let your body relax. that you can go balls to the wall, you cant expect to go forever and not stagnate. most programs are periodized to some degree to allow for this phenomenon (plateau).

 

[Lee]

try 5x5

 

[coolcolj]

Your overtraining

 

[b fold the truth]

Your overtraining

As usual, I agree with CCJ.

If there is anything that I can do to help...please let me know.

B True

 

[TheOak84]

Your overtraining

i thought its impossible to over train with DC, HAHAHA, only if Debaser was here to read this

 

[Lord_Suston]

do nothing but eat for one week. Then pick a new routine and follow that for a few weeks and then take another break and repeat

 

[Numani]

Your overtraining. basically you have gone balls to the wall for 8 weeks. if you take about 10 days off, eat well, you will come stronger and bigger.

All these HIT style programs calling for training to failure incorporate a period where they know you will have to have a week or so off due to the cumulative central nervous system fatigue you are experiencing.

 

[CB38AC]

I don't see how its over training...

I go every other day or 2 on 2 off...

I will proabbaly take 5 days off and do animal mass' or 5X5

 

[Numani]

It sounds like overtraining.

Its not that you are training too much i.e volume.

cos DC training is low volume.

its simply that right now your body can not recover from the demands of training that you are applying to it.

take some rest. I bet the gains will resume at a faster pace than now when you have rested.

best of luck with whatever you decide though.

 

[b fold the truth]

The major problem I see with DC training is CNS overtraining...

You can't go balls to the wall on everything like that, consistently, without gear (IMVHO).

B True

 

[Debaser]

It's not fair to DC for people to talk about it when they don't fully understand the program.

There is a reason you are supposed to cruise for 2 weeks. Like he said, people fail on his program because they decide to make changes to things they do not believe will have an impact.

 

[CB38AC]

debaser I think you got me wrong here... I love the program but the last week to two have been disapointing...

And I'm doing lower dose gear and made great gains its just hard to think about more than 4=5 days off when the last 7 weeks have been my best training ever... My body would NEVER go over 215 and liked 210 but now I'm hovering around 220 with less BF... Definetly believe in this program but just upset with my regression

 

[b fold the truth]

It's not fair to DC for people to talk about it when they don't fully understand the program.

There is a reason you are supposed to cruise for 2 weeks. Like he said, people fail on his program because they decide to make changes to things they do not believe will have an impact.

Agree, as it is with most any program.

B True

 

[bignate73]

it sounds like the minute this program (or you) fails you are ready to try something else. dont get frustrated. you have made gains that you didnt think possible. give your body time to recuperate and come back to it with a fresh head. if you are getting bored, then by all means try another style, but dont blame DC training for stagnation. the body can only take so much. and yes, the CNS does take a pounding and needs a break.

 

[Zander1983]

Like Lord_Suston said, take a week (or two) off. Eat, sleep, and be lazy.

 

[Toozee]

Any program seems to work better for me if after 6-8wks or so I take a week or two off.

When I come back, my weights/reps have gone up.
Your "new workout buzz" comes back as well. Like everyone else is saying, its a CNS thing. Your brain/ motor neurons have to rest too.

 

[guldukat]

debaser I think you got me wrong here... I love the program but the last week to two have been disapointing...

I experienced something similar after about seven or eight weeks of DC training.

My solution was to take a week off and train lighter for a week thereafter. If I was really thinking straight I would probably still be training somewhat light.

And I'm doing lower dose gear and made great gains its just hard to think about more than 4=5 days off when the last 7 weeks have been my best training ever... My body would NEVER go over 215 and liked 210 but now I'm hovering around 220 with less BF... Definetly believe in this program but just upset with my regression

Even with guys on sauce, DC recommends 4 weeks "on," as in on gear, and on top of your training; after that, you take two off--off gear, training [like a jerk] off.

I understand how you feel, not wanting to take time off given your success with the program...but then again, as you just said, it's not working for you right NOW, is it?

There is a reason for that. Overtraining. On a workout by workout basis, no, it doesn't seem likely, but stress is cumulative. If nothing else, it's mentally draining to have to be at maximum output for months on end. TAKE A BREAK!

When you return to hard training, you will thank yourself for doing so. You won't lose anything from a few days off and training light for a bit. It's the only way you can set yourself up for another big push later on.

Sorry to be a bit redundant, but you need to accept the fact that you're momentarily overtrained before you can take an informed course of action, be it take some time off and ease up in the gym (good idea) or switch to a different routine (IMO, not such a great idea...your CNS still needs the down-time).

 

[Dirty Workout]

Overtraining bro. Take a couple of weeks off and then go at it hardcore again. Same thing happened to me but I expected that around week 8

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

Nothing is more frustrating to me than to put a huge deal of time and effort of explaining everything of my methods and then people pick and choose what they want out of it. Ive typed too many times to count that you push hard for 4-8 weeks (blasting) and then you cruise for 2-3 weeks (mostly two)--but people are too obsessed to listen to that part. So let me state it in caps loud and clear for everyone YOU CANNOT GO THE NEXT DECADE GOING IN A STRAIGHT GRAPHICAL LINE UPWARD UNTIL YOU ARE SQUATTING 6000LBS AND BENCHING 2500LBS. You push hard and then regroup--then push hard and then regroup. If you dont want to do the cruise--then pick some other program to do. If your at your all time high in muscle and bodyweight and have lost bodyfat then why the hell wont you adhere to everything i suggest?!?!?!?! I got you here so far didnt I? In 8 weeks? Take 2 weeks and do straight sets at about 80% intensity--skip a workout or two--drop one meal a day for the next 2 weeks--if your enhanced do the cruise of antiestrogens as Ive outlined many times before. Man this gets so frustrating sometimes! I dont know all of you- I cant tell you what your recovery is (that differs from person to person)--you have to help me here and be true to yourself and take the cruise when you start feeling burned out or the gains in strength drop off--THATS THE TELLTALE SIGN OF CRUISEING TIME. I have people locally that have been training this way for years and years. They know what needs to be done as far as pushing and regrouping because i drill it into their heads! What you are basically saying is you are at your all time high in gains but now want to go over to a different system because you refuse to follow my recommendations on cruising? I cannot lead everyone by the hand here---i outlined my methods--what you want to do with it and the choice of doing it properly is up to you. If you cruise for 2-3 weeks at 80% intensity and just take it easy--you wont lose hardly any muscle trust me! Then you come back blasting--getting the food intake back to par and jump up another 10-15lbs and then CRUISE AGAIN! Sorry for my frustration everyone but man i put alot of time into typing all this stuff up and it pains the hell out of me when people choose their own path to do

 

[Numani]

What you are basically saying is you are at your all time high in gains but now want to go over to a different system because you refuse to follow my recommendations on cruising?

yep.thats what he is saying! lol!!

maybe the original poster will take the advice of the guy who first outlined this program.

 

[NEWcb38ac]

Thanks DC,

I've taken 4 days off, plan on making it 5-7 days totally off...

You're right, it ws mentally draining..

I'm cutting my protein down to 250 or so a day and eating how I want ect...

I thnik I'll do ne week with my old style of wroking out with straight sets then go back on another balls to the walls

 

[bignate73]

here is an idea of what i did for cruising.

ive taken off some of the exercises i usually do with dc style training. instead of doing all my back exercises with a slower neg, i went to a 5x5 scheme for 2 weeks, in that time i went up to using 20lb on my waist for pullups. im sure this will carry over to my lifts when i get back. ps...i was never using weight for pullups even before DC. so thats a testament to the training helping my strength.

next example. today i went back to flat benching. have been using smith, hammer machines for about 6 weeks. hit a PR on flat of 285. was repping 245 on incline. both are new to me as well. i did these as "normal" reps.

this is my way of screwing around and cruising. i'll be back on a DC style program probably next week to get my weight to jump some more.

stagnant right now due to my eating habits being off. sitting at 187/188 ish from 170 in early february. hope to break into the mid 190's by the next cycle. i havent weighed this much since i tried a cycle 4 years ago. but im WAAAAAY stronger now than i was then. ps...been natty since (and weight stagnant since as well.)

of course its not a linear strength gain line...but it sure feels like it. hehehehee.

 

[Dirty Workout]

Damn I find slow negs on pullups to be nonproductive since I feel as its all biceps on the way down. I pretty much dont do them on pullups anymore. I go controlled but not super slow

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

Heres what I exactly do personally for cruising--I use basically the same exercises and I do one work set and its usually between 11-20 reps and its a straight set done at about 80% intensity. For example if IM squatting 400-500lbs hardcore during blasting--im doing a comfortable set with 315lbs for 10-20 reps. during cruising
With exercises i feel im stagnant with or burnt out on--i change to something that Ive been wondering about doing. Usually some bicep exercises are very hard to keep progressing on so ill tool around with some different machines or exercises during my cruising for biceps and other bodyparts and consider using them while getting ready for the next blasting. Ill skip a workout or two---I dont think about lifting so much like I usually do. I eat one less meal a day (for me thats 5 instead of 6 during weekdays and 4 instead of 5 on weekends)--Instead of worrying about always getting in at least 60 grams of protein every meal--I eat comfortably--getting protein in first as usual and then satisfying my taste for things I usually cant have while im blasting--like soup. My protein is probaly at 350-400 grams a day from my usual 450-550. Thats what I ask people to do--comfortable training and comfortable eating. Dont think about lifting too much--just go in and go thru the motions at about 80% and get out. I guarentee you after 2 weeks--your joints will feel normal again and your appetite will be sky high and youll be chomping at the bit to make that HUGE PUSH again. Its always push really hard and then relax and regroup and then push really hard and relax and regroup--all year round. This is how Ive gotten to a point where Im putting 30-50lbs on people in short amounts of time. I know people gain incredibly fast with my methods--thats obvious--but just important is adhering to that PUSH/CRUISE/PUSH/CRUISE mentality. Id rather gain twice as fast as normal people in 8 weeks and then take 2 weeks to regroup and maintain it--and then make another leap forward etc etc than be like obsessed people who think they are pushing hard all year long and then jump on the scale and it shows 3-5lbs. Your 220 right now NEWcb38ac--just think if you can push yourself at this pace (blast +cruise) for the next year. Whats awesome is you now know your baseline approximately. At week 8 of pushing like this you are pretty much smoked. So in your mind should be "ok i can push hardcore for 7 weeks at a time" and then do 2 week cruises. 56 divided by 9 = 6 roughly.....Just think if you keep gaining like this during your blastings. Lets say you only gain 5lbs per blasting which is far below what my trainees usually gain---thats 30lbs in one year. Lets say you jump up 10lbs each blasting--your now at 60lbs in one year. Tell me that wouldnt shock the shit at your gym and to everyone around you. I feel if you go all out you can be right in the middle of that mix--45lbs. I know this because Ive seen it repeatedly over and over and over. Take a look at your physique and imagine it at least 30lbs larger muscularly---you can do it if you keep up this pace. The only thing you have to really keep check on is food intake. Whenever someone stops gaining during a blasting phase its usually he is still eating like he was 20lbs ago. Sadly if your 220 you better eat like that guy who is 240 and when you get to 240 you better be eating like the guy who is 260. If you can get down your blasting and cruising phases like clockwork on a year basis--the only hard thing is getting that food down the hatch. Its tedious and its hard and few people have the willpower to do it.

 

[EL GAUCHO]

Hate to say it, but I'm at a plateau too.
Boredom is beginning to kick in big time. Its been 8 weeks.
So...I'm taking 2 weeks out from DC style and doing regular volume training.
Did a chest/ tris session yesterday and today I can barely type this post!
How weird!
And I was 12-18 reps on all exercises.
It was fun doing all those exercises not suited to DC such as kickbacks, tri-pushdowns, and the great LATERAL RAISES!! Can't wait for those tomorrow.
Do not fear though, I am not jumping ship. Just takin a break.
Recognise when you need to do this and you'll have more success.
EG