Ok so, trainingā¦
You guys should all be familiar with my pre-DC approach, itās pretty much the same thing the prof did when he started out, including ramping all sets etc.
Only big difference was the way I worked around/through plateaus.
My split wasnāt a static entity, it started out as a 4-way but I changed stuff around a tad depending on schedule or what muscle-groups I wanted to bring up faster etcā¦
I could give an example if you guys want, but if youāre even half-way familiar with modern bodybuilding (not Arnoldās book lol) then nothing there should come as a surpriseā¦
Anyway, the big X started splitting things up more and I went the opposite wayā¦ I eventually went on a 3-way and started to use slightly higher overall-frequency (kind of like one of yatesā splits) and mostly only 2 exercises per muscle-group (legs only got 3 total, should have done more hammie work thoughā¦)
Split then went:
Day 1 - Chest, Biceps, Triceps (in that order so that tris get some rest after chest), pretty much 2 exercises per muscle-group.
One incline and one flat or decline for chest, alt. db curls or so and reverse or alt. hammer curls for bis, CGPās(shoulder-wide grip, elbows tucked) and Scott Extensions (fairly easy on the elbows) or so for trisā¦
Day 2 - Legsā¦ Squats or Machine Hacks or whatever for quads, l. leg curls for hams and st. calf raises for calvesā¦ Maybe some leg extensions before squats more as a warm-up than anything else.
Day 3 - off
Day 4 - Delts, Backā¦
Meaning one overhead-press, lateral variation and then back training with pulldowns or pullups, some row variation and then rack pulls in the smith (hey, works quite well if you set up the right way). All deads/pulls done with a shrug-back motion after each lockout.
At some point I started alternating rows and pulls because doing both was just too much and that also allowed me to do SLDLās or GMās on leg day whenever it was row-week.
Mostly used 6-8 reps on top-sets, more reps on pulldowns/pull-ups and stuff like laterals and scott-extensions. Should have incorporated a 20-repper after a heavy set for quads, but I didnāt really know about the effectiveness of that stuff back thenā¦
I used that split for a while and then read CFP for the first time (partially, at least)ā¦ Didnāt start with DC right away though, my first gym didnāt have as much equipment as I would have liked for a good rotation.
Some time later my gym situation changed for the better (though I sure miss my first gym! Some of the vets there saved me from falling into the menās health/internet-article -trap by pretty much talking to me from day one in the gym and giving me and my pals adviceā¦)
So from then on I trained DC until about half a year ago or so.
I used the standard 2-way all the time, I have not tried the advanced/improve weak-points -split out yet.
Now, since my gym situation has gone down the drain pretty much, as I mentioned in some previous post, I had to change some major aspects of my training.
Obviously, DC is out due to severe lack of exercise-choices/equipment.
Now, even pre-DC Iāve always relied on switching out stalled exercises instead of trying to bust through the plateau head-on.
I usually replaced the stalled one with something that worked the same muscle-group and was somewhat similar. If Smith-high-inclines/front presses stalled, then DB overheads or Smith BTN presses were used instead.
As soon as I stalled on the new movement (provided that additional calories/protein didnāt take care of the plateau, that is), I usually moved back onto the old one.
So right now I decided to use Wendler 5/3/1 (10 percent jumps on work-sets -version)
Itās not that far removed from standard BB imo, just that you plan stuff out, weight-wise and do de-loads + cycle intensity, but overall it still feels fairly similar and you also work up to one top-set (where yo go for as many reps as you can get, unless you have a bad dayā¦ Then you just try to get the rep-goal for that day and go home).
Current split (first time Iāve ever used a 6-way/true bp split and I like it a lotā¦ Started out with standard 5/3/1 but after seeing what Matt Kroc does I figured I could just try a more split-up approachā¦ So much easier to get through than a 2-way or 3-way even and itās really nice recovery-wiseā¦)
Note: Standard 5/3/1 works in cycles of slightly over 5 weeks each, I use 4-week cycles and that works very well.
Split goes as follows (appropriate DC extreme stretch after each muscle-group is finished):
Day 1 - Chest (no 5/3/1 here, just incline DB and flat DB for higher reps rest-pausedā¦ DC RP is imo far less effective when used without a rotation and pretty much the rest of the DC program, but I figured Iād use it here anywayā¦
My chest lags behind somewhat even though itās one of my faster-growing muscle-groupsā¦ But whenever I do skip a day, itās bound to be chest day and I just never cared too much about my chest as opposed to my triceps etc. Gotta bring my pecs up some dayā¦ but duh
Day 2 - Legs (used to be back, but due to my new gym I was able to re-introduce heavy rack pulls with that shrug-back motion after lockout and since I havenāt done these for a while my midback was uber-sore after going all-out on these the first dayā¦ That made military-pressing the next day impossible, so I switched back with leg day)
I havenāt decided whether to use 5/3/1 on squats here yet, I might give it a try and see if I canāt get a respectable PL squat goingā¦ Might do a meet sometime.
Day 3 - Delts, 5/3/1 on standing Military Presses. I donāt like SMPās all that much as a delt exercise, but I have no smith for seated high-inclines with a wide-gripā¦
Day 4 - Biceps (read: Rest-day). I often skip this one and train bis at the end of tricep day though. But I definitely have an easier time making progress here when theyāre on their own day as I put a whole lot into my tricep exercises (triceps being my favorite muscle-group).
What am I doing here? Standard stuff, Alt. Offset-grip DB Curls (if you use a regular grip and want to try those out instead, lower the weight quite a bit and work back upā¦), Pinwheel curls, and some higher rep concentration curls (never really done these before).
The first two exercises are rest-paused for 15-25.
Day 5 - Tricepsā¦ 5/3/1 on Close-Grip Bench (shoulder width or so with elbows tucked), this is working really well and itās the first exercise I tried 5/3/1 on.
Followed up by either PJR pull-overs for 15-30 RP or EZ extensions laying on the flatbench (not the narrow grip-position but the one youād use for standard EZ curlsā¦ Narrow feels very awkward, shoulder-wise) on the benchā¦
Ass off the bench so that only low-back and upper back/rear delts are on the bench, bringing the bar down just behind my head.
I used to rest the bar on the bench to take the momentum out and then press back up, but the weights got too heavy on that variation and my elbows told me so
Now I do the movement rest-paused for 18-30 reps total (i.e. 12+7+3 or 12+8+4 or whatever I get) and touch&go. Gotta warm up real nice for that stillā¦
I alternate PJRās and EZās (PJRās being easy on the elbows but with my fairly short fingers/smaller hands they are a bit awkward for me to do with one DB). Helps to keep me from stalling as wellā¦
Not much need for another exercise after that, to be honest.
Day 6 - Back day (second favorite day after triceps). 5/3/1 on Rack Pulls with shrug-back, followed by rack chins and thatās really all my back needsā¦ Some lighter DB rows (not really Krocās, those proved to be too much after the other stuff) for higher reps but no rest-pauseā¦ Just to get some more blood flowing.
Day 7 - FULL BODY 10*3!
Nah, just kidding.
Obviously an off-day, but bicep day isnāt really all that taxing either so I kind of have 2 off-days.
Hm. I think thatās pretty much it. I have serious trouble keeping my posts short and to the point it seemsā¦
Abs are trained whenever I feel especially bored (not that often, but training my abs directly with some of the stuff you see powerlifters do has helped me quite a bit with getting rid of back-pain when squatting/pulling and in generalā¦ So itās pulldown-abs done properly mostly and maybe some other move if I have the time).
Diet was posted in BOI, but there are better examples for what a proper bb diet should look like. Donāt try mine at homeā¦
I apparently have no taste-buds either