I will say the results at this juncture do seem similar. It’s too early to tell exactly, but it seems very similar in terms of results. I should be able to give truly proper feedback after a few more weeks. The stimulus is quite similar so I would be surprised if the results were much different. If they are, I would chalk it up to the more varied set types creating more pathways for muscle growth and my body preferring to trade a bit of intensity for some extra frequency. But as of right now, I’d say I’m gaining at a very similar rate!
And I will say the Focus on progression, training hard, and higher body part frequency in both systems are at the heart of what makes them so effective.
Yes I’m doing the basic 3 day a week program. I haven’t added in any conditioning work, but that is a good idea. My softball practices and games had kind of been filling that role, but now that the season is over I should probably fill that void.
DC training has always interested me. I love the idea of giving it all and then some. Only thing holding me back has been the 3 days a week. I claim to only want progress regardless of what I do, but the fact that I want to train more than 3 days a week tells me I’m a liar and apparently want to train, just to train. It’s definitely mental gymnastics lol
I think it’s good to cycle in and out throughout the year with Mountain Dog or Fortitude Training because when I’m training with high frequency I start yearning for less frequent, more intense training and Vice versa and is likely good for fighting against adaptation. So it might be a great go-to if you find yourself mentally burned out or just really busy with life outside the gym!
I’ve been loving it so much lately, I love the focus on just beating the logbook every session, it feels like a competition between myself and the weights. I’m really glad I’ve decided to take it up!
Thanks man! I hope I’m able to be very informative and detailed about my approach here and hope you and others can find it useful!
@wanna_be I’ve been lifting since I was 12 and I’m 25 now, so I’ve been lifting for a very long time for someone my age, but I think a lot of my best growth in muscle and knowledge has come in the past year. I could see it being a more advanced routine, but honestly, as long as you know how to push you and beyond failure and just mentally push yourself hard, you can do it.
I was back to the ol’ grind this morning, mentally prepared for the rigors of a grueling workout. As things would turn out this workout would turn out EXTRA destructive and diabolical. Today’s workout called for sumo leg Press in a straight set done for 15-25 reps which is basically a widow maker itself and following that up with standard leg Press for a Heavy set and a widow maker. Thankfully when I put my feet on the Press, my warm ups felt super light, so I knew I would absolutely DESTROY. All of these sets basically felt like they were turning into cardio with how hard I was breathing by the 10th rep. Days with such ‘Fortitude’ like today in the gym are the days I feel like I really grow and become a man. On the widow maker set of leg Press, I was listening to “Renegade” by Styx and I kept thinking to myself that there’s no way Troy Polamalu or TJ Watt would settle for less than 20 reps, so I couldn’t either.
Biceps, Forearms, Wheels
Dumbbell Curl 45x8,3,2
Single Arm Reverse Cable Curl 40x15
Seated Calf Raise 250x5 5 sec neg, 10sec hold at bottom (too heavy)
Sumo Leg Press 315x25
Leg Press 605x10, 495x20
I didn’t get to workout until about 3AM last night because I spent all day sawing trees and loading the heavy ass logs into the back of the pickup so I was very busy again haha! I was still super fired up and motivated for this workout and I’ve progressed unbelievably since the last time I did these lifts two weeks ago!! I’m in awe!! I just took care of business and took things to the next level!
Hahaha I’ve always heard that! But he gets up that early I was just up that late lol I would love to work out with Boyer Coe, even in old age, he’s an absolute marvel!
Today’s workout felt absolutely phenomenal! I got almost 10 hours of sleep last night so I was totally ready to go and no caffeine! Everything was going smooth and I was feeling really strong… until I got under the squat bar. My first warmup with 135 pounds felt REALLY heavy. Not a good sign, but I got my head right just put the music on and focused on getting the reps in, good form. I loaded the bar up with 185 and got an easy 10, put 225 on for an easy 5. I’m ready. I only got 3 full reps with 275 last time and failed on the 4th. Enough time has passed and I’ve done the work, I’ll easily surpass this.
I walk back with the 275. It feels so light I could do long jumps with it. First 4 reps go down and up pretty easy. 5 and 6 are a struggle and I start to walk the bar forward and think “What are you doing?? You’re not done yet!” So I walk back and get a true grinder of a rep and no I’m still not done yet. I go down for another and feel like I’m not going to be able to get it all the way back up, but it goes up and I rack the bar. I’m not done yet. I still have the widow maker.
I had written down 195 for today’s widow maker, reasonable progression over the 185 from last time, but I had just made the 275 look easy getting 8 reps. I had only taken off the 25’s and think to myself, “there’s not one good reason why I can’t get 225 for at least 15”. That was all the rationale and logic I needed. After that last set, not one rep felt easy. I’m breathing like a freight train and I’ve got 12 reps. 15 feels like a mile away, but I get there and think “I NEED 20. @T3hPwnisher would get 20, there’s no question he would think less of me if I don’t pull through and get 20 reps like a man.” It didn’t matter if it would take a year to get there, I needed that 20, and I wasn’t going to let go of the bar until I got it. My legs were shaking like a leaf and I was seriously concerned I was hitting failure at 18 reps but I just kept breathing. And got 19 with a really ugly rep with one leg coming up out of the hole a little more than the other, and 20 might’ve looked even worse but dammit I got it. I laid on the floor for about 10 minutes but I achieved my goal.
I think it’s 100% just the mindset and wanting those reps haha I had to stand there and just breathe like a horse until I was ready for the next rep on some of those last ones. I hope to add even more weight to it next time! Seems impossible to me now but I guarantee when the day gets here I will refuse to be a failure.
Thanks so much brother. I really appreciate it! Today was just about pushing to a level I don’t think I’ve ever been before and I really wanted to share in detail what that was like. I’ve been dead since this session lol
Widowmakers are mindfucks, man. You can do more than what you just did. The mindset is everything - you’ll lie to yourself, you’ll count by multiples of 5, you’ll count down instead of up, but you’ll get there.
Here’s a guy squatting 400 lbs for 42 reps. 4 minutes with the bar on his back. I’ll bet there are people squatting 800 lbs who can’t do this.
