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Beginners
#1

Dear Testosterone Nation,

This seems as good a place as any to introduce myself.

I am a 19 year old college student seeking sound knowledge, expert advice, and enthusiastic support from a group of like minded individuals.

“The intelligent and relentless pursuit of Muscle”/“Unapologetic muscle building elitists”

Looks like I have come to the right place.

My background in athletics has focused mainly in endurance and team sports. In high school I was a nationally ranked swimmer and I hold a few records at the sectional level (California high school swimming does not have state level competition unfortunately). I played Water Polo and Basketball as well with very average records. I rowed crew at the Division 1 level for 1 year in one of the countries most successful programs. Beyond scholastic athletics I have won several Triathlons and X-Terras in the U-20 division. While I a powerful cardiovascular engine and am fairly “cut.” I am missing any kind of muscular volume. I am way too skinny: 6’7" 190lbs.

Now that I am no longer rowing I am hitting the weights with abandon. I have begun training with the DoggCrapp method. Although I have not done hypertrophy specific training for 2 years as it recommends, i have been training incredibly hard in Crew, upwards of 25 hours per week and have a solid well rounded muscular foundation and knowledge of injury prevention.

Here are my goals for the next 12months:

  1. 1-2lbs gain per week for 25 weeks through DC
  2. Increase bench to 1.25x bodyweight- Currently my weakest lift. The chest was neglected during crew training, plus I have a 6’10" wingspan which is not conducive to a strong bench.
  3. Squat to 2x bodyweight- Currently 1.25 for 3 reps. I have strong legs but they are very long and I have high hips.
  4. Deadlift to 2.5x-Currently just shy of 2x bodyweight
  5. Military Press to 1x- PR is 135lbs, need to add 50lbs

Here is what I am doing to get there:
Nutrition: 6-7 meals a day:
1.Wake-up: (5/90/5) Whey/casein mix Protein with milk, Fish oil, Sports multivitamin with extra Iron
2.Breakfast: (40/30/30) first solid meal. 70/30 complex/simple carb split. Dietary fat from nuts/avocado, lots of fruit, Eggs + another scoop of casein protein.
3.Post Workout:(40/50/10) Double serving of whey+ 5 grams creatine, 1 banana, 1 apple.
4.Lunch:(20/50/30) Protein and fat comes from meats, dairy (milk, cottage cheese + small amounts of yogurt for flavor, cheeses), eggs. Spinach salad with mixed vegetables and olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. Carbs come exclusively from vegetable sources. (No potatoes, corn, or soy), Fish oil supplement
5.Snack: (10/50/40) Casein protein shake, nuts, beef or turkey jerky. Fish oil Supplement
6.Dinner: (20/50/30) Same as lunch, but smaller in volume.
7.Before Bed. (5/90/5) Whey/Casein mix with milk, fish oil supplement

Training: DC Method
Single heavy (with warm-up sets) set using RP to work to technical failure multiple times
ABA-BAB MWF split
A)Chest-Shoulders-Triceps-Back Width-Back Thickness
B)Biceps-Forearms-Calves-Hamstrings-Quads
light cardio TuThSatSun
Keeping every lift recorded in a training log-Must improve every workout or switch to a new exercise for that body part.

That’s all you get to know about me for now. Thanks for reading. I am open to any criticism, advise, and comments about my nutrition, training, and goals. I am looking froward to becoming an active member of T-Nation.

Thanks,
Zoso

#2

I’m also 19 and in college, all I can say is you’re going to have to eat alot to fill that frame. I’m thinking you’ll do fine with your athletic knowledge though.
Good luck!
nice avatar btw

#3

Well, it’s nice to see so much enthusiasm but…

Why are you doing a DC workout? I’m pretty sure every single thread and and every single article concerning DoggCrapp training has endeavored to explain that DC is for advanced trainees with many more pounds and many more years of experience than you possess. Yes, you have athletic experience, but that’s just not the same thing as 2-3 years of consistent resistance training.

At your body weight, you could easily gain 50 pounds in the next year using a program better suited for a beginner such as yourself - a program like Starting Strength or a push/pull/legs split.

Also, you’re rail thin and probably have very little body fat, so there’s no reason to avoid carbohydrates like they’re the plague. As a matter of fact, I’ve found carbs to be especially useful (almost necessary) when trying to gain an appreciable amount of weight. So there’s no reason for you to eat so cleanly. Have some bread, have some pasta. Just make sure you’re getting enough protein and healthy fats. If, later on down the road, you find you’re gaining too much fat, you can always restrict them then.

#4

Don’t do DC. DC is like a last ditch effort after you’ve tried many different styles of weight training. Weight training is very different to all other activities, so rowing training does not count towards experience in the weight room. The recommendation in the article is there for a reason.

You are at a disadvantage being 6’7" and trying to put on mass but its not impossible. One of my first training partners was 6’7" and he went from about your weight to 235lbs in the first year and a half of training. All he did was very basic routines with plenty of compound lifts done heavy.

Did you read the stickies on the beginners forum? These are a valuable source of information.

At your current state provided you eat a lot (for your height maybe +6000kcal daily) you will put on weight on even the most basic routine so long as you bust ass in the gym, lifting heavy weights with good form.

The Basic ABA-BAB MWF split is good enough and there is no need for you to use DC methods. Just use normal training methods. No failure sets, drop sets or any of that crap. Just do straight sets with heavy weights [and good form]. Try to improve on this weight in subsequent workouts.

#5

Wow, thanks for the quick replys.

The reason I am (or was) trying DC was because the author of the program reportedly gained 100lbs of mass in a relatively short time. The other program I am looking at is Christian Thibaudeau’s 3 part Beast Building method. Lots of compound exercises and stuff conducive to beginners there.

Also, crew training did involve weight training. We were just limited to extremely high volume of explosive reps with lighter weights. We would rarely use anything heavier then 65lbs, but would continuously train for over an hour without ever setting the weight down or resting. Plus loads of plyometrics and bodyweight exercises. I think the problem was we did so much dam cardio we physically couldn’t build any muscle even while eating 6-7,000 calories easy every day.

As far as the carbs go, I do eat lots of them, just in the mornings and post workout. I did this even before I started educating myself about nutrition because I would never be able to sleep with so much energy in my system.

-Zoso

#6

I don’t know much about DC so I didn’t comment on it, but yes you don’t I agree with wushu. I did very well in the beginning on a very simple routine at first that hit each body part once a week using reps around 10 for every exercise, wasn’t optimal maybe but your joints and nervous system need time to get used to greater loads. you should be able to increase strength almost every week as long as your diet it sufficiant regardless of the simplicity of the program.

#7

If you gain a lot of mass man you will be an absolute monster, I know you can do it, good luck and Deadpool is the man.:smiley:

#8

Well, Beast Building isn’t a beginner program either…As you said, you’ve never tried with HEAVY weight, and as Thibaudeau say, motor-units recruitement pattern change when lifting above your 80% max (see Beast Building part I), so, basically, you have to re-train your CNS to lift closer to its limit. There’s a plethora of programs you can go with; just to name a few:

Starting Strenght
Anti-Body Building Hypertrophy I (by Chad Waterbury)
Total Body Training (Chad’s stuff again)
Westside for Skinny Bastards (man, here you are…:slight_smile: by Joe Di Franco
Stronglifts Beginner (www.stronglifts.com)

If you really like the Beast Building, go straight to part III and drop the “special techniques” on the third exercises (post-failure half reps, one rep and a half…).

#9

Hey there.

I figured this thread might help you a little:

www.intensemuscle.com/27376-sharing-some-thoughts.html

That is the official DC beginner’s forum, by the way. You can also browse the powerlifting section over there for the thread about Powerbuilding routines. A few good ones in there.

Another good source of training info is Ironaddicts.com , IA has a few stickies up that you may want to read (“how to train yourself” etc).

As fabiop mentioned, starting strength and ws4sb are good alternatives as well.

Finally, after you’ve brought your lifts up to a decent level, you could try the yates-inspired 3-way I posted in the bodybuilding forum on here (in the “ramping or not” thread, I believe). You should have a good idea of how to eat for this endeaver and be able to do all the major lifts with correct technique before then, however.

As for Dante (the creater of DC training), his training history is up on intensemuscle.com in the doggpound… He started as a dead-skinny guy and weighed in at above 300 lbs at his largest, but I don’t think he ever managed to gain 100 lbs in a short amount of time :wink:
Most of us get stuck at certain bodyweights for a while during our journey… It’s rarely smooth sailing except for maybe the first year or two of serious training.

#10

Great, thanks for the advice.

I’ll stay away from DC training and stick to the basics. I’ll be doing a ABA BAB split focusing on heavy compound movements.