Thoughts on DC's (Doggcrap) blog

I never heard of the guy before and I ran into his forum while looking for answers of my own. He seems to have become a big name in online bodybuilding community and is being referenced all over the place. He seems like a dedicated and - more importantly - thinking guy who has done his fare share of research and, of course, lifting. On the pictures of him that I found on the net he looks like a pretty big guy too. Besides writing on the net he does personal training and apparently works with clients online. I didn't do a lot of reading on it so I can't comment on his approach with full authority but I picked up a few bits and pieces of his philosophy by reading some of the threads.

For those few things that I picked up I do not necessarily agree with all of them but all provided some valuable food for thought - even those I didn't agree with. Again, these are thoughts based on my personal interpretation of what I think I understood about his philosophy.

1. Lift with high intensity high enough but keep sessions short enough. In that way it is very similar to HIT ideas. Either way the point here is that sessions should be intense enough to trigger anabolic response as much as possible at the same time without unduly taxing your body - mostly CNS. Length of a session and frequency depends on personal metabolic capabilities (body's ability to adapt and heal). Ultimately, as I understand, there's a relationship between intensity, length and frequency. The more intense the session is, the shorter it will be in length and the longer it will take for the body to fully recover from it. Also, I think, what happens is - muscle itself recovers fairly quickly to its original state (in terms of its ability to overcome load) - most estimates range from 24 to 72 hours - it's central nervous system that takes longer to recover and for supercompensation to occur.
2. Progressive overload. Weights should increase progressively - expectedly at every session. That I've been hearing all my life as one of the key bodybuilding principles. It does make sense however I have a feeling that it is often misinterpreted - in a seemingly strange but perfectly logical way if you think about it. My experience is: I would start a training program - I would increase weight (or reps) next time - or at least try to. I'm pretty diligent and dedicated so I would try to do it on all exercises, would keep a log, push myself harder, get mad at myself when I can't squeeze out another rep on those same movements, only to get stuck and burnt out 3 or 4 weeks later and realize that I just can't go on like this any longer! It wasn't until recently when I suddenly discovered that all this time I was apparently missing a key point here. Namely, that weight increase in a progressive overload principle should not be just a result of conscious decision to increase weight but it must also be a result of increased capability!!! In other words, besides you conscously trying to push yourself harder every time you body has to tell you that it's recovered enough to handle the increased load! The trick is to be able to tell when it happens...
3. Paying your dues. In one of his posts DC (whose real name is Dante Trudel) vents about people who often approach him for training advice who seem to have been lifting for years but barely gained an ounce of muscle despite the effort and who still look like they haven't been lifting at all. I can understand his frustration as he probably feels that they haven't paid their dues - i.e. - haven't been working hard enough and eating enough - in other words - haven't put in their due diligence and dedication - otherwise they would have been big already. Plus he feels that many of them may be overanalyzing and overthinking, which I believe may well be true - for me anyways, because I'm one of those guys. He says something like: go lift heavy every time till you puke, eat like an animal, pack on some serious muscle, become a 300 lb big fat front linebacker and then you come back and work with me; until then quit worrying about subtleties like 'what's the best way to hit the top head of the biceps during concentration curls'. Now being one of those guys here's what I think. I think the fact that they haven't reached their goal is not because they are necessarily lazy or stupid or messed up. They may well have been honestly trying what they thought was their best to become what they thought they wanted to become. Following every book, every training and nutrition program they could get their hands on they hoped would get them where they wanted to be. I did anyways. I would try, I would push, then I would get overtrained and frustrated only to start over and over again. If the fact that I've been trying for 20 years, as hard as I thought I can, without giving up - if that fact is not a proof of ultimate dedication - then I don't know what is! I just need to find what works for me. That's why I'm here searching for answers.
4. Not everyone wants to get really big. I don't and I'm sure there are thousands of those who don't want to be 250 lbs - even if it's shredded! I do not believe that Ronnie Coleman is everyone's idea of a perfect body. If I think of my ideal body - it will be a lot closer to Frank Zane or Serge Nubret than Dorian Yates. Great definition - yes, big - not necessarily...
5. The ideal routine. I haven't found it yet but I'm getting there. So how do I visualize my ideal routine?

• Sessions are intense but not insanely so. I do not believe that you have to bring yourself to life-and-death match point to get the body you're looking for. There's gotta be another way...
• Sessions are short. I do not believe you have to spend hours at a gym to get where you want. I'm tired of being tired. I believe when people say: you have to feel stronger at the end of each workout - not weaker. If it means 1 set of 1 exercise only per session - so be it!
• Sessions are spaced apart far enough for full recovery to occur. I won't be going back to the gym until I'm fully recovered and feel stronger than I was before.

(...to be continued)