An Older Guy doing DC Training

[a-dog]

I've been thinking of doing one of these again for awhile.

first, I dont' really think I'm old, I just thought it was needed for the name fo the thread.

I do DC training and have been doing it for along time. I have no dellusions of granduer or anything like that. I'm not a competitive bodybuilder, I don't want to be one. I don't want to walk around at 5'6 and weigh 230lbs. I do DC cause I honestly enjoy training this way. I've gotten very big in the past (for me) doing this style of training. I've been up to around 220 in the past-in decent shape, not ripped but not "fat' by any means.

So, I just started another "blast" a couple of weeks ago so I figured this was a good time to get going on a new journal.

I do an "advanced" DC training split, not cause I think I'm advanced but because I think it works better for me and the time I have to put into this at this point in my life.

I lift as heavy as I can for the movement I'm doing while trying to hold onto a certain rep range. DC training uses alot of higher rep rest pause sets. At the high end with a new movement I'll go for 30 reps and try to hold that as long as possible (increasing the weight each time I do the movement) when it gets heavier I'll usually hold the same weight until I can get 20 reps with it then I bump it up.

I do straight sets on some movements for legs and back thickness. Most of the time I'll do one really heavy set and follow it up with a lighter set.

my chest sucks so I do a widow maker set which I'll explain later.

right now I weigh 205 lbs, I'm trying to get ripped by my birthday (in about 10 weeks).

lots of cardio which I hate.

I'll post yesterdays chest/shoulders/tri's workout later today.

if you have any questions regarding DC let me know.

[a-dog]

so here's chest/shoulers and tri's from yesterday (RP means "rest paused"):

Dumbbell Flat Press-100 x 18 rest paused-got 3 more reps than last time, I try to go deep. DB's are a bit harder to work with while doing DC and this is the heaviest I've got in a few years. The gym I'm at only goes up to the 100's so once I get 20 reps I have ty cycle in a new movement.

Precor lateral Raise machine-102.5 x 16 RP-as a rule you should try to stay away from this type of movement while doing DC but I wanted to try it. I do a nice slow 3-4 count negative on it. I'm pinning an extra 2.5lbs plate on this so I'm almost maxed out on this machine as well.

Dip Machine-222.5 x 20 RP

Widow maker for chest 70lbs for 21 reps straight set

so I rest paused everything but the widow maker. I did a 1 minute stretch after chest and shoulders but not for tri's...it bothers my elbows to do it so I skip it.

for the widwomaker I use a dip machine, I flip around and do kind of a close grip dip but my hands are slightly forward of my body. I just started these last week. I was using another movement but my shoulder started to bother me so I figured I'd give these a try.

short, heavy and pretty brutal.

[a-dog]

my lunch time cardio session is done. I use an elliptical we have at work, it's a nice machine. It's in a warehouse part of the building so it gets hot. I approach cardio the same as weights, I start off lite and add resistance each time so today was just a "baseline" workout. 30 mins and I got 430 calories burned. Heart rate was only in the 140's. I like to have it in at least the 150's for an extended period of time but I'll take what I can get.

[a-dog]

http://www.t-nation.com/training/fin...-back-training

I'm a big fan of alot of things John Meadows preaches in regards to training. I use some of his rowing variations and this link has some nice vids showing what exactly they are.

What I do with Back thickness is 1 brutally heavy straight set followed by a 2nd movement set at a higher rep range. I don't deadlift. My lower back can't handle it.

I'm currently using seated rows, 1 arm t-bar rows and Meadows rows (the last 2 are shown in the link above) followed by a set of dumbell rows for 20 reps but I set the DB down at the bottom for a second so there is no momentum involved. It's alot harder than it sounds.

[a-dog]

cardio done:

30 min on the elliptical at lunch time.

440 calories burned. Heart rate was 140-145

pretty humid out so I was sweating like a pig.

bi's, forearms and back tonight unless something goes terribly wrong.

I train when I can. I have no set days I go to the gym to lift. Some weeks I'll be in there 5 times, other weeks I'll only get in once or twice. I balance work-family then training.

the split I use is this:

chest/shoulders/tri's

bi's/forearms/back width and thickness

calves/hamstrings/quads

back thickness, quads and sometimes hamstrings are training mostly with heavy straight sets.

I do partials for some body parts following my heavy sets.

[a-dog]

made it into the gym last night:

preacher curl machine: 122.5 x 21RP with a 20 count static hold at the end.

Reverse barbell curls-100 x 23RP

front pulldowns-223.50 x 16RP-I only pull down to about eye level but I do a really slow negative. I'm a bit suprised I only got 16, I've gone alot heavier in the past but havent' really done the slow negative. I didn't think it would hurt my poundages this much.

meadows rows-127.5 x 9 reps with my right and 8 reps with my left straight setted. I use the 25lbs plates on this and really stretch the **** out of my lats, it's pretty brutal.

I followed up my meadows rows with a set of 20 with each arm on dumbell rows, 50lbs but I set the DB on the floor at the bottom of each rep. Only the 3rd time doing them so it's a bit lite but the poundages witll come.

1 minute stretch for lats and bi's followed.

-you can see meadows rows in the link I posted above.

total workout time was about 35 minutes from the second I got to the weight room till I left.

weighed 202.3 this morning so I'm down a couple of pounds, that's good but it's still moving slower than I want it to.

[a-dog]

work cardio done!

30 mins, got 445 calories. heart rate hit the 150's and stayed there for awhile so I'm happy with that.

just gotta shore up the diet and the BF should just start dropping off.

[a-dog]

no cardio today.

legs are up next and I want them to be strong.

love the way my next workout is set up.

[a-dog]

Calves-high rep toe press on leg press-530 x 31. Rest paused, 2-3 count stretch at the bottom. Followed by 15 partials and 10 reps of something I call a parillo calf squat. I got it out of a book by John Parillo.

Sumo leg press-540 x 21 straight set

Leg press-540 x 23 straight set followed by 26 partials.

Ill do a better explanation of some of this tomorrow.

I did abs as well,I'll explain that tomorrow as well.

Any questions or concerns?

[a-dog]

a little better explanation of yesterdays workout:

first, I rolled my ankle really bad about 18 months ago. I thought it was broken but x-rays didn't show any breaks. The doc said it was only sprained but I think I messed up the tendons cause it bothered me for months after that. I didn't train legs for about 6 weeks, even doing a really lite leg press hurt pretty bad. I ended up starting really, really lite on everything doing a nice slow 4 count negative. Eventually my poundages went up to what they are now but I still have some issues with my ankles.

As I get older the only thing that really seems to bother me that never did before is my hips when I do heavy leg press movements. I get some knee pain every once in awhile but I've been lifting for my entire adult life so I expect that but the hip thing is new.

anyway...calves are started with a 1 minute deep stretch, with this movement it's a nice slow negative and I hold the stretch for a 3 count and explode up. I shoot for 30 reps total. I then do partials until I cannot budge the weight at all. I just started following up my normal calve workout with those "parrillo calf squat" movements again. I did them years ago and really liked them. I'll look for a vid.

hamstrings-deep sumo leg press-this is something Dante talked abut a couple of years back, legs are high on the leg press and you go deep. 1 straight set. it's a killer.

standard leg press for quads. pretty self explanitaory. I do one "heavy' day which was yesterday and 1 "high rep" day where I shoot for 50 reps straight setted. I have limited equipement so I do what I can. I am NOT a good squatter so I try to focus on the leg press. partials are done after.

1 minute deep stretch for everything followed.

abs are pretty basic, 2 movements, usually incline crunches and hanging leg raises. I picked a rep number to start at like yesterday I did "10" so it's 2 sets of 10 on the incline sit up/crunch, then 2 sets of 10 on the leg raise. next workout I'll do "11" and so on and so on. Once I hit 20 I'll work on adding resistance.

I also use an ab wheel at home once or twice a week using the same rep building concept. I'm only at 5 reps with that so it's 2 sets of 5 with the ab wheel and 2 sets of crunches. I only take about 20 seconds between sets.

cardio today again at lunch. I ate like **** last night, didn't even get on the scale.

[a-dog]

great cardio session yesterday at lunch, got 447 calories in a 1/2 hour and my HR hit the 150's which was awesome.

I was gonna go train after work but I just didn't feel it so I waited until the morning.

kind of a mixed bag:


dip machine-235 x 22RP-this was great totally crushed my totals from the last workout with the same weight. 1 minute stretch afterwards

widowmaker for chest-Reverse Dip Machine Dips-80 x 23. I usually do these at the very end of my workout but since I'm already on the machine I just did them here. Chest felt great.

military Press-235 x 11-my left shoulder has been bothering me off and on for about a month. that's the main reason I changed my widowmaker movement from a fly machine to what it currently is. I knew when I started the set that something was wrong but I got in a good rhythm and cranked out 11, I was thinking my right arm might be doing a bit more work but it wasn't anything I was too alarmed by. After my first "go" I took my 12 deep breaths and unracked the weight and I just had no power in my left arm so I called it a day with those.

high pulley push downs-72 x 23SS-this is a strange set up, the weight feels really, really heavy. I avoided this machine for along time but I decided to give it a go, it's a really high pulley and it just stretches the **** out of my tri's so it's nice in that regard. I try to do straight sets for the most part with my tri's, my elbows seem to bother me these days but right now I'm handling some heavy ass weight on my other 2 tri movements so I have to rest pause sometimes.

I did 1000 meters on one of those crossfit rowing machines afterwards. My time was about 4:30, I'm just taking it easy getting into a nice flow with this. I have gotten my time way down to about 3:45 but that's going balls out the entire time and I don't think I was really doing it in the most efficient way. I'm just working on technique right now.

[a-dog]

I had a great workout yesterday, Bi's, forearms and back (width and thickness).

barbell curls-105 x 22RP, beat my last rep total by 6 reps. Felt great.

hammer curls-80 x 23RP, beat rep total again.

1 minute stretch for bi's

precor pulldown machine-14 plates plus 3.3lbs x 16RP. I love this machine cause the handles are set up so you can rotate your wrists as you pull the weight down. I do a 4 count negative on the movement and it's murder. I hate the way the weights are set up cause they're not really marked so I have no idea how much I am actually lifting. I was either doing 220lbs or 235 plus it has an option to add 3.3 or 6.6lbs

seated row-295 x 4 SS

202.5 x 21 SS

1 minute stretch for my lats.

best workout I've had in awhile, I was really fired up. Don't know why cause I was kind of not into going earlier in the day.

Starting a few months back I decided not to do alot of cardio at the gym. I have a bike downstairs and I have cardio equipement at work. I just wanted the gym to be about lifting.

that said I did the rowing machine on Saturday and then yesterday I did 15 minutes on an "arc trainer" they have at the gym. I just had extra time yesterday. It was OK. Not great.

Back to the cardio routine today. I weighed the same today I did on Friday.

[a-dog]

449 calories during my lunchtime cardio session. Felt ok, not spectacular.

my HR is still a little lower than i would like it to be. I want to be able to function for an extended period of time with an elevated HR. I guess it's good that it's lower than I expect, I must actually be getting in better shape as I go along.

a buddy of mine who I was good friends with right after HS had a heart attack a few days ago...he's my age, I hadn't seen him in along time but it just blew my mind. I think his dad passed away about 10 years ago with heart complications. It's just wild to think of another friend of mine going through health problems.

[a-dog]

I did a second cardio session before I left work last night. Just 15 minutes on the elliptical. Since it was shorter session I had the resistance turned up a bit higher than i do for my normal session. I got 227 calories.

I felt like crap last night. I don't know if I'm bummed out about my old friend having a heart attack or if something else is bothering me but I just felt terrible. I ate a few things I really shouldn't have. I didn't even bother getting on the scale this morning.

I'm gonna hit the cardio at lunch and then I'm supposed to do legs at my next gym session. I'm not a good squatter at all. I never have been. My lower back is trashed from a very labor intensive job I had for about 10 years when I was younger. I wasn't very good at them before that and I really avoided them until about 6 months ago. I started really, really lite. I do 20 rep straight sets and the weight I use is still lite.

I have to really get my mind right before I commit to doing that so it might not be tonight. It might be tomorrow. we'll see.

[a-dog]

451 cals at lunch cardio session. HR hit the 150's for a bit. It was pretty damn hot today. I'm finally over the 450 calorie line, I've been reaching for it for a bit now and I've finally beaten it. That was a nice reward.

I was asked the other day why I don't do cardio as Dante originally laid out (basically nice slow paced cardio sessions). I have asthma and as I've gotten older my lungs have gotten worst and worst. The winters are very hard on me. Once the cold air hits my lungs I have a cough and I usually have a cough for a few months. it's just a winter cough, sometimes I'll get broncial infections and sometimes I get full blown pnuemonia (I've had it about 3 times).

Once I started doing cardio session where I actually got my lungs working everything got alot better. I know I go pretty hard most of the time and maybe it cuts into my overall recovery as a bodybuilder but I'm not that concerned with that at this stage in my life.

When I was my heaviest (around 217-220ish) back in 06 all I did was eat, lift heavy ass weight, sleep and work. I have a desk job so it's not taxing on my body at all. I was very big but I couldn't do a fleight of stairs without being a bit winded. THAT sucks. it won't happen again.

[a-dog]

no training last night. The cardio I did at lunch was a killer and my legs just didn't recover the way I wanted them to so no cardio today.

forgot to get on the scale this morning.

I've been doing abs after legs for awhile. I pretty much follow what Meadows has to say here:

http://www.t-nation.com/training/ab-...ng-made-simple

when I train abs after legs I do incline sit ups and hanging leg raises. When I do them at home I have an ab wheel that I do then I follow those up with crunches. I just added the V-up movement he does at the bottom of the article and I'm gonna cycle that into my training from now on. It was a great finisher.

[a-dog]

did a couple of lite walks around the subdivision last night but that was all the cardio I did yesterday.

I did get to the gym to do legs. I ran into a problem but worked around it:

calves-paramount calf sled-125 x 12 done DC style (15 count stretch at the bottom, explode up and slowly lower back into the stretch) followed by 21 partials. 1 minute pre and post stretch.

seated leg curl-11 plates x 16RP with a 20 count static hold at the end. I really don't like these that much but I have limited equipment so I had to cycle them in.

leg press-545 x 25 SS followed by 31 partials

I was supposed to squat. We have 1 power rack in the whole gym and usually I'll wait for it but there was a guy squatting a ton of weight in there (more than I've seen since I started there-maybe 495?) and he was in it for the long haul so I just jumped on the leg press.

I'll move movements around depending on the situation.

I did 2 sets of incline sit ups for 11 reps followed by 2 sets of hanging leg raises for 11

just did my lunchtime cardio. 461 calories in a 1/2 hour. I weighed in at 201 exactly yesterday so I'm losing the weight just not fast enough. I keep on screwing myself up in the evenings.

[a-dog]

had some kind of stomach bug yesterday so I didn't do a thing.

Hit the gym today:

Chest-I did a variation of the bench press on the smith machine, I call it a "DJ Press" cause I read about it in a Dexter Jackson training article. It's basically a kind of narrow grip (about shoulder width) with my shoulders rolled back and down. I go slow on the negative. I did 235 x 21RP, the last rep was what I call a "dead stop". I put the weight down at the bottom so it was resting on the safety's just about a 1/2 inch off the top of my chest, waited 3 seconds and pressed it up. kind of like a box squat. 1 minute stretch afterwards.

shoulders-I cycled in DB upright rows since my shoulders have been bothering me, only the 2nd time with the movement. 30 x 31 straight setted. No big deal 1 minute stretch afterwards.

Tri's-PJR Pullover-this is kind of a hybrid between standard cross bench pullovers and behind the head DB extentions, I read about them on intense muscle, I'll try to find a video. I'm using the 100lbs DB on these and really grinding out the reps, I got 14 straight setted. it's pretty brutal.

widowmaker for chest-the close grip reverse dips I've been doing, 90 x 23.

no cardio over the weekend. I'm feeling a bit drained. maybe being sick yesterday was cause of that? Not sure.

BW is down to 199.5.

[a-dog]

bi's, forearms and back:

DB curls-60 x 19RP-these are pretty heavy for me. I don't know if I like my form very much at this point. I'm gonna move up to the 65's next workout and push those around for a bit. I've never really gone any heavier than the 60's on these.

wrist curls-177.5 x 21RP-I bought a couple of little 1.25lbs plates for stuff like this. I do these behind my back

the 1 pulldown station they have is "out of order" so I was kind of in a pickle with my back width movement. I decided to try some thing new so I did rack chins. I'll try to find a good video of these, they actually felt great. I just did BW and got about 32 reps total rest paused.

1 arm t-bar

left arm, I only got 3 reps and I got 5 with my right.

I then did those DB rows I've been doing where I put the weight down at the bottom of each rep, I got 20 reps with each arm using the 55's.

overall it was a good workout. I felt great.

[a-dog]

the 1 arm T-bar row I did yesterday was with 125lbs, I just reread it and saw that I didn't post the weight.

back to the cardio today. It's gonna be a rough week. It's supposed to be really hot and humid today (in the 90's I think) and since I do my cardio in what is essentially a warehouse it'll be like a sauna. I have a doctor's appt this week, one of my kids has an open house.....we're doing some hom renovations so the house is a mess.

[a-dog]

I just did cardio yesterday at lunch. No big deal.

I actually somehow managed to get less calories burned even though I upped the resistance. Not alot but still....strange. I got 454 calories in 30 minutes. My HR was in the upper 140's for alot of it and touched the 150's for a bit so that was good. It actually felt pretty easy which is good in it's own way.

I'm supposed to do legs today if I can, I have a doc appointment so that might screw up my day. It's the last workout of this run threw my cycle. So it's back to the heavy dumbell press for my next chest workout. I'm hoping to hit 20 reps rest paused with the 100's. I'm trying to think of what a good movement would be to cycle into my chest training...maybe declines? I used to love doing those it's just a bitch to set up (I use a smith machine).

[yaaar]

Your body is probably getting more efficient, which would mean you're burning less calories doing similar work. Looks like it's working!

[a-dog]

good video of the PJR pullover, I guess this is actually the guy who came up with the movement:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2zovwV6_Co

I pretty much do it exactly as he explains it, it's pretty basic but you can stretch the **** out of your tri's. My problem with doing DB extentions behind my head is that my arms are kinda short so once I get to heavy weight the DB bops the top of my head. That's the main reason I started doing these. I want to go until I can get 20 reps straight setted with a 100lbs DB. It's gonna take some work and usually progressing at a movement at the pace I'll be using on this is a bit slow for DC training but I'm willing to grind it out. It really kills your tri's.

[a-dog]

Your body is probably getting more efficient, which would mean you're burning less calories doing similar work. Looks like it's working!

my goal is to make each session harder and harder. I'm always tweaking the resistance on the machine to try to beat my old totals. I always "expect" my HR to be in the 150's but I'm having a harder and harder time getting to that point.

thanks for the input.

here's a video of the rack chin I did the other day. I like my feet up a bit higher than what is shown the video, I didn't add additional weight and my grip was a bit wider but this shows how to do the movement pretty well:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeUnme7_mlg


no cardio today. Gonna hit legs tonight. High rep leg press. This is one of my least favorite work out. I just don't like it and am always distracted because it's the last workout of the cycle.

I didn't eat great today. That along with the no cardio is gonna make me pretty unhappy next time I get on the scale.

[a-dog]

last night:

calves-Toe Press: 385 x 12 done DC style (15 count stretch, explode up). 23 partials followed by 10 of the parillo calf squat movement I've been doing. 1 minute pre and post stretch

quads-High rep leg press-415 x 55 followed by about 50 partials. my hips and the side of my quads didn't like this at all. I don't know what the deal is but I've been really uncomfortable doing leg press as of late.

stiff leg dead lifts: 115 x 18 SS

did a stretch for quads and hamstrings.

did 2 sets of 11 reps for each of the following:

incline sit up, hanging leg raise, v-up

followed everything up with 15 minutes on the arc trainer to burn some calories.

cardio starts up again today at lunch....it's suppsed to be humid as hell so I'm not too fired up about it.

[a-dog]

technical problems during cardio today so I cut the session off short.

The machine I'm using just decied to reset itself at about the 12 minute mark so I had no idea how many calories I'd burned or anything like that.

I'll probably do a 15 minute session before I leave but my main session was garbage.

[a-dog]

I did end up doing 15 minurtes on the elliptical before I left work the other day. got 230 calories.

did my usual cardio yesterday got 459 calories, HR was just touching the 150's. It was really hot and humid so I was sweating like a pig.

took an extra day off from lifting to get ready for the new cycle. Feeling strong and ready to go.

[a-dog]

a couple of really good workouts over the weekend.

some of the highlights were getting 22 reps (rest puased) with the 100's on the DB press so I think I'm done with that movement. I'm thinking of doing declines again.

really heavy chest, shoulders and tri's on Friday and then Saturday I did bi's, forearms and back.

cardio was kept to a minimum. I bought this green tea supplement and honestly it made me sick yesterday and Sunday. Just felt terrible. I didn't put it together until the end of the day last night. I finally started to feel decent.

[a-dog]

I did cardio at lunch yesterday, it was a pretty hard session. HR was in the 150's the whole time. I got 462 calories in a 1/2 hour.

did legs last night. I was really on the fence as to wether I should train or not. I didn't really mentally prepare for it well. It went really well so I'm glad I went in. my hips have been bothering me when I leg press. I'm not sure why. I changed my foot position yesterday and that seemed to help. Anyway here's what I did:

high rep toe press: 540 x 32 RP, only a 3 count stretch and explode up. I got 17 partial reps afterwards. 1 minute pre and post stretch.

sumo leg press: 545 x 21SS

leg press: 545 x 23SS followed by 27 partial reps.

1 minute stretch after for hams and quads. No ab work last night. I did a couple of Ab training sessions over the weekend so I think I'm good for a few days.

BW is right around 200lbs. I screwed up my meals yesterday and ended up eathing some mcdonalds for lucnh....ug.

[a-dog]

chest, shoulders and tri's from last night:

dip machine: 240 x 18RP, really heavy and went pretty deep. The weight is making it hard for me to lower myself all the way down, it takes a bit of work to get into position at this point.

Widowmaker-the reverse dip I've been doing-105 x 22SS, my chest felt like it was gonna explode.

military press-225 x 13RP. This did not go well. My left shoulder has no power for some reason. I have 2 options: drop the movement all together or drop the weight and "rehab" my shoulder. I'm gonna drop the weight and see what happens. I'll go down to 135 next workout and go from there. Full disclosure: I do the majority of my pressing movements on a smith machine. I don't have alot of equipement to chose from, there is 1 power rack but I can't get on it as much as I'd like so I use the smith. When i say I did 135 for whatever the rep count is I put 1 45 pound plate on each side. I count the bar as weighing 45lbs for the sake of keeping it simple. I know it doesn't weigh that but I really don't care. I count the sled on the leg press as weighing 45lbs and I know it weighs more than that. I honestly don't care how much I lift, I care about lifting more than I did the last time. I hope that makes sense.

tri's-pushdowns on the high pulley: 75 x 23SS-like I said before the torque on this is so strange, the weight seems so heavy. I can walk around to the other pushdown station they have and easily double the weight....I really have to grind these out and I love it.

15 mins on the arc trainer to burn some calories.

had a big ole smoothie after the workout and it's still sitting in my belly like a cement block...ug.