Natural Al's DC training Journal

[natural al]

here's the explanation of the 2 handed hammer curl.  The one thing I did was layed face down on an incline bench so that the top of the bench was inline with my lower pecs, the upper part of my upper torso was hanging over.  This took all the stress off my lower back.  I made totally sure that I got a full extention and stretch at the bottom and I brought the DB's up until they touched my forehead.

a)sit at the very end/edge of a flat bench with your legs apart

b)do you know that grip you usually use if you were doing a 2 handed single dumbell extension, you use a semblance of that same grip and instead curl the dumbell instead.....or another way to think of it is carrying a seriously heavy dumbell over to somewhere in the gym....that grip. One hand gripping the bar of the dumbell, and the other hand clasping your grip hand (with the backside of that hand up against the inside flat of the dumbell)

c) With your arms starting perfectly straight (and i mean straight! This is key), youll have to lean slightly forward to accomplish that....you curl the dumbell up somewhat close to your body until your thumbs or the top plates of the dumbell touch the top of your forehead. There is a reason for all this and youll see when you are doing it. And then back down (controlled) until your arms are PERFECTLY STRAIGHT again (which youll again have to lean slightly over to accomplish) That is one rep...and im going to say it again, this isnt a cheating dumbell high pull...your arms must go perfectly straight and the top part of the dumbell must touch the top part of your forehead or its not a rep.

I hope DC doesn't mind me posting this...

[natural al]

Legs.  I think of one thing when I train legs.  Waaay back when I first started training I read an interview with Troy Zuccolotto and he spoke of Phil Hills condition when Phil won the HW class at the 87 nationals.  Troy said something like "once he took his sweatpants off everyone backstage knew the show was over".  Now I'll never have quads the size of Phil's but I want my legs to just be devestating when I get into condition. 

calves-toe press-515*12, done in DC fashion...they were numb at the end but I still pumped out some partials, got about 22 then my calves just gave out all together.

Sumo Leg Press-535*16, really squeezed the hell out of my hamstrings, I got some partials once I failed and did a super deep stretch afterwards.

Leg Press-915*6, then I went right into my partials, got 26.  I really like these partials instead of the statics.

I then unloaded the legpress went over to the icarian leg press, put the pin at 250, bottomed out the seat and started doing slow controlled reps, I got 27 then I failed.  Totally spent.

Great workout, I beat all my old poundages by alot and was about as into it as I can get.  My legs are numb right now...

[davie]

i start again on monday bro, nervous excitement is building lol.

davie

[natural al]

I went in on a mission today, listened to Metallica's "Frantic" on the way in, one part in particular:

If I could have my wasted days back
would I use them to get back on track

the last few years of my life have not been easy..frankly they've kicked my ass mentally and physically, now I have a new and renewed focus, I'm not just going through the motions anymore, I'm pushing so f'n hard...

Don't wanna wait til tomorrow,
Why put it off another day?
One more walk through problems,
Built up, and stand in our way ,ah
One step ahead, one step behind me
Now you gotta run to get even
Make future plans, don't dream about yesterday, hey
C'mon turn, turn this thing around
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon,it's everything
Right now,
Catch a magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
Miss the beat, you lose the rhythm,
And nothing falls into place, no
Only missed by a fraction,
Slipped a little off your pace, oh,
The more things you get, the more you want,
Just trade in one for the other,
Workin so hard, to make it easier, whoa,
Got to turn, c'mon turn this thing around
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon, it's everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
It's enlightened me, right now
What are you waitin for
Oh, yeah, right now
(solo)
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon, it's everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, and do it right,
Right now
Right now, oh, right now
It's what's happening?
Right here and now
Right now
It's right now
Oh,
Tell me, what are you waiting for
Turn this thing around


anyway:

hammer High Pulls-330*16, with a 20 second static and a 60 second stretch

I had some time cause the row machine was being used so I grabbed a pair of 110's and shrugged till failure, I got about 25 reps.  I know DC doesn't really recommend shrugs but I want my traps to come up a little more so I'm gonna start doing 1 straight set every once in awhile.

Hammer Rows-225*16 with my right arm and 15 with my left...went to total failure on these, I just put on 5 plates a side and went to work, didn't even look at my last workout but I know I did alot more today.

Drag Curls-115*27RP-20 second static and a 60 second stretch.  I did these back in 92ish so I didn't get them from the DAve Henry clip that was on this site a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to use them and that inspired me to do it but I've been trying to work them in for awhile.

arms were trashed just from gripping the bars and stuff but I still did pinwheel curls, 20lbs for 20 reps each arm, I'm doign them a little different so they're way harder than they were before.

I did 10 minutes ont he stairmill afterwards.

[natural al]

went in not feeling to great cause of somethings that I found out over the weekend.  Opened up my gym bag and my water bottle leaked all over my clothes so I worked out in a sopping wet shirt

Decline Bench-230*29RP, 20 second static with a couple of partials
           widowmaker-75*20, then i did my 60 second stretch, I wanted 90 seconds but couldn't get it.

Icarian Shoulder-50lbs a side, Right arm I got 15, left I got 18.  I did latereal raises afterwards to failure with a 40lbs DB, I got about 15 reps each arm

Close Grips-235*20, totally failed, I thought I'd get 30ish but once I unraked it my entire upper torso-chest, shoulders-felt like jell-o.  I'm not really used to the higher rep range yet.

I did 4 minutes of Panata cardio-I think that's what it's called.  It's HIT cardio, 20 seconds all out and then a 10 second rest.  I'm gonna cycle HIT cardio on my training days with longer sessions on my off days.

[thewickedtruth]

I went in on a mission today, listened to Metallica's "Frantic" on the way in, one part in particular:

If I could have my wasted days back
would I use them to get back on track

the last few years of my life have not been easy..frankly they've kicked my ass mentally and physically, now I have a new and renewed focus, I'm not just going through the motions anymore, I'm pushing so f'n hard...

Don't wanna wait til tomorrow,
Why put it off another day?
One more walk through problems,
Built up, and stand in our way ,ah
One step ahead, one step behind me
Now you gotta run to get even
Make future plans, don't dream about yesterday, hey
C'mon turn, turn this thing around
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon,it's everything
Right now,
Catch a magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
Miss the beat, you lose the rhythm,
And nothing falls into place, no
Only missed by a fraction,
Slipped a little off your pace, oh,
The more things you get, the more you want,
Just trade in one for the other,
Workin so hard, to make it easier, whoa,
Got to turn, c'mon turn this thing around
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon, it's everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, do it
Right here and now
It means everything
It's enlightened me, right now
What are you waitin for
Oh, yeah, right now
(solo)
Right now, hey
It's your tomorrow
Right now,
C'mon, it's everything
Right now,
Catch that magic moment, and do it right,
Right now
Right now, oh, right now
It's what's happening?
Right here and now
Right now
It's right now
Oh,
Tell me, what are you waiting for
Turn this thing around


anyway:

hammer High Pulls-330*16, with a 20 second static and a 60 second stretch

I had some time cause the row machine was being used so I grabbed a pair of 110's and shrugged till failure, I got about 25 reps.  I know DC doesn't really recommend shrugs but I want my traps to come up a little more so I'm gonna start doing 1 straight set every once in awhile.

Hammer Rows-225*16 with my right arm and 15 with my left...went to total failure on these, I just put on 5 plates a side and went to work, didn't even look at my last workout but I know I did alot more today.
Drag Curls-115*27RP-20 second static and a 60 second stretch.  I did these back in 92ish so I didn't get them from the DAve Henry clip that was on this site a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to use them and that inspired me to do it but I've been trying to work them in for awhile.

arms were trashed just from gripping the bars and stuff but I still did pinwheel curls, 20lbs for 20 reps each arm, I'm doign them a little different so they're way harder than they were before.

I did 10 minutes ont he stairmill afterwards.


 

you do know you can load an extra plate when you're good and ready on teh stop bar. Something to think about when you're blowing up  plates a side. I don't know too many people that can do that. It's an easy pull but for more than  or so reps? You're a monster.

[natural al]

you do know you can load an extra plate when you're good and ready on teh stop bar. Something to think about when you're blowing up  plates a side. I don't know too many people that can do that. It's an easy pull but for more than  or so reps? You're a monster.

I don't know if I put it on there but they were rest paused reps, I got about 10 for my first go, 3 or 4 for my second and 1 or 2 for my 3rd.  I've done more.  I've been thinking of angling my body a little when I do it instead of keeping it stright up and down...I'll go into more details later.

[thewickedtruth]

I don't know if I put it on there but they were rest paused reps, I got about 10 for my first go, 3 or 4 for my second and 1 or 2 for my 3rd.  I've done more.  I've been thinking of angling my body a little when I do it instead of keeping it stright up and down...I'll go into more details later.

you know I was just doing hte same thing...position myself as if I was doing a bent ove row instead of sitting straight up to try and get moe out of my lats. I feel it alot in my upper back but nothing like my rows.

[natural al]

you know I was just doing hte same thing...position myself as if I was doing a bent ove row instead of sitting straight up to try and get moe out of my lats. I feel it alot in my upper back but nothing like my rows.

my theory is a little different.  instead of my body againts the pad I want to angle the part of my body I'm doing away from the machine slightly-I do these unilaterally so if I'm doing my right arm I want to angle my body so that my left shoulder and nipple area are on the pad, I dont' know if I can do it or not I've just been thinking about it.  Got it from an old Trevor Smith article where he actually had to do it cause he didn't fit in the machine so he would do this so he could use it. 

[davie]

Mate, 1st session back, thought id be  a bit weaker after 2 weeks of the easy stuff. I used same weights as last time, wether i shold up them or not (didnt wanna overdo it 1st session back), well i kicked ass!!

Beat all rep totals from last time by 2 reps or more, upping everything for this workout for next time. Deadlifted 3 more reps than iv ever done b4 aswell. Bring on wednesday!!

davie

[natural al]

Mate, 1st session back, thought id be  a bit weaker after 2 weeks of the easy stuff. I used same weights as last time, wether i shold up them or not (didnt wanna overdo it 1st session back), well i kicked ass!!

Beat all rep totals from last time by 2 reps or more, upping everything for this workout for next time. Deadlifted 3 more reps than iv ever done b4 aswell. Bring on wednesday!!

davie

good work.  I'm pretty fired up myself, hope it keeps going well for ya.

anyway, I did legs today:

Calf Sled-370*12 done DC style and I got 19 partials, these were really rough, I'm almost topped out on this movement.

Lying Leg Curl-135*30, 25 second static and a 60 second stretch on each leg.

V-Squat-555*6, I had this written down from my last blast, usually I take every leg machine like this and counth the "sled" as 45lbs but I said screw it, I don't know how much it weighs so I just put 555lbs on it so I might have actually been doing 600lbs, who knows?  I did 23 partials at the end and yes I know I couldn't budge this type of weight if I was doing regular squats

I did 255 for 22 on the Icarian legpress for my widowmaker.

pretty good workout...

[thewickedtruth]

good work.  I'm pretty fired up myself, hope it keeps going well for ya.

anyway, I did legs today:

Calf Sled-370*12 done DC style and I got 19 partials, these were really rough, I'm almost topped out on this movement.

Lying Leg Curl-135*30, 25 second static and a 60 second stretch on each leg.

V-Squat-555*6, I had this written down from my last blast, usually I take every leg machine like this and counth the "sled" as 45lbs but I said screw it, I don't know how much it weighs so I just put 555lbs on it so I might have actually been doing 600lbs, who knows?  I did 23 partials at the end and yes I know I couldn't budge this type of weight if I was doing regular squats

I did 255 for 22 on the Icarian legpress for my widowmaker.

pretty good workout...

what's a v-squat?! no damn shame in doing partials if you benefit from them. I know you know what you're doing. BUT GROW SOME DAMN BALLS AND WIPE THAT ASS WITH THE FLOOR! :D

[natural al]

what's a v-squat?! no damn shame in doing partials if you benefit from them. I know you know what you're doing. BUT GROW SOME DAMN BALLS AND WIPE THAT ASS WITH THE FLOOR! :D

a v-squat is kinda like a straight up and down hack squat.  Hammer makes a really good one, the one I have to use is by lifefitness which I think is a division of precor.  I have major league back issues so it's just not a good idea to do regular squats, I tried last year and got to 275 for 8 but I could barely drive my car to work cause my back hurt so bad the next day.  The v-squat allows you to keep your back straight, it has a pad you can brace you back againts so it's ideal for me to use right now.  I'm gonna go see a doctor about my back someday...just not anytime soon. 

my 3 leg movements are all built around not causing any strain on my lower back.  I'm doing rack deads but afterwards I feel it so I don't know how long I'll keep those around.  REally the first thing I look at in a movement is how it's gonna effect by lower back

[thewickedtruth]

YIKES!

[Lugar]

rack deads on back day or leg day?

[natural al]

rack deads on back day or leg day?

back.  I dont' like stiff legged deadlifts cause they really do tear up my lowerback no matter how much I try to keep my form.  I've either got a compressed spine cause I worked in a shop, standing on hard cement for almost 10 years doing alot of lifting if "wierd" positions that really strained my back.  You try taking components that weigh 35-40lbs out of a die that's mounted in a 200 ton minster press and you'll see what I'm talking about or I've got a bad sciatic nerve...or it could be a bunch of other things. 

[thewickedtruth]

back.  I dont' like stiff legged deadlifts cause they really do tear up my lowerback no matter how much I try to keep my form.  I've either got a compressed spine cause I worked in a shop, standing on hard cement for almost 10 years doing alot of lifting if "wierd" positions that really strained my back.  You try taking components that weigh 35-40lbs out of a die that's mounted in a 200 ton minster press and you'll see what I'm talking about or I've got a bad sciatic nerve...or it could be a bunch of other things. 

an awful lot of whining going on in this thread today...

you get a chance to get in the gym today big al?

[davie]

For all hie back troubles, AL still represents on leg day!!

Al just back from bi etc day a while ago, kicking the logg books ass,lol. Ez bar curls, in 2 rp sets i was rep better than i had been after 3 rest pause sets before i tooko my cruise.lol.

1st Widow maker baker was yummy, i cant walk properly, front squats for 8 reps, added 10kg's and did back squats for 21 reps.

Looks like ur gonna own the logg book aswell my friend, looking foreward to ur next installment.

davie

[natural al]

an awful lot of whining going on in this thread today...

you get a chance to get in the gym today big al?

just cardio and yes I am whining but sometimes it f'n hurts.

For all hie back troubles, AL still represents on leg day!!

Al just back from bi etc day a while ago, kicking the logg books ass,lol. Ez bar curls, in 2 rp sets i was rep better than i had been after 3 rest pause sets before i tooko my cruise.lol.

1st Widow maker baker was yummy, i cant walk properly, front squats for 8 reps, added 10kg's and did back squats for 21 reps.

Looks like ur gonna own the logg book aswell my friend, looking foreward to ur next installment.

davie

sweet.  I'm doing 3 new movements for bi's cause I'm sick of doing old fashioned BB and DB curls and I WILL crush the logbook, it's not even a question.  I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror and I was pissed as hell cause I looked like shit, I got ready did some stuff and started to look better a little while later.  I'm still cutting and it's a really slow process for me, I have not been in "shape" for along time so it's a trial and error thing.  I'm thinking of this more like "taking inventory" if that makes sense..I'm gonna get my BF down and still bust my balls in the gym then when I'm cut I'll figure out what I need to focus a little harder on. 

Higher rep work on my chest seems to be working, it's sore as hell and I swear it looks bigger already.

[davie]

I think iv got what myself and alot of others lifters have, called body dismorphia (i think), for example u could put on 1 stone of solid muscle, but wen u walk in the gym u could still c urself as small, even if ur bigger than evey1 else around u.

WHat RP target are u using for chest??

Im using 15 for chest, back and shoulders, 18 for arms, 30+for hammys, 25+ for forearms.
And for the low rep leg work i use (straight set of course) 10 reps for unilateral leg press, 8 reps for fron squats, and 5 reps for back squats. + of course the 20 rep widow maker.

davie

[natural al]

I think iv got what myself and alot of others lifters have, called body dismorphia (i think), for example u could put on 1 stone of solid muscle, but wen u walk in the gym u could still c urself as small, even if ur bigger than evey1 else around u.

WHat RP target are u using for chest??

Im using 15 for chest, back and shoulders, 18 for arms, 30+for hammys, 25+ for forearms.
And for the low rep leg work i use (straight set of course) 10 reps for unilateral leg press, 8 reps for fron squats, and 5 reps for back squats. + of course the 20 rep widow maker.

davie

I don't know, I've had such a bad few years I'm way behind where I should be.

I'm experimenting with 30 reps rest paused on a few movements, a couple for back, all my chest movements and my bi movments.  Chest needs to come up so I'm trying alot of different things.

[natural al]

Tried a new back machine today, I thought it would mimic the old nautilus lat machine which totally took your bi's and grip out of the equation, the motion is similar but it seemed to involve my forearms and bi's a little more than I expected, still I liked the feel so I'm gonna keep it for awhile:

Life Fitness Pulldown-90*31RP, 30 second static

BB Row-265*4, 225*9...I didn't really like my form on the heavy set so the weight stays the same next time, I moved my stretch to after this movement..60 second "dead hang"

DB Shrug-110*26SS, this is only a temporary thing, I'm gonna drop it in a couple of weeks.  I just want to tweak my traps.

Wide Grip Cable Curl-70*38RP, 25 second static and a 60 second stretch.

Forearms felt like they were gonna blow up at this point so I did some hammer curs 25*30 each arm straight set.

I did my panata cardio today.  Pretty good workout, I'm liking the higher rep range on some movements.  As long as I make sure I go to failure everything should be good but the poundages have to keep going up at a steady pace so we'll see what happens.  Chest is still pretty sore and it's on the agenda for tomorrow so this should be interesting.

[thewickedtruth]

why so many reps? why not do more weight with say 15-20 reps with rp? I never really understood DC which is why I ended up sucking at it apparelty. What didn't you like about your barbell row form? I find that as long as I'm feeling my lats working and really feel the squeeze, as long as I'm not throwing the weight around I don't care. Just like my t-bars, I'm normally standing at a 45* angle and not much farther down to keep my LB out of it and hindering the movement. 90lbs for that many reps? I know better than that..you could stack on 180-200 and hit the same amount! unless they all have that 30second hold in which case...you da man.

[natural al]

why so many reps? why not do more weight with say 15-20 reps with rp? I never really understood DC which is why I ended up sucking at it apparelty. What didn't you like about your barbell row form? I find that as long as I'm feeling my lats working and really feel the squeeze, as long as I'm not throwing the weight around I don't care. Just like my t-bars, I'm normally standing at a 45* angle and not much farther down to keep my LB out of it and hindering the movement. 90lbs for that many reps? I know better than that..you could stack on 180-200 and hit the same amount! unless they all have that 30second hold in which case...you da man.

I went with 12-15 reps on everything for along time, this is just an experiment to see how certain BP's react to the higher rep range.  Mostly it was going to be for chest but I decided to branch it out into some other bodyparts.  I'm still using as heavy a weight as I can handle for that rep range for the most part, I'm still working out the kinks on a couple of movements like the wide grip cable curl.  My chest seemed to be doing great last blast when i was doing my widowmaker at about 30 reps but once the weight got to a point where my reps started to drop off my chest started to lag again.  I just figure there is either something I'm doing "mechanically" wrong once I get to a certain weight or my chest just plain old sucks.  The 30 rep work allows me to move a decent amount of weight on most things while concentrating on keeping my form.  I'm only using it on chest, some back movements, arms and hamstrings.  Shoulders, back thickness, quads and calfs are still gonna be 12-15 reps.  If it doesn't work no big deal, I can always go back to the heavy weight.  Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that stuff.

The BB rows just didn't feel right, not smooth at all and I didn't like my form.  I'll just keep the weight the same next time I hit it and shoot for better form and 6 reps so there will be forward movemnent as far as beating the logbook is concerned. 

[thewickedtruth]

I went with 12-15 reps on everything for along time, this is just an experiment to see how certain BP's react to the higher rep range.  Mostly it was going to be for chest but I decided to branch it out into some other bodyparts.  I'm still using as heavy a weight as I can handle for that rep range for the most part, I'm still working out the kinks on a couple of movements like the wide grip cable curl.  My chest seemed to be doing great last blast when i was doing my widowmaker at about 30 reps but once the weight got to a point where my reps started to drop off my chest started to lag again.  I just figure there is either something I'm doing "mechanically" wrong once I get to a certain weight or my chest just plain old sucks.  The 30 rep work allows me to move a decent amount of weight on most things while concentrating on keeping my form.  I'm only using it on chest, some back movements, arms and hamstrings.  Shoulders, back thickness, quads and calfs are still gonna be 12-15 reps.  If it doesn't work no big deal, I can always go back to the heavy weight.  Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that stuff.

The BB rows just didn't feel right, not smooth at all and I didn't like my form.  I'll just keep the weight the same next time I hit it and shoot for better form and 6 reps so there will be forward movemnent as far as beating the logbook is concerned. 


sweet! looking forward to seeing how it goes!