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DOGGCRAPP TRAINING SYSTEM: WHO LET THE DOGS OUT AND WHY!!Part 1of 2
Doggcrapp training is not for everyone, nor even for most bodybuilders. That's why it's fortuitous that Dante Trudel accidentally named his training system Doggcrapp (his workout beliefs were posted online, and his screen name became linked to them).
The scatological moniker serves as a warning sing, scaring away the vast majority who prefer their workouts longer, easier and more conventional while, conversely attracting those open-minded enough to adopt something intense, challenging and novel. David Henry is just such a bodybuilder.
We watched Henry train his chest and shoulders DC style and got his opinion on 10 crucial components of his workouts to find out what makes Doggcrapp so unique and so effective
THE 10 CRUCIAL COMPONENTS1 STRENGTH INCREASES As Trudel professes, "He who makes the greatest strength gains makes the greatest muscle gains." This is the essence of Doggcrapp, and it's an ethos that David Henry bought into wholeheartedly when he started DC training over three years ago.
"I can look back at my logbook and what I was doing when I started Doggcrapp training, and for Hammer Strength inclines, I was doing two [45s] per side," Henry states with a grin, shaking his head. 'That's what I was maxing out on. Now I'm doing six [45s] per side. That's a lot of strength, so it's going to add a lot of size."
2 LOW VOLUME DC adherents do only one working set for most bodyparts. For example, for chest, after warm-ups they may do a maximum, rest-pause set of incline Smith machine presses. Henry, being an experienced pro bodybuilder, does slightly more volume. In the chest workout we observed, he did one rest-pause set of Hammer Strength incline presses and followed that with a "widowmaker" set (20 reps) of pec-deck flyes (done with a machine that allows his forearms to remain parallel to the floor throughout).
For shoulders, he did one rest-pause set of Hammer Strength overhead presses dc style and one working set of one-arm cable side laterals (performed with the cable behind his body).
The rest-pause exercises are typically those with which you can pile on the most plates. Trudel says, "I've never understood how someone thinks they can get more delt growth from front dumbbell raises with 25s than from working up to where they can do a set of 315-pound Smith machine shoulder presses, or how they're going to get more rear delt growth from rear laterals than from 365-pound barbell rows dc style."
When I ask Henry--who has excellent posterior delts--when he last included rear laterals in his routine, his answer is: sometime before he started using the Doggcrapp method. "This is not conventional training," he reiterates.
"I'm not doing all those extra movements. I'm focused on getting progressively stronger in a limited number of movements. People don't believe you can grow from pushing just one or two exercises per bodypart dc style, but I have. Too many people overanalyze things, instead of making it simple. It's really not that hard. Get stronger and get bigger; that's it, right there, doggcrapp."
3 EXERCISE ROTATION Although the doggcrapp focus is on getting a strength gain in one exercise per body part per workout, three such exercises are rotated over three workouts. For example, if Henry does Harmmer Strength incline presses the next chest workout, and Hammer Strength flat presses the workout after that, Then , assuming he's succeeded in achieving a new personal best for each exercise, he 'll begin the rotation again.
This variety prevents DC trainess from quickly plateauing in any one exercise. For chest, back and shoulders, Henry chooses Hammer Strength equipment for at least of this exercise per body part. "The range of motion is more natural than other machines,
" he explains, They're not one-size-fits-all with. There's some adjustability to them ,and because they're plate-loaded you pack on the weight. I've grown , so anyone who says you need free weights to grow is wrong. The last 10 pounds I put on were largely gained with Hammer Strength machines . It works for me. Don't focus on what works best for your body and go with it.
"For chest, I usually start with incline movements because that was the problem for a while , filling in the upper/inner. Now, since I've filled it in, I still love to do it .a while to take a break from Hammer Strength inclines for a while because I could not get past 10 plates [five 45s on each side, ] so I was really focused on smith machine inclines then. When I came back [to Hammer Strength incline],I blew them away .
It's one of those things. 'He adds with a grin, "Doggcrapp works,yes dc style training does work good."
4 THE LOGBOOK It's crucial for DC trainees to keep a journal of exercises. Poundages and reps performed in every workout. Henry carries his gym bag, and it dicates his battle plan for each training session looking back to the last time he did an exercise, his goal in his current workout is always to get either one more rep with the same weight , or the same number of reps more weights (typically five pounds more).
"The whole goal is to beat something in that logbook everyworkout , Henry states. "There've been times when I've beaten everything in every workout. I've added weight and beat my previous reps.
It's empowering I'm still trying to beat my logbook three days out from a show. "when Henry , like other DC trainees, doesn't reach a new plateau for a particular lift, he drops that exercises from his three- lift rotation. only working it back in when he's forced to drop another exercise.
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