Before publishing this post, I want to first credit the person from whom I first read about this strangely named Doggcrapp Training method many years ago. I’m not sure if it is his real name or an online moniker that he uses but he is a bodybuilder that goes by the name of Dante.
Although I’ve modified the program to suit my needs it was still his original theory that got my wheels turning about this method of training so I want to give credit where credit is due.
Ok, now on to the method with perhaps the most outlandish name .
What Have I Personally Achieved With the Doggcrapp Method?
If you’ve seen my 11 week transformation, I used the doggcrapp training method in the last 5-6 weeks of my training. The first week, against my better judgement I experimented with an extreme 6 day volume training method which was very similar to Arnold Schwarzeneggers workout. I would NOT recommend a beginner to do that..Only go for it if you’re advanced in your weight lifting career but even then I feel that you may be being inefficient with your time.
I had the time on my hands being in Cyprus with nothing to do but see family, train and keep up with my online endeavors so that is why I gave the 6 day volume protocol a shot.
I quickly plateau’d and realized real fast that I was overtraining when I went to stay with my cousins in their village with no gym for the weekend – Over this weekend I started growing and looking fuller. So after week 5-6, after seeing some results with the volume training I went back to what has worked well for me in the past (and still what I personally believe to be one of the best ways to train for people who aren’t genetically gifted and don’t have the time to be in the gym 6 days a week for 2 hours at a time) and that is a form of H.I.T training. (High Intensity Training) called the Doggcrapp method.
IMPORTANT : Something I always see most people failing to do is change their training protocol as often as every 4-6 weeks as the body adapts to training stimulus REAL fast. Do you ever notice people doing the same thing for months and even years? Do they look much different? Nah!
What is The Theory Behind the Doggcrapp Training Method?
Ultimately, if I had to explain the doggcrapp method to you in one line it would be this – To achieve as many growth periods as possible for your muscles.
This method achieves this by splitting your training into two days :-
DAY 1 : for chest, shoulders, triceps, back width and back thickness. Then a 2nd day for Quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps, forearms and abs.
DAY 2 :for Quads, hamstrings, calves, biceps, forearms and abs.
You will be doing only ONE all-out working set for each bodypart with a “rest-pause” at the end of the set for the majority of exercises.
REST-PAUSE : After your working set is over (10-15 reps) you will put the weight back, take 15 deep breaths and then attempt a further 2-4 reps of the exercise. This is your first “rest pause” set.
When you’ve done this, repeat the 15 deep breaths and attempt another 1 or 2 reps of the exercise. This is your 2nd “rest-pause” set. Your working set is complete!
You then perform an extreme stretch on the muscle worked to stretch the fascia surrounding the muscle to allow for more muscle growth. (I talk about this kind of stretching in my post about Extreme Fascia Stretching)
The theory is that every week you will keep getting stronger either by adding an extra rep or adding some extra weight and hitting the same number of reps for each exercise
You will have 3 different versions of each of the 2 workout days – (6 workouts in total). While the bodyparts you train will remain the same, the exercises will change.
For example : On Day 1, your chest exercise will be Bench Press. When you do the Day 1 workout next time round, the chest exercise will be Incline Dumbell Press. Same for every bodypart. Create yourself 3 different versions of both days.
You rotate the two workout days 3 to 5x a week. For example here’s a 10-day schedule that might make more sense :-
Monday – Workout Day 1a
Tuesday – Workout Day 2a
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Workout Day 1b
Friday – Workout Day 2b
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Workout Day 1c
Monday – Workout Day 2c
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Back to workout Day 1a (where you should be stronger on each exercise)
Which means you train each body-part twice in 4-5 days..This also means 2 growth periods for your muscles in 4-5 days. You’ll see the advantage of this when I explain volume training below.
It’s pretty damn intense when you get back round to the same workout you did the week before because with Doggcrapp training, if you performed the same weight and the same amount of reps or less than the last time you did this exercise, you MUST change the exercise for next time! It’s very do or die, which I love..YOU MUST PROGRESS!
Example : If you’ve done a 200lbs bench press for 10 reps over two consecutive workouts, you MUST change the bench press to a different chest exercise the next time you do this workout. (because you’ve stopped progressing – You should have got 11 reps this week!).
Doggcrapp Training vs Volume Training – The Advantage
Most people who use the traditional volume training method usually split their bodyparts up into one or two parts at a time. Then they absolutely flatten their muscles with as many sets and exercises as possible for that one bodypart.
This has never sat well with me ever since I picked up my first set of weights. I could never achieve the same intensity set after set after set..I had one, maybe two intense sets in me at best! Then I’d get considerably weaker on that bodypart.
NOTE : I’m not saying volume training is invalid! The only thing that is invalid is thinking that there is only one way to train. The correct way to train is to change your workouts regularly so that your body doesn’t adapt. Somebody who says that they know the BEST way to train are LYING! I’ve used both of these methods with success.
It takes about 7 days normally for volume training advocates to get back to the same bodypart again. Even if their muscle has recovered sooner than the 7th day, it usually doesn’t matter because volume trainee’s usually have a 4 or 5 day bodypart split! So just as an example of what a typical volume trainers week might look like if they trained Legs on Monday :
Monday : Legs
Tuesday : Chest
Wednesday : Off
Thursday : Back
Friday : Shoulders
Saturday Off
Sunday : Bi’s and Tri’s
By the time they get back to training any bodypart, a week has gone by…Meaning only ONE growth period a week
Now, what Doggcrapp training advocates is that you want AS MANY GROWTH PERIODS AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE to grow muscle at the fastest rate possible.
Shouldn’t this be any muscle builders mission?
But Haven’t Bodybuilders Been Using Volume Training For Generations?
Maybe but you need to ask yourself a few questions.
Do professional bodybuilders take steroids which greatly enhances their recovery ability? Yes
Do professional bodybuilders all have insane genetics whereby WHATEVER program they’re likely to do they’ll see results? Yes
Do the magazines where you see these insane volume training programs have a million pages of supplement adverts? Yes
Have all the great bodybuilders that ever lived trained with volume? NO!
Mike Mentzer used HIT training and he was huge..also one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, Dorian Yates was a strong H.I.T training advocate.
Recently, number one fitness and muscle model Rob Riches has also mentioned how he uses Rest-Pause training with great results.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, although trained with volume, was actually on the right track. He trained with maximum growth periods in mind. He trained each bodypart 3 times a week but with the most insane of volume. His sessions had to have lasted at least 2 hours which is what we don’t want. Bare in mind again that professional bodybuilders are all on steroids which means their recovery ability is FAR greater than yours.
Another great bodybuilder to look at also is recent 8 time Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman. Watch his training DVD’s and you’ll see that although his training method appears to be volume training, he only actually does ONE WORKING SET at his heaviest weight. (Pyramid Training)
I brought up bodybuilding magazines because they sometimes make out that the bodybuilders routines in there are far more volumous than they actually are. This is for 2 reasons.
1) To make the bodybuilder larger than life and have that “superhuman” like status
2) So that YOU copy that same workout and when it doesn’t work they just sell you the supplements they advertise as a fix! When really it’s their insane routine that is to blame. Criminal but true!
Bottom line – Do not copy bodybuilders magazine workouts. You are NOT a bodybuilder so you shouldn’t train like them. (and most do not even train like that anyway).
Well, I took the DC method and tweaked it very slightly to my needs. Here is my doggcrapp workout for the last 5 weeks that I was in Cyprus! Enjoy.
Before you start, you should ALWAYS have a spotter around if you’re utilising the DC method. During your 2nd and 3rd rest pause you’ll be very fatigued and it wouldn’t be completely safe for you to bench press, for example, on your own at this point.
If you’re new to muscle building DO NOT TRY THIS WORKOUT YET. You don’t fully understand what the correct intensity feels like yet and you’ll likely injure yourself following this method.
- Always use 2-4 Warm-up sets before your 1 working set to avoid injury
- For your working set, use a weight that is around 80% of your 1 rep max. Or in simple terms, choose a weight that you can perform 10-12 reps with before your muscles fail to lift the weight for another rep.
- The Aim : To progress every single week on every exercise. Example – If you did the bench press at 100lbs for 10 reps on Week 1, on Week 2 you must get at least 11 reps on the same weight. When you can get over 12 reps on an exercise, you can add a small amount of weight the next week. (Those little 2.5lbs doughnuts are your friends!)
Here’s a 10 day example schedule which might illustrate my point better :
Monday – Workout Day 1a
Tuesday – Workout Day 2a
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Workout Day 1b
Friday – Workout Day 2b
Saturday – Rest
Sunday – Workout Day 1c
Monday – Workout Day 2c
Tuesday – Rest