Trained Chest with Randy Howard at Strength Beyond in Kalamazoo
Chest:
Incline barbell:
2x15 135lb
2x10 225lb
2x12 315lb
Drop set:
1x12 315lb
1x15 225lb
Incline Hammer:
3x15 4 plates per side
Drop set:
1x15 4 plates per side
1x10 3 plates per side
Cable Crossover:
1x15 - wasn't feeling it
Pec Deck:
4x15
Steep incline Smith Machine:
3x15 225lb
My weight was 268lbs. I'm working on leaning out and would like to get pretty close to contest shape over the next two months.
I never really considered DC training to be as low volume as everyone else seems to think.
My leg days on DC were pretty high volume IMO
An example DC leg day (think this is on video even):
standing calf:
2-3 warm ups
1 r/p set
Donkey calf:
1 warm up
1 r/p
Seated calf:
1 r/p
Lying leg curls:
4 warm ups
1 r/p set
Stretch
Squats:
5 warm ups (going up from 135lbs in 90lb increments)
1 set of 12 at 545lb
1 set of 8 at 585lb
1 set of 20 at 405lb
Stretch
That's three sets of quads to absolute failure...That's probably not much different than what I'd do on a higher volume leg day.
Most of my sets on an exercise aren't to failure...usually the heaviest set. I just tend to do more exercises.
With that being said....I do feel that DC gets very hard mentally as you get stronger. With higher volume you can be lagging a bit in energy and still get a solid workout in by using more sets.
With DC you have to be absolutely motivated on those R/P sets because they're your one chance to make the muscle grow that day.
All things considered, I think there's benefits to just about all kinds of training.
I like the idea of blood volume training on occasion....It sure seems like the guys who train for "blood volume" and worry more about a "pump" than training to failure or lifting heavy have very "round" muscles.
I like the idea of training heavy as possible...it sure seems like guys who train heavy are the thicker and heavier guys
You can probably find a similar case for just about any training style.
These days I tend to go in and train however I'm most motivated to train on a given day.
A few months ago my workouts were sticking closer to DC training
A few monhts before that my workouts looked a lot like a powerlifting workout
My recent workouts have looked more like a traditional bodybuilder's workout