Question for you DC'ers

[RONJON]

How do you guys do your 10-14 Day Cruises?

I have heard of some trying out new exercises..taking time off from the gym..all kinds of different methods and Im trying to see what the true or best way to do it is?

I couldnt see myself taking that long away from the gym..maybe thats why im not at an advanced level tho

So what are you guys' methods?

RJ

 

[ScottMcD1]

You can do whatever you want... here are some posts by Dante explaining
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Personally my cruises are typically 10-14 days, the first few days I just stay out of the gym and maybe do cardio(treadmill at home or walking outside) and then do 2-4 very easy workouts at about 75% intensity and trying out exercises I've been wondering about for body parts that are stalling.

 

[BALDNAZI]

cruise...

For me I find that a complete rest is best. If your doing DC "right" and are continually beating the logbook with real big weight, when the time comes for a cruise you need the rest. This is what works for me. I clear my mind, my cns recovers, any lagging injuries clear up and by the time the next blast begins I am refreshed and itching to kill the weight.

Its an individual thing though, and you wil know exactly what is best for you.

 

[tkav1980]

I would assume it would be a trial and error type of deal. BALDNAZI is different than you so for him it may require full rest to allow his body to recover properly, where lets say DAD might recover fine going in during his cruise and hitting a couple sets of 20 at 60%. im sure after 3 or 4 blast and cruise cycles you would be able to assess how your body recivers given different types of rest.

 

[Ali]

For me I find that a complete rest is best. If your doing DC "right" and are continually beating the logbook with real big weight, when the time comes for a cruise you need the rest. This is what works for me. I clear my mind, my cns recovers, any lagging injuries clear up and by the time the next blast begins I am refreshed and itching to kill the weight.

Its an individual thing though, and you wil know exactly what is best for you.

This is exactly what i do when i take a cruise or break from the gym. I honestly don't see the purpose behind going in the gym and doing 60-70% efforts when really the purpose is to let your body recover/rest. Maybe dante put those in there for the very OCD type of guys that INSIST on being in the gym or there gonna shrink? lol I don't know.

I will hoever go in the gym to possibly "practice" a few new movements i plan on incorporating into my next blast or just feel out a few i might be considering.

That's my opinion and it means nothing lol

 

[nziegs]

A lot of it has to do with how YOU feel. As the name suggests I usually like to just "cruise" in the gym and take it easy. Listen to your body and let it tell you when its time to go back to brutal training. I also like to drop my shakes during this time just to give it a break.

 

[full_belly]

ive been DCing for around 4 yrs now, and whilst when i started we did one straight set to near failure on the normal split during the cruise, now I do NO actual weight training the first week, except cardio and focus on all my PREHAB, movement pattern stuff that hopefully makes my body move more efficient so i can move big boy weights....

this week coming now is week 2 of our cruise, and we gonna train how we feel and try different things out in prep for our next blast..

ALSO!!!! rereading some very old stuff of dante's i dont believe the cruise was originally meant to be a bridge between cycle.. tey used to come off...
we doin this now, and the blood pressure, bank balance and everything seems to like it. its not like you gonna shrink.. im still on anti E's tho...

 

[RONJON]

WOW! Very interesting thanks guys alot of experienced answers here...who else?

 

[Dusty Hanshaw]

I just train like everyone else in the gym. Obviously that means that as soon as it starts to burn I stop. It is boring as hell and takes a ton of discipline to train like a candy ass for two weeks but obvioulsy the body needs it.

i soooo can't wait to start DC again soon.

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

I really want people to do what they want to do during the cruise (except if they think that means keep training hard)

Ive personally done it many ways

7 days completly off

10 days completely off

2 weeks off and i went in monday and thursdays and did light maintenance training (and i mean light maintenance) splitting the body into 2 and training it twice during that time

10 days off and going in 2x

If i go in its usually just to try to experiment with a new exercise for each bodypart that I can keep in the basement and pull out when i plateau during a blast.

If im kind of injured ill take 7-10 days completely off

If im just burnt out pushing myself ill take 7-14 days off and go in 2x usually and find one exercise per bodypart that I want to use in the future (usually a weird exercise I havent used before and ill tweak it or tool with it to get it right)....I do about 10 reps with it and leave about 5 reps in the tank (like i said easy lifting.

Here is the problem---guys like Baldnazi lift forklift weights and he knows his body--he knows the limits and what it needs to do to recover .....

Sometimes though the young bucks who do DC training are so OCD like ALI said they think they are going to shrink down to nothing if they dont train.

I always throw this at them...."What do you think is going to happen Jay Cutler, Dennis Wolfe or for arguments sake natural Skip Lacour if they take a week to 10 days off from lifting? do you think they are going to wittle away down to 185 pounds in a week? No they are not....in fact they will change very little if at all. So what do you think is going to happen to your 203 pounds if you stop lifting for a week to 10 days off after blasting for 7-12 weeks? Youll wake up a week later at 126? Dont worry bout it...take your cruise and come back for another war with the logbook...if you cant take 7-10 days off then i want you to train every 3-4 days or so tops and just go thru the motions.....60-70% effort

 

[qazzaq9]

Like many here I take the first week completely off. I enjoy things like looking at the treadmill in my room from the couch where my legs are up, sports are on and a labatts blue is found in hand. Or sitting on the porcelain throne and not having my legs going into spasms from yesterdays widowmaker. The simple pleasures,lol.

The second week might be spent learning a new move like I did with rack chins (with no added weight of course), or just doing exercises that I enjoy but wouldn't be great to add into a program, like dumbbell pullovers, flyes, lateral raises, or extentions. This would only be twice a week with very light weight and high reps.

I also take a break from reading, thinking, or talking training. I think the mind has to recover at least as much as the body does. The first time I took the break I felt like I was somehow cheating myself. Now I think the cruise is essential to being successful using DC training.

 

[doug1]

the greatest advantage the advanced trainee has over the novice is knowing when and how long to take completely off. sometimes a day or two is enough to then resume training again and other times its a full 7-10 days. Like DC says, there won't be any visible signs in physique in such a short time. it should be looked at as a mini detraining time. think of the beginner who has never touched a weight and how they have the advantage over the person who has been training for years and years in that they can progress rapidly for a while that the worn out advanced guy doesn't have that same luxury. for this effect several months would be more conducive, which i have never done. i like training too much to go more than a week or two.

 

[RONJON]

I really want people to do what they want to do during the cruise (except if they think that means keep training hard)

Ive personally done it many ways

7 days completly off

10 days completely off

2 weeks off and i went in monday and thursdays and did light maintenance training (and i mean light maintenance) splitting the body into 2 and training it twice during that time

10 days off and going in 2x

If i go in its usually just to try to experiment with a new exercise for each bodypart that I can keep in the basement and pull out when i plateau during a blast.

If im kind of injured ill take 7-10 days completely off

If im just burnt out pushing myself ill take 7-14 days off and go in 2x usually and find one exercise per bodypart that I want to use in the future (usually a weird exercise I havent used before and ill tweak it or tool with it to get it right)....I do about 10 reps with it and leave about 5 reps in the tank (like i said easy lifting.

Here is the problem---guys like Baldnazi lift forklift weights and he knows his body--he knows the limits and what it needs to do to recover .....

Sometimes though the young bucks who do DC training are so OCD like ALI said they think they are going to shrink down to nothing if they dont train.

I always throw this at them...."What do you think is going to happen Jay Cutler, Dennis Wolfe or for arguments sake natural Skip Lacour if they take a week to 10 days off from lifting? do you think they are going to wittle away down to 185 pounds in a week? No they are not....in fact they will change very little if at all. So what do you think is going to happen to your 203 pounds if you stop lifting for a week to 10 days off after blasting for 7-12 weeks? Youll wake up a week later at 126? Dont worry bout it...take your cruise and come back for another war with the logbook...if you cant take 7-10 days off then i want you to train every 3-4 days or so tops and just go thru the motions.....60-70% effort

WOW! thanks for the reply Dogg..good insight here

Question?..do u keep the diet and supps and everything the same during the cruise? Do you eat less and supplement less since you are not needing the same amount of energy in the gym,etc?

RON

 

[tkav1980]

WOW! thanks for the reply Dogg..good insight here

Question?..do u keep the diet and supps and everything the same during the cruise? Do you eat less and supplement less since you are not needing the same amount of energy in the gym,etc?

RON

hahahahaha you beat me to the punch!

 

[BALDNAZI]

WOW! thanks for the reply Dogg..good insight here

Question?..do u keep the diet and supps and everything the same during the cruise? Do you eat less and supplement less since you are not needing the same amount of energy in the gym,etc?

RON

I keep everything the same except my pre/during/post workout supps. Which means no caffeine, no creatine(Sizeon), and no PWO shake obviously on what would have been workout days. Keep your protein levels high as usual, no need to drastically change your diet. Thats my suggestion as I find it keeps me from going too flat during the off time.

 

[full_belly]

THis blast ive been doin around 200g protein, just getting sick of the 6 solid protein meals of 60g during the blast.!! ive read alot about creating protein efficiency by holding back somewhat.....

BALDNAZI is around 50lb heavier than me, so maybe the smart thing for me is to follow his lead next cruise..

haha wish i was 300lb brother

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

WOW! thanks for the reply Dogg..good insight here

Question?..do u keep the diet and supps and everything the same during the cruise? Do you eat less and supplement less since you are not needing the same amount of energy in the gym,etc?

RON

This is a very varied question depending on the individual.

In basic terms I like people to relax a little bit during the cruises...if they are taking in 6 meals blasting i would like 5 meals during cruising....if they are eating 5 on the weekends i want 4 meals then. The whole process is there so I can bring them around from thinking "man i need a break, eating like this is a pain in the ass to....ok i am ready to rock again"

Supplements I usually have them get off but again its up to the individual.

Super supps/prohormones--absolutely off thru a certain process and aggressive PCT (very aggressive)

But again this is all individualistic...some people are natural, some are natural most of the year, some use pro-hormones, some sporadically are enhanced and some are enhanced a great amount of time....things are designed around that individual and his choices.

In laymens terms its push for 7-12 weeks and catch a break for 7-14 days...push for 7-12 weeks and catch a break for 7-14 days etc....eating 6-7 meals a day year round there is some burnout...the cruises is where i want someone to take it easy a little bit so they actually want to get back to eating 6 times a day.

If someone tells me they fall off the wagon and cheat alot on cruises....i like to keep in the cardio.

Your metabolism from blasting is going so fast that when you drop a meal and go into the cruise phase and all that it involves MOST people end up dropping bodyfat pretty darn quickly during those 7-14 days.

 

[shawnkarbabacz]

This is a very varied question depending on the individual.

In basic terms I like people to relax a little bit during the cruises...if they are taking in 6 meals blasting i would like 5 meals during cruising....if they are eating 5 on the weekends i want 4 meals then. The whole process is there so I can bring them around from thinking "man i need a break, eating like this is a pain in the ass to....ok i am ready to rock again"

Supplements I usually have them get off but again its up to the individual.

Super supps/prohormones--absolutely off thru a certain process and aggressive PCT (very aggressive)

But again this is all individualistic...some people are natural, some are natural most of the year, some use pro-hormones, some sporadically are enhanced and some are enhanced a great amount of time....things are designed around that individual and his choices.

In laymens terms its push for 7-12 weeks and catch a break for 7-14 days...push for 7-12 weeks and catch a break for 7-14 days etc....eating 6-7 meals a day year round there is some burnout...the cruises is where i want someone to take it easy a little bit so they actually want to get back to eating 6 times a day.

If someone tells me they fall off the wagon and cheat alot on cruises....i like to keep in the cardio.

Your metabolism from blasting is going so fast that when you drop a meal and go into the cruise phase and all that it involves MOST people end up dropping bodyfat pretty darn quickly during those 7-14 days.

Man the more i read about DC (plus just got the DVD in the mail today) the more insanely simple (in a good way) and common sense based it is! I DEFINATLY dont mean it didnt take thought or anything obviously, but in a sport that DOES seem so OCD, alot of times the obvious answer is overlooked in favor of overthinking things. Everything ive read that ACTUALLY is from daunte and not another source putting their spin on it, makes so much sense that its almost embarrasing that i havent been doing it all along.

Im stoked to start my DC program. The only thing im worried about is the fact that its for the more advanced guys (ive only got about 2ish yrs of pretty serious training) but hopefully i got enough experience to reap the benefits of it.

Whats the earliest in your 'career' of BB that you guys started using these training methods, as far as yrs of hardcore training under your belt?

 

[ScottMcD1]

3 years is usually the minimum but there are going to be rare young guys who have their head on straight and can get it done.

 

[shawnkarbabacz]

3 years is usually the minimum but there are going to be rare young guys who have their head on straight and can get it done.

When you say 'head on straight', are you refering more to the ability to follow the program properly? Im kinda trying to feel out if the 3 yr thing is more of a physical timetable, or mental lifting maturity thing, if that makes any sense...