[Scott Stevenson]

Shit, this is probably the best reply I could have had asked for. Thank you very much for your time reading and replying with such an in depth answer it’s actually somewhere inspiring!

I’m not anywhere near as advanced as most here and know that heavy presses should be Proficient enough and lead me in the direction I’m wanting to go with my deltoids

I think I shall stick with the 2 way and really nail down and concentrate on each and every rep, set. Also include widow makers on lateral raises on top of the RP on presses

Thanks again!

You’re welcome! Glad to inspire as well. DC – just as written without adding things – works really well for many.

And note again that exercise selection is UP TO YOU here.

You can give that a shot by adding in a set of delts, but what if you put it in your mind that you’ve got one shot – just this one RP set, do or die – to make delt progress. THAT is the mentality that makes DC effective.

The log book looks right back and you when you don’t progress and, for many, knowing that you can make up for a lackluster main exercise with another set or two of another exercise is actually a large part of why progress isn’t occurring (effort level is sup-par…).

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Hi, so currently running a DC split and body-weight and log book are going up nicely, plus most importantly I’m genuinely enjoying it.

However I’ve noticed there isn’t really any shoulder work for side delts apart from pressing moves, I fee side delts Is an area I’ve always lagged in and would like to improve,

Should I just stick to the plan As Dante says Or throw in some isolation work? Eg lateral raises machines and dumbbells… ect ect?

Thoughts:

-You don’t have to JUST use OH pressing movements for delts. You could do all side lateral movements if those work for you to target the muscle and can be applied in a *progressively overloaded* fashion.

-You can do pressing movements that hit the middle head of the delts, too: Reverse OH presses on machines (Hammer, selectorized), reverse DB OH presses (facing the bench with a very upright posture – brutal – you’ll use very little weight here), and even these: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bohw18IhjRY/

——

Perhaps more importantly:

Are you growing and how large are you now?… The 2 way split can serve guys for YEARS (as it did me). Dave Henry and I routinely came back the the DC 2 way in the off-season b/c it worked very well for growing overall.

Question: DO you think that if you just did strict form (even behind the head pressing if your shoulders allow) and got brutally strong – lets say 140kg OH BB pressing level strength – that you’d have a seriously deficient middle delt head? (I say that tongue in cheek, but the question begs to be asked…)

It’s not very common now, but it would help to post a pic – this will give the real nitty gritty as far as what folks need to help you out the most.

@jdh I can’t see how doing it once a week you would get much out of it?

The three way split isn’t a 1x / week frequency: It’s a 3 way split, trained typically 4x / week.

You could train more frequently with the DC 3 way, but there are literally thousands of guys who have done well on the 3way (4x/week) split.

The 3 way is advanced, though, meaning that if you’re going to lose out a bit on frequency (vs. the standard 2 way) and toss in widow makers for weak muscle groups (side delts, for instance), then one had better be able to BURY those sets like you’ve got a gun to your head. For most folks (and this board doesn’t represent that average), that volume would be too little b/c the stress of just a RP set and a WM at that frequency wouldn’t be enough…

HOWEVER – If one can progress with that frequency (even if you don’t think it’s enough) and increase loads used progressively over time, eating enough to support gains, this will manifest in one’s physique. 🙂

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Hi,

I bought the book ‘Be your own bodybuilding coach’ by Dr Scott Stevenson. Looking at the peak week, during the first few days the recommendation is to replace the zero/low carbs with fats. What foods would you all suggest are best for these fats during peak week?

Many thanks

James

Hey James,

My first Q is what you mean by “replace the zero/low carbs with fats.” I presume you mean at the beginning of the week, where carbs and reduced to a minimum and you eat more fat to keep kcal up(?)…

If so, then you’d just use the same fat sources you have been, whenever possible. (I think I note this in the book, but I know that’s a long-ass section.)

For many folks, this is an easy one, as they’ve been eating / have days with no / minimal carb intake, so those food choices should be good to go.

Hopefully, on the flip side, you’ve done some sort of dietary toggling, re-feeding, carbing up, post workout carb intake, carb spikes, etc and have, from those meals, some go to high carb / low fat choices for the mid-week carb-up.

OF course, unless you pick REALlY poorly and get GI distress from the early in the week low fat meals that hampers the carb-up or the carb choices during the carb up limits how much you fill out, then you’ve got the day before the show (at least) to remedy the GI issues.

Hopefull, down the road, the mechanics of “fat leading” and restoring intramyocellular fat shoes (extent to which this happens, rate, super compensation, best fats for doing so under different circumstance, etc.) will be available that would inform a fat loading protocol.

This may not be an issue, but saturated fat seems to have the worst effect on insulin sensitivity, and a cell with intracellular TG’s tends to be less insulin sensitive, so eating a massive amount of sat. fats just before carbing up may not be the best choice, but that’s just a guess.

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Just seeing this post. Bristol – thanks for the recent tag referring folks here! @Bristol

-Scott

[Scott Stevenson]

I used the Fortitude 3 day plan shown on page 127 of the ebook by @scott-stevenson. I used it for 8 months and gained loads

Thanks for the mention!!! 🙂

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Great to se u here Dr Scott. It’s true Kiefer is a really good salesperson better then a few others who was also recycling the idea of carb back loading:) one of which was Jason Ferrugia’s Renegade Diet.

@scott Stevenson nice to see you here bud

Hey Guys!

(Happy Holidays!)

Yes, Kiefer did sell things pretty well. I think there’s a window that opens up on ideas after a few years (probably depends on the idea, the industry, etc.) that permits a recycled version to be sold. Of course, there’s a sucker born every minute (so to speak), and many folks simply won’t google / search around (past the first page of search results) and tackle the enormity of info. the web holds, so there’s a perpetually a way to make a profit. 🙁

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

You guys are phenomenal!!! (Hope everyone’s having a great Holiday!)

THANK YOU!

-S

P.S. If you’re wanting the .pdf of the book, please consider buying it from me (www.byobbcoach.com) vs. from the many sites you’ll find pirated versions of via a google search. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are legit (hardcover) and the kindle can be had from Amazon (not pirated that know), but it’s more pricey than the .pdf. 🙂

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks Peter! And surprised to knw Dr scott was into CBL

LOL – Never really into CBL. It just so happened (I guess – Hilly could say better than I) that when we worked together Kiefer was talking about / coming out with the RECYCLED idea that he had labelled as carb backloading.

The idea of nutrient timing with carbs peri-workout had been around (and had been something I’d been doing) for DECADES before Kiefer came up with the CBL label.

Similarly, people talk about the “Palumbo” diet b/c Dave’s been using low carb diets with people for a while, but you could just as well call this a bodybuilder-adapted Atkins diet, a variation on Dan Duchaine’s BodyOpus diet, one’s own twist on Mauro DiPasquali’s Anabolic diet or what have you.

I never really paid much attention to Kiefer except to note that he was a really good salesperson and a great example of someone who brokered the argument from authority from an un-related field to support his marketing strategy: He seemed to make sure that it was always noted that he had a master’s degree in Physics, implying fallaciously that he’s an authority on bodybuilding nutrition. (Because you’ve got the be smart to get a master’s degree so he’s certainly a smart one when it comes to nutrition, too.) (This same thing is attributed to Justin Harris quite a bit – who also has graduate credentials in Physics, without any prompting by him as far as I can tell. I think people just thinks it’s cool to mention about Justin… 🙂 )

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Swap those frozen yoghurt carbs out for sorbet carbs and your stomach will love ya for it. 🙂

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

That’s a question I get quite a bit… (Every couple weeks or so.. 🙂 ) The main variation is which one to do first…

Couple things that could make the difference:

If someone isn’t great at auto regulating, and the volume / frequency of DC suits them well, then that DC could be their sweet spot (for the time being in their progression as a bodybuilder) and a best choice.

Change of stimulus can matter a good bit. Someone who’s been doing more of a higher volume / metabolic stress kind of program and never gotten buck ass strong might do better with DC, especially if they’re pushing a bit too hard and not recovering optimally, given the focus on progress overload and the drop in volume that DC would probably be.

You can apply the opposite to the above situations to see where FT might be a better fit for some: Better auto-regultors might optimize better with FT, and those who’ve not done a lot of metabolic stress work (e.g. former PL’ers) might fare better, too.

The variety of exercises might be a good thing for some folks, both from a stimulus standpoint and a psychological one.

FYI, in FT, while the loading sets would come around one every 3 weeks, one can also make choose to do some / most of the MR’s weekly and progress in this way, so days 3 and 4 can be set up to try to progress on everythng from all of the exercises (which wouldn’t be a good idea of one’s getting niggles and ignoring signs to do a different exercise) to simply mixing up the MR’s quite a bit and using one’s “pool” of MR exercises (or scanning back through your log book) to see previous MR PRs on days when one wants to check strength gains and/or give the log book a little spanking. 🙂

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

@jdh Nailed it! 🙂

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

@Steve Tait Well, if you’ve just started Jordan’s program, I don’t want to dissuade you into going FT…

But yes, I’m in favor of some kind of warm-up of each kind of exercise. (Even if someone were to snag your machine and you need to do another one, just hopping on to get a few reps in – for neurological and set-up reasons – would be smart, IMO.)

Warm-ups highly individual, of course, and finding what works best for you is super important. (This is a whole huge topic, that would dip into everything from muscle temperature and blood flow, to practice effects, to post-activation potentiation.)

But yes, that’s the idea: Warm-up on all exercises, take enough break to be ready to kick ass and then zig-zag through your Loading sets. 🙂

[Scott Stevenson]

@jdh LOL!!! Nah, man… Just trying to help out!!!

Seriously, if you look at the Loading sets as the compound exercise being the primary focus, with the isolations there as fine tuning of the stimulus (e.g., pre-fatiguing quads to make them the weak link before a squatting exercise), you’ve got the right idea.

[As an aside, that’s one way to take care of missing out on a zig-zagged exercise in a crowded gym: Simply commandeer the compound exercise and start the Loading sets by doing do an isolation exercise set FIRST, so at least you’ve gotten one set in that way. For higher tiers, you might miss out, but only on one set (worse case scenario), as you’ve already then gotten one of the isolation exercises taken care of and the compound exercise is where you’ve set up.

For instance, you’d warm up on OH presses and be ready to roll and then stroll over the DB’s (where you’ve warmed upa bit) and wait to just grab one set of side lateral as your first Loading set exercise.

(Also, check the FAQ on training with a partner. IN this case, he / she can hold down the 2nd exercise… 🙂 )

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Hey Guys,

As far as zig-zagging, I’ve answered this question quite a few times with a lot of solution… (Over on my board). You just have to couple exercises in smart fashion. (And yes, the rack is a great place to do that, but if you’re just not a fan, there’s not much I can do… LOL)

Really, with the Loading sets, if you have a single compound exercise (or either width or thickness) that you are focused on, in a worse case scenario, you can use another isolation exercise. Keep progressing on that compound and you’re good to go. 🙂

Not a big deal, for instance, to have to switch to another pull down machine (of someone snagged your machine) and simple do a short set of 4-5 reps to feel out weight, then select the go weight, start the rest interval and do your set.

If you can sweat using a rack, you can do BO Rows / rack deads/ Pendlay rows, etc. altnerated with chins (set 2nd bar there), rack chins, etc. (You can almost always find a place to do a chin / pullup.)

A smith machine (for presses) is often near the DB’s. Warm up in the DB area and roll the big boys over when it’s time to go. 🙂

If you decide to use machines for your isolation exercises, these could literally be swapped in and out (keeping the compound exercise in place each time). So, if you can’t get to what you wanted to do for a pec isolation movement, you’ve got two other machine (diff. pec fly, cross-cable, etc.) that you have in your rotation and you can just switch to that on the fly.

Most folks will let you work in for a set, too… I often am holding down a main machine and then letting folks know I’ll be over to just a set or two. (I’eve never had a problem with hitting my rest interval… Most folks are happy to oblige if you’re cool, and that’s talking about asshole Americans… LOL)

(If you have a particular combo you don’t think you can zig zag, I’ll troubleshoot if you like. 🙂 )

-S

[Scott Stevenson]

Glad you’re OK, Luke!!!

-S