Doggcrapp Training Workout Split and Guide

Contents16 sections

Doggcrapp training, usually shortened to DC training, is a low-volume, high-intensity bodybuilding system created by Dante Trudel. It is built around rest-pause sets, a two-way split trained three days a week, constant strength progression, loaded “extreme stretches” and planned breaks from hard training.

The name comes from Trudel’s username on the bodybuilding forum where his posts about the system first caught on, and he has said he regrets choosing it. He is also clear that DC is not for beginners: he recommends at least three years of consistent training and good technique before you try it.

This guide covers how DC works, the split and exercise rotation, a sample week, the stretching, cardio and diet rules, and what research says about the parts that can be tested.

Who Is Dante Trudel?

Trudel laid out the DC system himself, mostly in long forum posts and Q&A threads, including the DC training forum on IntenseMuscle, and in interviews with bodybuilding media. The rules in this guide follow those descriptions as they are commonly summarized.

By his own account, Trudel started training at about age 20, weighing around 137 pounds, and was taken in at first by the high-volume magazine routines of the time. He has credited his own system with taking him to roughly 270-280 pounds at his heaviest, and he went on to coach many bodybuilders with it.

Doggcrapp Training Philosophy

Constant Progression

Trudel’s core belief is that steady strength progression is what builds size, and that many bodybuilders never get strong enough to build a truly big physique. Doing endless reps with a 115-pound military press will only take you so far. Take that press to 225 pounds for reps and your shoulders will be bigger. The same goes for other compound lifts: few people who squat 500 pounds or deadlift 600 pounds look small.

In practice, that means keeping a training log. Every working set is recorded, and the goal each session is to beat your last performance on that exercise with more weight or more reps.

Low Volume, Higher Frequency

DC uses far less volume than most bodybuilding programs. Each exercise gets one all-out working set after warm-ups, and sessions are meant to be very intense and last an hour or less. Trudel considers long, high-volume workouts a waste of effort, which is a big reason the system is less popular than higher-volume programs.

You train three times a week, alternating between two workouts that each cover half the body. Each muscle is trained in every other session, so about three times every two weeks, which is more often than a classic once-a-week bro split.

A single working set puts many lifters off, but the idea is not new. Dorian Yates built his “Blood and Guts” training around one all-out working set per exercise (see Dorian Yates’ workout routine). The difference in DC is that most of those single sets are rest-pause sets, so each one contains three short efforts to failure.

Who It Is For

Trudel says DC is for lifters with at least three years of solid training who can perform the lifts with good technique. If you are not sure where you stand, see are you a beginner, intermediate or advanced lifter?

How DC Rest-Pause Sets Work

Most exercises in DC are done as a single rest-pause set. Here is how one works:

1. Warm up with a few lighter sets. They don’t count toward the working set.
2. Pick a weight you can lift for around 10 reps.
3. Do as many reps as you can with good form, and stop when you reach failure.
4. Rack the weight and take 10-15 deep belly breaths.
5. Do a second mini-set to failure with the same weight.
6. Take another 10-15 deep breaths, then do a third and final mini-set to failure.

Add up the reps from all three mini-sets. The usual target is 11-15 total reps. Reach 15 and you add weight next time. Fall short of 11 and you either lower the weight or try to beat the number next session. It counts as one working set, but in practice you are doing three short, hard sets in a row.

Exercises That Use Straight Sets

Some exercises are too heavy or too risky for rest-pause, so DC uses straight sets for them instead:

Exercise	How It Is Done
Squats	One heavy straight set of 6-10 reps, then, after several minutes of rest, a 20-rep set with a lighter weight (the “widowmaker”)
Deadlifts	Two straight sets: 6-9 reps, then 9-12 reps with slightly less weight
Rows and other back-thickness lifts	1-2 straight sets (10-12 reps in the sample week)
Calves	One set of 10-12 reps: a 5-second lowering, a 15-second pause in the stretched bottom position on every rep, then up as fast as you can with smooth form
Forearms	Straight sets only
Hamstrings	Rest-pause, but with a higher rep target than other muscles

Static Holds for Advanced Trainees

Some advanced DC trainees finish a rest-pause set with one static hold: holding the weight in a strong position, elbows slightly bent, for 30-60 seconds. Trudel’s reasoning is that it adds time under tension. It is optional, and it is safest on machines or exercises where you can set the weight down easily.

DC Training Split and Exercise Rotation

DC alternates two workouts over three sessions a week, so each workout comes up three times every two weeks:

Day	Week 1	Week 2
Monday	Workout 1	Workout 2
Wednesday	Workout 2	Workout 1
Friday	Workout 1	Workout 2

The muscle groups are trained in a set order, with one exercise per muscle in each session. Trudel recommends choosing three exercises for each muscle and rotating through them across sessions. Stay with that trio as long as you keep adding weight on each one, then swap in new exercises when progress stalls.

For chest, for example, your trio might be incline bench press, decline dumbbell press and flat dumbbell press. Trudel does not recommend the flat barbell bench press; if you do use it, he suggests benching with an arch, like a powerlifter.

Workout 1 (in This Order)

Muscle Group	Exercise Options
Chest	Incline bench press, decline dumbbell press, incline dumbbell press
Shoulders	Standing military press, Smith machine press, dumbbell shoulder press
Triceps	Reverse-grip Smith machine press, close-grip bench press, dips
Back width	Pull-ups, chin-ups, lat pulldowns
Back thickness	Deadlifts, bent-over barbell rows, rack pulls (straight sets)

Workout 2 (in This Order)

Muscle Group	Exercise Options
Biceps	Barbell curls, alternating dumbbell curls, cable curls
Forearms	Reverse barbell curls, hammer curls, one-arm reverse-grip cable curls (straight sets)
Calves	Seated calf raises, standing calf raises, leg press calf raises (one slow set)
Hamstrings	Romanian deadlifts, leg curls, glute-ham raises (higher reps)
Quads	Back squats, leg press, front squats

Sample DC Training Week

Here is a sample first week. RP means rest-pause, and the number is the total reps across all three mini-sets. Do the extreme stretch for each muscle right after its working set (see the next section).

Monday: Workout 1

Muscle Group	Exercise	Working Set
Chest	Incline bench press	11-15 RP
Shoulders	Standing military press	11-15 RP
Triceps	Close-grip bench press	11-15 RP
Back width	Lat pulldown	11-15 RP
Back thickness	Deadlift	2 straight sets: 6-9 reps, then 9-12 reps

Wednesday: Workout 2

Muscle Group	Exercise	Working Set
Biceps	Barbell curl	11-15 RP
Forearms	Hammer curl	1 straight set of 10-20 reps
Calves	Seated calf raise	1 set of 10-12 reps (5-second lowering, 15-second pause at the bottom)
Hamstrings	Leg curl	15-30 RP
Quads	Back squat	1 straight set of 6-10 reps, then a 20-rep widowmaker set

Friday: Workout 1 (Next Exercise in Each Rotation)

Muscle Group	Exercise	Working Set
Chest	Decline dumbbell press	11-15 RP
Shoulders	Dumbbell shoulder press	11-15 RP
Triceps	Weighted dips	11-15 RP
Back width	Weighted chin-ups	11-15 RP
Back thickness	Bent-over barbell row	1 straight set of 10-12 reps

Week 2 starts with Workout 2 on Monday, using the next exercise in each rotation, and the pattern continues from there.

Extreme Stretching

DC adds a hard, loaded stretch for each muscle right after its working set. Trudel calls it “extreme stretching.” His theory is that stretching the fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds groups of muscle fibers, nerves and blood vessels, lets a muscle grow bigger than it otherwise would.

Take chest as an example. After your rest-pause set of incline presses, take a pair of fairly heavy dumbbells, lie back on a bench and press them up as normal. Then lower them into the deepest flye-position stretch you can control and hold it for about 45-60 seconds. It is meant to be very uncomfortable, but it should never cause sharp or joint pain.

Common examples for other muscles:

• Lats: hang from a pull-up bar, or hold a fixed upright and sit your hips back.
• Quads: a deep kneeling quad stretch.
• Hamstrings: a straight-leg stretch with the heel raised on a bench.
• Calves: the bottom position of a calf raise or leg press calf raise, heels as low as they will go.

Build into these gradually, never bounce in the bottom position, and skip any stretch that aggravates an injured joint.

Does Extreme Stretching Build Muscle?

The evidence is mixed and mostly indirect:

• Animal data: in birds, attaching a weight to one wing so the muscle stays stretched for days to weeks produces large muscle growth. That is far more stretch than a one-minute hold.
• Human data on long stretching: in one study, stretching the calves for an hour a day for six weeks with a splint increased calf muscle thickness. Again, that is far longer than a DC stretch.
• Human data on training in a stretch: there is better evidence that lifting through a long muscle length helps. In one study, seated leg curls, which load the hamstrings in a more stretched position, built more hamstring muscle than lying leg curls.
• Brief loaded stretches after a set: whether a one-minute stretch like DC’s adds meaningful growth has not been shown.

Extreme stretching may help a little, but it is the least proven part of DC. Hany Rambod’s FST-7 training split is built on a similar fascia theory, using pump sets instead of stretches.

Blast and Cruise: Planned Breaks

Because the training is so intense, DC is run in phases rather than indefinitely. A “blast” of hard training usually lasts 6-12 weeks. It is followed by a 10-14 day “cruise”, which can be a deload with lighter, easier training or a complete break from the gym.

Newcomers are urged to take the cruise as planned. A common mistake is to keep pushing at full intensity for 16 weeks or more. Progress stalls, the lifter decides DC has stopped working and jumps to another program. Planning the break up front also makes it easier to stay with the program through a full blast.

Cardio on DC Training

Trudel treats cardio as part of the program, not an option. Because the lifting is so demanding, cardio goes on non-training days: he recommends 3-4 low-intensity sessions a week of 30-40 minutes each. A brisk walk or easy jog is enough, and you don’t need a gym for it. If you can’t jog that long, start by walking and build up.

He prefers fasted cardio, on the reasoning that your body uses more fat for fuel, and he advises against high-intensity interval training or any other fast-paced cardio, which he believes cuts into recovery from the lifting.

The fasted part is a preference rather than a requirement. A 2014 study in young women eating in a calorie deficit found the same fat loss whether their cardio was done fasted or after a meal. Burning more fat during the session does not mean losing more fat over the day.

The DC Training Diet

Trudel focuses on grams of protein rather than calories. His view is that the training drives up your appetite and your body adapts to the extra food. His guidelines:

• During a blast: about 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. A 170-pound lifter would eat about 340 grams a day.
• During a cruise: about 1.5 grams per pound, or about 255 grams a day for the same lifter.
• Meals: about six a day, with protein spread evenly between them.
• Evenings: no carbs in the last four hours before bed, so late meals are protein and fat only.

These protein targets are well above what research shows you need. A 2018 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that the muscle-building benefit of extra protein leveled off at about 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight a day (about 0.7 grams per pound), with an upper estimate of about 2.2 grams per kilogram (1 gram per pound). If 340 grams a day is not practical, 0.7-1 gram per pound covers what the evidence supports.

There is also little evidence that cutting carbs in the evening improves body composition when total calories and protein are the same, so treat that rule as Trudel’s preference. Anyone with kidney disease should talk to a doctor before raising protein intake.

What the Research Says About DC Training

No published study has tested the DC program as a whole. Most of what supports it is the experience of Trudel’s clients and other lifters. There is, however, research on several of its parts.

Rest-Pause Sets

Rest-pause training has held up well in the few trials that test it:

• In a six-week study of trained men published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Prestes and colleagues, 2019), rest-pause training produced similar strength gains to traditional sets with longer rest, and larger gains in thigh muscle thickness and muscular endurance.
• A 2021 study in resistance-trained men (Enes and colleagues, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism) found that rest-pause, drop sets and traditional sets produced similar gains in strength and quadriceps size.
• A 2019 systematic review of advanced training techniques (Krzysztofik and colleagues) concluded that methods like rest-pause can be useful, time-efficient options for trained lifters, but the evidence does not show they build more muscle than standard sets.

In short, rest-pause sets let you get a lot of hard work done in very little time, and they appear to build muscle about as well as regular sets.

Training to Failure

DC takes nearly every working set to failure, and each rest-pause set reaches failure three times. Meta-analyses comparing training to failure with stopping a rep or two short generally find similar muscle growth, while failure adds more fatigue. Failure is one way to make sure a set is hard enough, not a requirement for growth. With so few sets, though, DC depends on each one being a genuine all-out effort.

Volume and Frequency

Volume is DC’s biggest trade-off. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found a dose-response relationship: more weekly sets were linked to more muscle growth, and 10 or more sets per muscle per week produced more growth than fewer than five. Even if you count each rest-pause set as about three sets, DC gives most muscles roughly four to five hard sets a week (one rest-pause set, three times every two weeks).

On frequency, DC is on firmer ground. Studies suggest that training a muscle twice a week works at least as well as once a week, and that when weekly volume is equal, frequency makes little difference. DC’s three sessions every two weeks sit between the two.

Low volume can suit a lifter who recovers poorly or is short on time, but a lifter who has stalled on DC may simply need more sets. German Volume Training sits at the opposite extreme.

Criticisms of DC Training

The Big Lifts Come Last

The most common objection among experienced lifters is the exercise order. In Workout 1, the deadlift or row comes last; in Workout 2, biceps come before squats. Trudel’s answer is that after a 20-rep widowmaker or heavy deadlifts, most trainees would be too exhausted to train anything else properly.

Extreme Stretching Is Unproven

Many coaches doubt that a short loaded stretch adds meaningful size, and argue that any gain would be too small to be worth the effort. As covered above, the research has not settled the question.

Injury Risk

Taking heavy presses and squats to failure carries more risk than stopping short. Use a spotter or safety pins on barbell presses and squats, keep every rep technically clean, and end a mini-set when your form breaks down rather than grinding through it.

The Results Are Anecdotal

Supporters, including professional bodybuilders, report large gains on DC. These are reports from experienced lifters, not controlled studies, and in competitive bodybuilding results are also shaped by genetics, years of training and, for some, performance-enhancing drugs. For a realistic sense of what a natural lifter can gain, see muscle gain per month.

Is DC Training Right for You?

DC is built for serious, experienced lifters, not casual gym-goers. Every working set is brutally hard and demands real mental toughness, and the protein targets take planning. It suits lifters who like short, intense sessions and are happy to keep a detailed log.

Trudel argues that watered-down versions don’t deliver the same results, so if you try it, run it as written for a full blast before you judge it. If you recover well but stall after a few blasts, more volume may serve you better than more intensity.