February is a strange month in the gym.
The January resolution crowd has thinned. The machines are no longer occupied by people filming every set. The pressure to perform has eased. For many lifters, this is where training quietly falls apart. Motivation fades. Programs get abandoned. Another fitness trend gets bookmarked and forgotten.
For me, February has always been different.
This is when I stop chasing what looks impressive and return to what actually worked.
Not because I need a reset. Because the noise is gone.
Earlier this year, I did what many people do when progress slows. I watched what fitness influencers were promoting. High rep finishers. Novelty movements. Fast transitions designed for video, not adaptation. Most of it looked intense. Very little of it produced measurable strength or muscle growth for real people juggling work, stress, recovery limits, and bodies that do not rebound like fitness models.
That pushed me back to my training logs.
Not memory. Not vibes. The actual notebooks where sets, reps, and weights were written down.
And the pattern was unmistakable.
The periods where progress was steady and sustainable were built around rest pause sets and the Doggcrapp training system that formalized them.
Why Flashy Gym Trends Fail Trans People More Often
Most modern fitness content is optimized for attention, not results.
Workouts change constantly. Fatigue is treated as success. Progression is rarely defined. Recovery is an afterthought.
For trans people, these failures tend to compound.
Hormone therapy can affect recovery and fatigue. Dysphoria can make chaotic programming emotionally draining. Gym environments themselves can already feel performative or unsafe. A system built on novelty and burnout is rarely sustainable under those conditions.
Muscle does not grow because a workout feels hard. It grows because tension is applied close to failure, progression is tracked over time, and recovery is respected.
Rest pause training is built on that reality.
What Rest Pause Training Actually Is
Rest pause training is simple, direct, and often misunderstood.
Instead of performing multiple straight sets, you perform one extended working set broken into short segments with very brief rest periods between them. Those short pauses allow partial recovery without fully removing fatigue. This keeps the muscle under tension near failure, which is where hypertrophy stimulus actually occurs.
A basic rest pause set looks like this.
You choose a weight you could normally lift for eight to ten reps.
You perform as many clean reps as possible.
You rest fifteen to twenty seconds.
You continue with the same weight.
You repeat until you reach a target number of total reps.
That entire sequence counts as one set.
The value is efficiency. Instead of spreading effective reps across multiple sets with long rest periods, rest pause concentrates them into one focused effort.
For people with limited time and limited recovery, that matters.
Why Old Training Logs Matter More Than New Trends
When I reviewed my logs, the pattern repeated itself.
The phases where rest pause was used correctly were the same phases where strength increased, plateaus shortened, and clients made visible progress without burning out.
Those results did not come from doing more exercises. They came from doing fewer things with greater intent.
That is the core of Doggcrapp training.
Doggcrapp Training in Plain Language
Doggcrapp training, often shortened to DC training, was developed by Dante Trudel in the early 2000s. It was designed to answer one question.
How do you force muscle growth as efficiently as possible?
The system rests on a few core principles.
Very low volume per session.
Very high effort on working sets.
Heavy use of rest pause for upper body movements.
Exercise rotation instead of constant novelty.
Relentless tracking of performance.
Each muscle group is trained multiple times across a rotating cycle. There is no guessing whether a workout worked. The logbook answers that.
It is not beginner friendly. It assumes proper form, honest effort, and respect for recovery. But it does not require endless gym time or complicated programming.
That is why it still works.
Why February Is the Right Time for This Approach
February strips the gym down to its essentials.
The crowds are gone. Equipment is available. There is less pressure to perform for anyone else. Rest pause training thrives in this environment because it demands focus, not spectacle.
This is not about restarting resolutions. It is about returning to methods that already proved themselves.
The A1 B1 A2 B2 Split Explained
Classic Doggcrapp training does not use a simple weekly split. It uses a rotating A1 B1 A2 B2 structure that spreads stress, manages recovery, and keeps progression honest.
You train three nonconsecutive days per week and move sequentially through the four workouts.
Example Weekly Flow
Week 1
A1
B1
A2
Week 2
B2
A1
B1
Week 3
A2
B2
A1
This rotation continues indefinitely.
Each muscle group is trained roughly every five days, but exercises rotate so joints are not beaten up and progress remains measurable.
Workout A1
Chest Rest Pause
Exercise options
Barbell bench press
Dumbbell bench press
Incline dumbbell press
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Warm up thoroughly. This is the only true working set.
Shoulders Rest Pause
Exercise options
Seated dumbbell shoulder press
Smith machine shoulder press
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Triceps Rest Pause
Exercise options
Cable pressdowns
EZ bar skull crushers
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to twenty total reps
Back Width Rest Pause
Exercise options
Pull ups or assisted pull ups
Neutral grip pulldowns
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Workout B1
Biceps Rest Pause
Exercise options
EZ bar curls
Dumbbell curls
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to twenty total reps
Forearms Optional
Exercise options
Hammer curls
Reverse curls
Protocol
One to two straight sets
Ten to fifteen reps
Calves Rest Pause
Exercise options
Standing calf raise
Seated calf raise
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target twenty to thirty total reps
Hamstrings Rest Pause
Exercise options
Romanian deadlift
Lying leg curl
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to thirty total reps
Quads With Widowmaker
Exercise options
Back squat
Leg press
Protocol
One straight set of six to ten reps
Followed by one widowmaker set of twenty reps
Workout A2
Chest Rest Pause
Exercise options
Plate loaded chest press
Incline machine press
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Shoulders Rest Pause
Exercise options
Neutral grip machine press
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Triceps Rest Pause
Exercise options
Overhead cable extensions
Machine dips
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to twenty total reps
Back Width Rest Pause
Exercise options
Wide grip pulldowns
Machine pulldowns
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target eleven to fifteen total reps
Workout B2
Biceps Rest Pause
Exercise options
Machine preacher curls
Cable curls
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to twenty total reps
Calves Rest Pause
Exercise options
Leg press calf press
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target twenty to thirty total reps
Hamstrings Rest Pause
Exercise options
Seated leg curl
Protocol
One rest pause set
Target fifteen to thirty total reps
Quads With Widowmaker
Exercise options
Hack squat
Leg press
Protocol
One straight set of six to ten reps
Followed by one widowmaker set of twenty reps
Widowmakers Explained Clearly
A widowmaker is a single high rep set performed after your primary quad set. It uses a weight you could normally lift for ten to twelve reps, extended to twenty total reps with breathing pauses as needed.
The weight does not change.
The set does not reset.
The goal is completion, not speed.
Widowmakers replace additional quad volume. They are not added on top.
They should be used no more than once per week and are often rotated every other lower body session to manage recovery.
They are optional. They are effective, not mandatory.
Progression Rules That Make This System Work
Doggcrapp training only works if progression is tracked honestly.
When you hit the top of a rep range, increase weight the next time you perform that exercise.
If reps drop significantly, recovery needs attention.
If progress stalls across multiple rotations, change the exercise rather than forcing load.
Every working set must be logged. Written. Not estimated.
Why This Still Works for Trans People
Trans people navigating gyms often deal with additional layers of stress around recovery, visibility, and body perception.
A system built on structure, efficiency, and measurable feedback offers stability instead of chaos. It does not rely on spectacle. It does not demand perfection. It rewards consistency.
Muscles do not care about identity. They respond to tension, overload, and recovery.
Rest pause training respects that truth while fitting real lives.
The Bottom Line
The workouts that produced the best results were rarely exciting. They were structured, uncomfortable, and repeatable.
Rest pause sets are not glamorous. Widowmakers are not trendy. Doggcrapp training is not marketable.
But it works.
February does not need another resolution. Sometimes it just needs a return to what already proved itself.
For me, that meant loading the bar, setting the timer, and respecting the pause.
