Music

5 easy steps to look like Greg Puciato from Dillinger Escape Plan (from a real trainer)

by Sarah Kurchak

The Dillinger Escape Plan are about to embark on a North American tour and there’s no better time to fix your body as well as your face. Whether you’re on the stage or in the crowd, a show by these mathcore heavyweights is a physically demanding experience and you’d better be in peak shape if you want to leave the venue in one piece at the end of the night.

So if you’re sick of being pushed around the circle pit and tired of being skinnier than a hipster’s jeans, here are five tips to help you develop some hardcore muscle mass and conditioning just like Dillinger’s famously ripped frontman, Greg Puciato.

1. Try Shrugs, Not Drugs

Doing steroids is bad for your health. Accusing Greg Puciato of doing the illegal performance-enhancing drug isn’t much better, as MTV writer James Montgomery discovered when he jokingly accused the singer of juicing in a 2010 article. Puciato tore a strip off of the scribe for his lazy accusation, and his roid-less rage is particularly understandable given the fact that the naturally buff singer doesn’t even believe in legal supplements.

“People always think I’m on something, but I haven’t taken anything,” Puciato told ESPN in an interview last year.

Although performance enhancers can be tempting for anyone looking for fast results or a little extra boost, nothing beats hard work and a good diet. Even legal substances can come with some pretty unpleasant side-effects, and the safer ones aren’t necessary if you’re eating properly balanced meals.

2. Create The Perfect Workout Design

You won’t catch Puciato doing muscle-isolating exercises like biceps curls at the gym. He sticks to complex exercises, weightlifting moves that work multiple muscle groups over multiple joints in the body, like squats, deadlifts, rows, cleans and push presses to develop and maintain his impressive physique.

Puciato isn’t a fan of the bench press, either, telling Lambgoat users that he hadn’t done the exercise in years in a 2005 chat. Like any lifter who’s serious about fitness, he knows that the bench press is only useful if you want to impress other bros in the weight room. The functional benefits from benching are relatively small, meaning that only about 10% of the strength that you build while doing it will translate into a better ability to push people around in the pit. A functional exercise like push-ups is a far better alternative in that scenario.

3. Lift Heavier Than a DEP Song

If you want Puciato-sized muscles, you’re going to have to push yourself. Muscular hypertrophy (increase in muscle cell size) is achieved by lifting between 80-90% of your one repetition maximum lift (which can be calculated here) for 4-6 sets of 2-6 repetitions each, with at least two minutes of rest between sets.

If you’ve never lifted before, it’s best not to jump straight into a hypertrophy training phase, though. Start by lifting lighter weights (around 50- 60% of your ORM, or just high enough to cause muscle fatigue for the last few reps) for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, with shorter rests in between sets. This toning phase will help you to learn the proper mechanics and form of the moves before adding too much weight to them, and a beginner should start to see results within six weeks.

For the best results, and to keep yourself from getting bored or injured due to overuse, alternate between these two types of training every four to six weeks. As you get more serious, you can start to research and implement more sophisticated periodization plans.

4. Get Your Heart Beating Faster Than A DEP Song

Strength training will make you more powerful, but if you’re going to survive an entire concert, you’re going to need strong lungs and a strong heart to make sure that those muscles get enough oxygen all night long.

A mix of steady state running, cycling or swimming, working at 55-65% of your maximum heart rate (for a rough estimate, Maximum Heart Rate= 220 – your age) and interval training that features short bursts of 80%-92% MHR efforts followed by full recoveries should be enough to get you in fine moshing order. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down for at least five minutes before and after each cardio or moshing session! That will help prevent unnecessary stress on the heart and potential injuries.

5. Rest Like You’re Dead As History

Rest isn’t just for the wicked anymore. It’s also for the wickedly ripped! Getting the proper amount of rest is one of the most important parts of any fitness program. Always wait at least 48 hours between weight training sessions to give your muscles enough time to properly recover and develop. Eat enough to fuel your body. Get at least eight hours of sleep a night.

Or, as Puciato put it when the Lambgoat chatters asked him about his routine: “I basically just thrash myself and then eat and sleep a lot.”

It’s also wise to rest when you’re too tired or sick to function properly in the weight room. Greg doesn’t even work out when he’s on the road, because he feels that Dillinger Escape Plan performances are physically challenging enough, and he doesn’t want to feel any post-workout soreness when he’s on stage.

Trying to lift heavy weights after a DEP show is not a good idea. Even the most dedicated lifter can get sloppy when they’re tired and the possibility of injury just isn’t worth the risk. Paralysis should never be an option when it comes to your workouts!

Sarah Kurchak is a certified Personal Trainer Specialist (Can-Fit-Pro), Pilates Instructor (STOTT Pilates) and Spinning Instructor (Mad Dogg Athletics). She holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and a light blue band in Muay Thai.