In this video Victoria S. Dorsano shares her personal experience after six weeks on Ben Patrick’s ATG DENSE (formerly Knees Over Toes) DANCE program. She explains the program’s structure—a consistent weekly routine with two upper‑body and two lower‑body days, a mid‑week rest, and high‑volume movements such as Pelican step‑ups and split squats. Victoria highlights the mental challenge of the high‑rep volume, the satisfaction of seeing strength gains each week, and the ability to slot in extra cardio on off‑days. She notes that despite the heavy strength focus she has maintained (and even improved) mobility, balance, agility, and speed, which she attributes to the program’s emphasis on full‑range‑of‑motion work. Her body composition changes include stronger, leaner muscles without excessive hypertrophy. She also cautions viewers with prior ACL reconstruction or knee issues to progress gradually and listen to their bodies, as the volume can irritate sensitive knees. Overall she is enthusiastic about the results, recommends the program, and directs viewers to links in the description.
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Alright you guys, so I am 6 weeks in with the ATG DANCE program, aka the Knees Over Toes DANCE program, aka Ben Patrick's DANCE program, for whatever you know it as, and I want to talk about it. So like I said, I'm about 6 weeks into the program and I got about 6 weeks to go because it's recommended that you do 12 weeks of the program. Um, that's just what's recommended for doing like zero for 12 weeks, then DANCE for 12 weeks, then doing standards, etc., etc. I've explained all that in another video, but I want to talk about my experience with this DANCE program because it has been absolutely amazing. And the strength gains have been like way more incredible than I thought they would be. I kind of feel like Superwoman right now, which is wild. So I want to chat a little bit about that and what I've noticed, some of the things that I've loved in this program and all that good stuff. So the first thing I love about the Dense program so far is the consistent routine week to week. So unlike the previous program I was doing, I think it was called like ATG something something something, it's currently not on the list anymore of programs, but that one changed week to week, which I did like because you know, again, I like the variety. Um, this program is very consistent. You're doing the same routine each week, and that's pretty much that. But what's nice about that is that you get to consistently see your increase in strength gains week to week, and you're just really able to build on that foundation consistently. So I didn't think I was gonna like that format of things initially because I get bored really quickly, but I think because I can see the progression happening week to week and I'm consistently building on strength, it makes me excited to keep going even though it is a consistent routine each week. The next thing I really like about it is the volume training. Well, let me put it this way, I kind of have like a love-hate relationship with the volume training aspect of things because the sets and reps of these things are just so stinking high, especially for like the split squats and the Peterson steps or the Pelican steps. You're doing a lot of them, and by the last few rounds you're like just mentally like, get me out of doing these, I don't want to be doing anymore. But at the same time, I actually kind of started to like it over the past, like, few weeks in particular because of the mental aspect of staying, um, of really challenging myself to be in that space of being uncomfortable with the same movement over and over and over again. Like I said, I'm— consistency normally isn't my, my strong suit just because I like variety, but I've been really liking the mental challenge of having to push through those high sets and reps and just get done, you know, 50, uh, or I think it's close to 100 pelicans. So step-ups on each leg and like 50 split squats per leg, which is a lot, but you end up really noticing those strength gains pretty consistently because you're doing so much of them. The next thing I really liked about this program is the balance of upper body and lower body days. It's pretty evenly split. We got 2 upper body, 2 lower body days throughout the week. You have 1 day off in the middle of the week, and then you can kind of do what you want on the weekends. So I really like that it's pretty evenly balanced that way. I feel like I'm getting a total body workout throughout the week. Next, since I mentioned the days off, I really like that you can add in what you need to add in, especially on those days off and sometimes on the upper body days. For example, for me, I'm still training a little bit for a bike ride later on this month, so I'm trying to get some more cardio activity, some more biking in. So I've been adding that to my upper body days, um, and my Wednesdays and some of my days off too. So there's really room to kind of fit this routine on top of something that you're already doing or incorporate some other stuff into it, which I really enjoy. And lastly, I've still been able to maintain like really great mobility, really great balance, flexibility, and agility and speed even while doing just this training for the most part. And that's pretty incredible because every other kind of strength or mass building program I've done in the past has started to at some point limit my flexibility, my mobility, and my agility for that matter. And this has not. This has actually made those better, which blows my mind still. But it's just the way that Ben has built this program. It's really keeping in mind the athlete at heart and really prioritizing full range of motion and strength through that full range of motion and prioritizing movements that are going to not only work the joints but the muscles themselves. And, uh, it's, it's just been a really good balance of things. So I've been surprised at the other things that have come along with this phase of the program where I'm, you know, building strength but also still maintaining, and I would say building agility and flexibility and mobility at the same time, which is pretty rad. And just to touch a little bit more on my results from doing the program, I would say like, again, I've been putting on more muscle, or strength I should say. It feels like my muscles maybe haven't gotten like volumetrically bigger, but let's say definitely stronger. And I'd say more cut than I realized I would be. I was kind of fearing going into this program and feeling like I was building too much mass, but I really feel like it's done a great job of still maintaining strength, not necessarily focusing on hypertrophy or like huge muscle growth, but it's made my muscles stronger and more leaner and cut at the same time. So I mean, that's how my body's reacting to it. I know every single body is kind of different depending on what they're eating and consuming and stuff too, but I've really been satisfied with the results both from a lower body, upper body perspective, from a core perspective. I feel really happy with how my body's been transforming throughout this and how my athletic capabilities have been transforming along the way as well. Now the last thing I will note, just from my personal experience, and if you've watched my channel, you know I talked about this a lot, is on my knee with the ACL reconstruction that I had 2 years ago. I have been having some issues with the volume in this part of the training with dense. Um, it is a lot to adjust to, and I've had to really gradually move my way into doing some of the higher volume training for the ATG split squat and for the Pelican step step-ups that are included within this program. So that is something that I've had a few like minor setbacks in terms of like my knee getting a little angry or upset with me and having to learn and adjust to that. So if you're somebody who has had ACL reconstruction or has had knee surgeries or knee issues, when you do start to incorporate this amount of volume into your lower body training, just be cautious. Definitely listen to your body, get some feedback from it, and adjust accordingly to that. Well guys, that's what I have for Dense so far. I look forward to progressing through the rest of this program and then eventually transitioning to Standards. And keeping you guys posted on what that's like. But I'm, as always, like super impressed and like just really happy with this program. You guys know I talk about it a lot, but I, I think it's a game changer for me. A lot of other people have shared that it's helped them so much, so I cannot recommend it enough. I'll put all their information down below if you wanna check out the program or buy Ben Patrick's book or anything like that. You can see that down below in the description. And as always, if you can like this video and subscribe to my channel, I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Bye!
