Hi, Anna! what is your currant bodyweight ? The weights you use are great. I admire you!
Thanks! I’m 40kg.Your profile pic is gorgeous
You’re just 40kg and squating twice of your bodyweight (and more than me 
) You’re a magnificent little beast <3 
You had me thinking the same thing at one point, but in Boris Sheiko’s book there are a few references to Sergey Smolov, sounds like he is a real person after all. It’s possible that there are just no records in English of him or his athletes, and with Russian there is more than just a language barrier, they use a different alphabet as well. I’m still not sure how his program got so popular considering that nobody knows who he actually coached, but either Sheiko gets his information from internet forums or there really is a Sergey Smolov.
@anna_5588 - Don’t do Smolov. For every person who makes it through the program there are 10 who don’t, either due to injury or burning out. There is an upper limit to how much volume and frequency is beneficial and Smolov is way over that.
This is the second point of my post. He either didn’t exist, or he did and was such an awful coach he’s not worth following.
I’d love for someone to find some documentation of him existing and produce it. That’d be fantastic.
The other alternative is that it’s a pseudonym. Or a folklore hero.
I think there must be some books or articles in Russian written by Smolov. In Sheiko’s book there is a chart showing how different coaches (one of which is Smolov) broke down the deadlift into different phases - what is the source for this information? Also some discussion of deadlift technique:
" One should try to achieve the bar speed of at least 0.1m/s and turn the knees out in order to create the best conditions for a successful pull (S. Smolov, 1990). "
And this:
“The subject of planning a powerlifting training cycle has been widely discussed in various articles, books and textbooks. S. Smolov (1990) and A. Surovetsky (2000) describe the most common issues regarding the combined method of strength and muscle mass development, competitive training methods such as lifting.”
So I would give Sheiko the benefit of the doubt and say that there must certainly be a PL coach named Sergey Smolov, because otherwise he’s just making up complete nonsense and I don’t believe that to be the case. But at the same time, seeing as his squat program is complete insanity and we have no idea of who he has coached, it raises the question of why should the opinions of Smolov be taken into consideration at all?
I’d be very excited to see them.
Which is interesting, because the folklore tale was that he was a weightlifting coach, and that the Smolov routine was to improve the squats of weightlifters to improve their ability to catch a clean.
The tall tale is always growing.
That’s what some people on the internet said, but where that story came from I have no idea. The only references to his existence imply that he was a powerlifting coach.
Ask some Russians about Smolov if you really don’t believe he’s real. I don’t think that Sheiko and Pavel would have conspired to invent a mythical coach who was determined to kill people with squat volume.
Pavel Tsastouline’s “Beyond Bodybuilding” references it.
I have. The response was “Who is Smolov?”
If that’s the case then perhaps it’s true, assuming that Smolov is in fact a real person. The program is also in “Power to the People: Professional Edition” but mentions nothing about weightlifting.
Maybe you asked the wrong Russians. Ask Sheiko or Pavel.
Smolov training program is very popular in Bulgaria, never doubted his personality…
I’m good man 
You’re bulgarian?! I’m doing Eastern European studies as a minor! The gym teacher that got me into training was Bulgarian!
Don’t worry, I’m not actually going to do smolov. It’s a metaphor for my eternal squat struggles.
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Week 1 Day 4- conditioning
5x(45sec battleropes+45sec jumping jacks+30sec rest)
4x(10 bench press-30kg+max burpees in rest of min)- 15,12,15,10
Chin ups: 5x3 w/1min rests
3x(12 leg extensions-40lbs+12 seated hamstring curls-20lbs)
Technique: 90-90 work for hip shift
- Felt really good to get my HR up, battle ropes not as bad as expected, surprised burpees didn’t get my HR up as much as expected. Good workout
@T3hPwnisher Just wondering, why is there more pressing than benching on BTM?
Yep, I’m bulgarian.
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Best I could do is guess, since Jim wrote it. Pressing is awesome, so that’s a part of it. Something to be said about fewer consequences if you don’t make it through a press due to fatigue compared to a bench.
Will that impact my bench though? I heard bench requires specificity
All lifts require specificity, if your goal is to move as much weight as possible on that particular lift.
However, if your goal is to get bigger and stronger, you don’t need specificity.
noted. I do want a bigger bench, so…