3 week 4th workout complete! 10x3 w/143kg. Tonight was difficult because my kids were at the gym and the daycare wasn’t open, so they had to do every thing they could to annoy me. And, I had to keep them out of everyone else’s hair. Despite the distractions, I got thru the Smolov Jr. Next week, I will do my normal comp. prep, which is 50% 5x5’s. I probably won’t do a single back squat until next Saturday. I really need a foam roller right now, but I will have to make due with what I have to loosen my thighs.
I am going to do two weeks full body work with quite a bit of auxiliary work on my core, then I will start the Introductory Microcycle on or around the 19th. I’m hoping to hit around 405 with just a belt and sleeves, which my knee has never felt strong enough to hit unwrapped. But, with the number of sets/reps I have logged in 3 weeks, my knees feel more solid than ever!
Congratulations on your achievement so far! 
[quote]stallion wrote:
Congratulations on your achievement so far! :D[/quote]
Thanks. I really can’t wait to start the intro and the meso phases, but I know I need to bridle my enthusiasm and heal. “Long is the road and hard is the way that leads out of Hell and into the Light…”
I finally bought a foam roller. Holy crap that thing is awesome. I am going to have a hard time keeping my wife off of it. I showed her how you use it, then I told her to move so I could loosen up. I thought I was going to get bitch slapped. Luckily for me, she didn’t want to get off the roller or I would have been.
Went to the gym and did everything I would do the week of a meet:
Bench 5x5 205lbs
Pulldowns 5x5 120lbs
DB Overhead Press 5x5 60lbs
Tri Extensions 5x5 30lbs
*20min on the foam roller
*20min stretching
I will figure out something for Wednesday, since my gym is closed.
I usually do some form of leg exercise. Since this is my first time squatting so intensely, I don’t want to push it.
Congrats on finishing the Smolov Jr. cycle.
How did you find it? I just finished 3 weeks of smolov(base cycle) squats, and smolov junior benching, testing new max’s this weekend. I got through smolov squats fine, but I couldn’t make it through the benching(not even close). I’d reduced the numbers for both programs too.
We’ll see what happens with the results of this, but I’m thinking I can’t handle benching 4x per week, but I can handle squatting 4x per week!
I think my body adapted to the frequency quite a bit quicker than I thought it would. Some of the sessions were a real grind and I think my wrist and shoulders took a brunt of the beating (I am working on holding the bad lower).
When I start the Intro cycle, I will probably start wearing my wrist wraps. After Saturday’s session, I am thinking I will be able to hit in the neighborhood of 175 and 184kg with a belt and sleeves after 3 weeks back from a 6 month layoff. I will definitely wrap up the knees and go for 200kg. I think it is a little soon for me to hit it, but I am going to give it a go anyway.
Smolov for bench sounds grueling. I can bench multiple days, but I don’t think that I could hang with that amount of workload. When I finally broke 136kg on bench, I was benching 4-5 times a week. But after that, I started doing a 5x5 program benching 2 times a week and shot up to 175kg raw in less than a year.
Mini Smolov for benching have worked fine for me. 3 weeks is only 12 workouts. Even tough you get very tired, it is definately doable. My advise would be to reduce the 1RM the program is calculated off with 5 to 10kilos.
Personally I don’t fancy squatting with kneewraps anymore. I also lift without a belt. That’s of course a personal preference.
I did the smolov base meso cycle before Cristmas, and I did all the workouts to the letter, and I ate and rested well. I increased the 1RM with 10kilos. Here’s the video for those interested:
There’s also some videos from the same account showing some of the workouts. These are only worth watching if you have a special interest for the squat.
That’s the way it’s done. Awesome squat.
My knees grind something fierce and it can be painful, when I don’t have anything on. I almost made this guy throw up when he realized that “horrible sound” was coming from my knees. But, that is my goal, to get to the point where the wraps aren’t really needed.
So, the gym manager decided not to do any work last night, so I didn’t get a workout in (the gym was closed, but he was going to let me in if he came in). That kind of sucks, but I will get over I’m sure. Two more days till the 1RM test and I am feeling pretty good, except for this know in my right erector.
Unfortunately with my combination ghetto/squatters butt, I can not hit the sore spot with my foam roller. But, that thing has really helped my quads and hips. Maybe, I can con my wife into giving me a rub down;-)
What about a tennis ball/lacross ball?
All of the tennis balls belong to my lab, who has thoroughly molested them all t the point of needing duct tape to throw them. I have a roller massager that I left in Little Rock for Christmas.
The second best alternative is this crappy vibrating massager that is solid. It is actually really good for temporary relief. But, I think i need some attention from my wife’s elbows to get this one cleared up, they are magic. And she enjoys hurting me.
[quote]stallion wrote:
Personally I don’t fancy squatting with kneewraps anymore. I also lift without a belt. That’s of course a personal preference.
I did the smolov base meso cycle before Cristmas, and I did all the workouts to the letter, and I ate and rested well. I increased the 1RM with 10kilos. Here’s the video for those interested:
There’s also some videos from the same account showing some of the workouts. These are only worth watching if you have a special interest for the squat.[/quote]
Beautiful raw squat! To see someone handling that kind of load with such a good form is a rare sight. Great achievement!
Today was the 1RM test. After the warmup sets, I wanted to hit my previous belt and sleeve only max to see how my knee would handle it. So, the first set was 165, which I felt really comfortable under. I hit it with my standard slowness. The second was at 175, which also felt good on my back. I hit this one, but it was a little faster than 165. My last set was at 188, which was just as slow as 165. I think I could have gone up at least another 5kg. By the time I get to 1RM test again, I am hoping to be in the 204 neighborhood with belt and sleeves.
I kept my core pretty tight, but I still need to put in a lot of work. My knees feel great, but my lower back and hips are a little worn. So, a little recovery work will be needed.
Next week starts my full-body work for which i am still setting up the routine. I will still be doing some form of squats 3 to 4 days a week.
Here is the vid from the 415 effort. I know I need to gain some speed on my ascent and get my core tighter, but I am pretty satisfied with the form after just 3 weeks back in the gym.
Good stuff man!
I just tested my raw max after doing the base cycle, 170kg to 190kg!
I might have to do this again some time lol.
Holy crap, that is quite a jump. What kind of bench routine were you doing before? Westside-style?
I really won’t be working on bench other than to get it back to the 175kg neighborhood until September. My bench is less than than 45kg less than my best squat, and I think I am selling my legs short (haha at my legs being short). But, heck, a 20kilo jump for a 3-week beating is something to look into.
Nice work man, especially with the long layoff, good stuff.
I train on a modified linear periodisation template 90% of the year.
My bench went from 120kg raw to… well nothing hah…
The 20kg jump wasn’t all from smolov, it was from 3 weeks of smolov + the last 4 weeks of my last competition cycle, plus I felt I had more in me when I did 170kg, but my coach told me to leave it at that until after the comp.
I think the 3 weeks of smolov probably gave me 10kgs still, and that’s friggen awesome for 3 weeks of training!
I’m going back to my normal comp training, with a linear cycle for squats and deads and a wave cycle for the bench, 12 weeks of training leading up to my next meet. Damn I feel good about the squat now.
And mate, you do seem a bit top heavy hah, work those squats and deads man!!!
[quote]Tstud_9 wrote:
Nice work man, especially with the long layoff, good stuff.[/quote]
Thanks Tstud, I expect you to hit a sweet assed front squat coming up.
[quote]Laughing Man wrote:
I train on a modified linear periodisation template 90% of the year.
My bench went from 120kg raw to… well nothing hah…
The 20kg jump wasn’t all from smolov, it was from 3 weeks of smolov + the last 4 weeks of my last competition cycle, plus I felt I had more in me when I did 170kg, but my coach told me to leave it at that until after the comp.
I think the 3 weeks of smolov probably gave me 10kgs still, and that’s friggen awesome for 3 weeks of training!
I’m going back to my normal comp training, with a linear cycle for squats and deads and a wave cycle for the bench, 12 weeks of training leading up to my next meet. Damn I feel good about the squat now.
And mate, you do seem a bit top heavy hah, work those squats and deads man!!![/quote]
10kg in 3 weeks is a good increase. and worth tapping into. And as far as me being top heavy, my wife tells me it’s the squat belt that makes me look fat (not the actual fat).
Seriously, being tall makes one fearful of squatting below parallel until one experiences actual pain and realizes that deep squats are not so bad. You know those guys that everyone laughs at when they load 315 on the rack and do half squats? That was me until about 3 years ago. I think Smolov and being under the bar 3-4 days a week for the next couple of years will get my squat and dead numbers closer to a Master lifter’s level. Oh to dream!
