I have been following your thread for a while. I just made it through week one of the base mesocycle and am really pumped. My pants are already getting tighter in the legs. Started with a 350 max. The next week looks extremely brutal…
Have you ever missed reps on a set? What do you do about it?
My upper thighs have always been a little over-sized, so luckily I already wear baggy pants.
I have yet to miss a rep on the regular Smolov, but I do still have a week left on the base and 4 weeks on the intense. If I miss a rep, I will repeat the set. I know some people will just move on from it, but I am too anal to miss a rep and say that I completed this day or that day. It’s like golf, you call a penalty on yourself or you don’t, it’s all about integrity and what you consider right.
Good luck. And like everyone says eat, sleep, and recover. Be prepared to gain some weight and have some rough days. Keep me updated on how you are progressing. It’s not easy, but it has been worth it so far.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
My upper thighs have always been a little over-sized, so luckily I already wear baggy pants.
I have yet to miss a rep on the regular Smolov, but I do still have a week left on the base and 4 weeks on the intense. If I miss a rep, I will repeat the set. I know some people will just move on from it, but I am too anal to miss a rep and say that I completed this day or that day. It’s like golf, you call a penalty on yourself or you don’t, it’s all about integrity and what you consider right.
Good luck. And like everyone says eat, sleep, and recover. Be prepared to gain some weight and have some rough days. Keep me updated on how you are progressing. It’s not easy, but it has been worth it so far.[/quote]
Rats, you got me beat, I missed one rep on my last 3 x 10 day, but to be fair I started with ~2kg over my perscribed workload (got greedy, wanted to hit 140kg for 3 x 10). Other than that, got em all though, I test my max end of this week. Looking to get between 160 and 170. Then I get to take a break for 2 weeks, then onto the shit storm intense mesocycle.
Wonderful. I just talk about if I miss a rep and what do I do? No, not miss a rep, mis-count my weight. So, instead of loading 140.6kg on the bar, I load 136kg. Luckily, I noticed the error after the first set. Unfortunately, for me that meant that first set meant nothing. Also, I rushed the second set due to my anger at my stupidity, which was stupid move number 2. Set4 was the rough spot. But, I had to tough it out and get thru the night. Week3 Day 1 complete.
Three days left!
Week3 Day2 complete! 5x7 w/149.7kg. My spinal erectors needed some massaging before I went to the gym. And I also had one of my massagers there, so I sat in the chair and leaned against it between sets to stay loose. My only issue was when I hit bottom, I felt a slight twinge in my left glute. Since there are only two workouts left in the base cycle, I’m not going to worry about it too much. I felt really good under the weight and banged out 7 reps pretty quick. Dare I say, I am starting to enjoy this rep work…
Keep it up, man! Only two workouts left! I applaud your determination.
I had a question as to what you do when you miss a rep. If you have a spotter and get it back up, do you go for another to make it up? Or do you rest and redo the set? Ive been doing the latter so far, but It has been pretty killer. I end up doing an extra set almost every day.
I also think I am running this on the same schedule you are. You are doing M-W-F-Sat?
Thanks,
-Vasja
[quote]xzerasx wrote:
Keep it up, man! Only two workouts left! I applaud your determination.
I had a question as to what you do when you miss a rep. If you have a spotter and get it back up, do you go for another to make it up? Or do you rest and redo the set? Ive been doing the latter so far, but It has been pretty killer. I end up doing an extra set almost every day.
I also think I am running this on the same schedule you are. You are doing M-W-F-Sat?
Thanks,
-Vasja[/quote]
Thanks, I’m almost 2/3rds of the thru!
I have yet to miss a rep, but I have missed my weight counts twice (once in smolov jr, and once on this past monday). If I do miss a rep, then I will repeat the set. I can see the logic of re-racking and hitting the missed reps as soon as possible, but redo’ing the set is the only thing that will give me a clear head.
M-W-F-Sat work out the best for me as well. Since, there are very few people in the gym (if any) Saturday afternoon, I can really relax between sets without having to make conversation with the “squat rack curling guy” about why I squat so many times a week. Good luck to you and keep me posted on how you are doing.
Week3 Day3 complete. 7x5 w/158.8kg. My hips are fried yet again, and you can see why in the vid. I am getting some pretty serious hip drive, so I ain’t doing good-mornings with the weight. My form is still a little off, but I think that this movement will help get me closer to my goal.
I’m looking forward and dreading tomorrow, but there is no doubt it is in the bag. It’s not like I am going to come this far then not give it EVERYTHING I have left in this old, pathetic body of mine(that’s what my wife says about me). 10sets of 3reps will be my bitch!
BIGGER, FASTER, STRONGER!!!
Smolov Base Cycle complete! Today was 10x3 w/167.8kg. I felt really rough after last nights session, but after I got to the gym I felt pretty good. After the first set, I was feeling really good. So, now we have 1 week of light-ish upper body work until the 1rm test, then the switching cycle for 2 weeks. Most important than anything, the healing begins.
Ok, so I just finished my 1rm test. I wasn’t feeling my best physically. My left glute and hammie really took a beating and I am feeling “loose” on that side (not tight and ready to squat). After Smolov Jr, I 1rep tested at 188.2kg and I felt like I had more in me, but backed off anyway. If you paid really close attention, I doubt if anyone caught it, I lowered my 1rm on the chart to 183.7kg. This was done on the solid advice from a couple of Smolov veterans.
I went in with the plan of my last warmup set would be at 183.7kg and my first test rep would be 199.6kg. IF i was successful, I would go for 208.7kg (my goal). Instead of telling you how it went, here’s the vid… Smolov 1RM Test - YouTube
Nice job on the squats man!
[quote]BlackLabel wrote:
Nice job on the squats man![/quote]
Thanks, BlackLabel!
That was a nice job undesired08! I was wishing for you to make that last lift, and you did! You are the man!
[quote]stallion wrote:
That was a nice job undesired08! I was wishing for you to make that last lift, and you did! You are the man![/quote]
All this squatting makes me regret dedicating so much time to my benching.
That last squat was a bear from the time I put on my belt. I almost backed off and not attempted it when I un-racked it. That is why I screwed up the walkout. But when I hit bottom, there was no way I was leaving without either getting that weight up or bleeding severely.
That was a rough walkout. Nice job though hopefully I will be up around those kinds of weights in a few months hoping for at least 405 by the end of the 13 weeks maybe 450.
Way to go man. Good to see the result of hardwork. I am now inspired more than ever to finish the last 6 days of the base.
farking sweet
way to go man, that’s a huge increase.
Is it just me or is your gym like immaculate, it’s the cleanest gym I’ve ever seen
[quote]formfunction wrote:
Way to go man. Good to see the result of hardwork. I am now inspired more than ever to finish the last 6 days of the base.[/quote]
Thanks, FF. My wife and I were comparing the 199.6kg lift with my 188.2kg that I posted after I finished Smolov Jr and I was surprised that the 199 came up about a full second faster.
I know you wanted me to go for 210 (I actually planned 213.2 as my third attempt), but after the 208 attempt, I was done. 
You only have a few sessions left and we all look forward to you joining the “club”!
[quote]biggun7997 wrote:
That was a rough walkout. Nice job though hopefully I will be up around those kinds of weights in a few months hoping for at least 405 by the end of the 13 weeks maybe 450.[/quote]
Thanks biggun. I like to watch videos of guys that can squat more than me to get me up for my lifts, if they are a lesser bodyweight it’s even better. Work hard and focus and 450 will fall.
Haha, I didn’t have my head in the game. I have walked out a LOT more weight than that for static holds, but I was not 100% focused on the task until I actually started squatting. It was still only 4 steps (with two minor adjustments). I always go for a three setup to save energy, and I just missed.
Awesome work! The dedication paid off. I think if you would have gone right for 210KG you would have gotten it. Now, what are you aiming for after the intense cycle? 225KG?
Also, what do you have planned for the switching phase?
Keep us posted.