[quote]bt_impaler wrote:
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.[/quote]
Thanks, bt. I agree that I would have more than likely hit 210, if I went for it first.
My goal is 226.8 by may 5th(my 40th birthday). So, my attempts will probably look like this: 204-1(last warmup), 217.7kg, then 226.8kg. Personally, I want to just put two attempts in with higher jumps than I would make in a meet.
I have not drawn out the switching phase yet. But, stallion has sent me some info to look over and I will be posting the switching workouts here over the next 2 weeks.
Great job on the new max, I was rooting for ya here with my coffee this morning watching the vid. My girlfriend is in the bed, asking what the hell I was cheering for… All too damn motivational! I’m starting to have Smolov withdrawls now… I might actually put myself back through that agony here in another couple months. Very nice job again bro. Keep up the great work!
[quote]Evolv wrote:
Great job on the new max, I was rooting for ya here with my coffee this morning watching the vid. My girlfriend is in the bed, asking what the hell I was cheering for… All too damn motivational! I’m starting to have Smolov withdrawls now… I might actually put myself back through that agony here in another couple months. Very nice job again bro. Keep up the great work![/quote]
Thanks Evolv. About 4 inches out of the bottom, when I started slowing down, everything just went blood red. There is a mirror directly across from the rack and I can use it to make sure I hit parallel. Saturday, I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew I was there and I had to get that weight up.
After the past 3+months of squatting, I don’t think I will EVER be able to just squat twice a week again. I may change my mind after I go thru the hell known as the Intense cycle , but I doubt it ;-D .
First switching night was a little less forceful than I wanted it to be. My quads were on FIRE after stretching. So, cut back on the amount of leg work I did. I started with Bulgarian squats, then box jumps, and lastly 1 negative with 215.5kg.
Working up to the negative felt good and I was working on exploding out of the hole, until I hit 183.7. I started having a pain in my left arm as soon as I unracked the weight. So, after the negative, I called it a night.
I am still feeling the effects of the max efforts Saturday, so I am not surprised that I had to call it an early night. Hopefully, I will feel better later in the week.
The main focus of the switching phase is concentrating on speed. So, the sets were full squats at a fast pace. I am not a speed squatter, so I have to rely on brute strength too much. I want to have my rhythm more along the lines of bill kazmaier (moderate decent, then a complete explosion out of the hole). But, then again, who doesn’t…
This was the weight rep scheme I followed. I didn’t have it written down, I go off of how I feel. I can spend up to 3 sets on 102kg until I feel loose enough to move the weight up. Also, I don’t always make 40kg jumps, it all just depends.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Evolv wrote:
Great job on the new max, I was rooting for ya here with my coffee this morning watching the vid. My girlfriend is in the bed, asking what the hell I was cheering for… All too damn motivational! I’m starting to have Smolov withdrawls now… I might actually put myself back through that agony here in another couple months. Very nice job again bro. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Evolv. About 4 inches out of the bottom, when I started slowing down, everything just went blood red. There is a mirror directly across from the rack and I can use it to make sure I hit parallel. Saturday, I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew I was there and I had to get that weight up.
After the past 3+months of squatting, I don’t think I will EVER be able to just squat twice a week again. I may change my mind after I go thru the hell known as the Intense cycle , but I doubt it ;-D .
[/quote]
Your soul has now officially been saved by the great God of Squats. Welcome to the world of real training!
[quote]stallion wrote:
undesired08 wrote:
Your soul has now officially been saved by the great God of Squats. Welcome to the world of real training![/quote]
Haha, I kind of see it as my soul being damned by the Demon of Pain. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Another night of switching. Performed Bulgarian squats, split squat jumps, power cleans, calf raises, crouched rows, and incline presses. Speed and explosiveness are still the focus.
So, after last Monday’s switching session, my arm and shoulder were very tender, so I took a few days off to heal up. I would rather half-ass the switching phase, than have issues during the Intense Phase.
Tonight I performed box squats, then did upper body work with not a single twinge in my arm. I believe the pain stems from the way I am (was) holding the bar, so I made a couple of very slight adjustments. Only one more switching session before all HELL breaks loose. The best news is that project-season has started at work and I will be working a LOT of 12-20hour shifts. We will see how that works out.
This is really weird. You’re a week behind me, watching your log is like peering into the past.
Here’s a prediction for the future: Intense Mesocycle
Pros: Less workouts, more rest, Day 3’s of the week are hard but not mind bendingly difficult. Less sets, able to pool more energy into each set.
Cons: The loads and reps for days 1 and 2 are ridiculous. Especially Day 2. Although not as challenging on a daily basis as the Base Cycle, on a weekly basis it seems to get exponentially harder (where the base cycle is more linear).
However, I’m only done day 2 of the whole cycle. 10 days left. Take my advice with a grain of salt haha.
[quote]Invictica wrote:
This is really weird. You’re a week behind me, watching your log is like peering into the past.
Here’s a prediction for the future: Intense Mesocycle
Pros: Less workouts, more rest, Day 3’s of the week are hard but not mind bendingly difficult. Less sets, able to pool more energy into each set.
Cons: The loads and reps for days 1 and 2 are ridiculous. Especially Day 2. Although not as challenging on a daily basis as the Base Cycle, on a weekly basis it seems to get exponentially harder (where the base cycle is more linear).
However, I’m only done day 2 of the whole cycle. 10 days left. Take my advice with a grain of salt haha. [/quote]
It is oddly helpful to get updates on the upcoming workouts from you, since you do get to suffer the week before I step up to bat.
Looking at the rep schema, the early sets will feel like warmup sets, but the “work sets” are in sets and rep ranges a little higher than what I am used to performing. And of course, it will be at such a higher frequency. It’s really intriguing in the way it is laid out and I am excited to see how my legs respond.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Invictica wrote:
This is really weird. You’re a week behind me, watching your log is like peering into the past.
Here’s a prediction for the future: Intense Mesocycle
Pros: Less workouts, more rest, Day 3’s of the week are hard but not mind bendingly difficult. Less sets, able to pool more energy into each set.
Cons: The loads and reps for days 1 and 2 are ridiculous. Especially Day 2. Although not as challenging on a daily basis as the Base Cycle, on a weekly basis it seems to get exponentially harder (where the base cycle is more linear).
However, I’m only done day 2 of the whole cycle. 10 days left. Take my advice with a grain of salt haha.
It is oddly helpful to get updates on the upcoming workouts from you, since you do get to suffer the week before I step up to bat.
Looking at the rep schema, the early sets will feel like warmup sets, but the “work sets” are in sets and rep ranges a little higher than what I am used to performing. And of course, it will be at such a higher frequency. It’s really intriguing in the way it is laid out and I am excited to see how my legs respond.[/quote]
Haha, Invictica is first into the cave.
Yea the convenient thing about the intense mesocycle is that it peaks to the working set for you instead of just jumping into the working sets, so you don’t have to guess the numbers you want to peak with. I agree its quite interesting how its laid out so you can actually hit those supposedly insane numbers in a matter of weeks.
I would really like to hear the reasoning for Coach Smolov’s rep/set/weight variations.
Tonight was the last night of the switching cycle. I performed front squats, high-bar squats, incline bench, calf raises, weighted dips and pull-ups. I’m excited that next week starts MAX PAIN. The work thing is more than likely going to effect me, but oh well. As long as I keep the training going.
Nice work so far undersired08. Your Squat has really improved a ton.
I’ve been quietly following allowing, since I knew I wanted to run the Smolov Cycle after I finished my 13 weeks of Sheiko. I just finished week 1 of the Base Meso Cycle. 8 more sessions to go. The frequency of Sheiko helped, but the intensity of Smolov is much greater.
And like you, I was/am not used to sets of 9 or 7. That’s cardio as far as I’m concerned.
Looking at the rep schema, the early sets will feel like warmup sets, but the “work sets” are in sets and rep ranges a little higher than what I am used to performing…[/quote]
Not sure I follow you. Do you mean sets and rep ranges being a little higher than what you were used to BEFORE Smolov Jr and Smolov Base? I mean you went through 4 X 9 days on the Base.
Looking at my spreadsheet for Intense, there is no day with any set with more than 5 reps, and the tough “work sets” are also around 5, at most. But of course the intensity is much higher.
So tough days in Weeks 3 and 4 may have you do 5 X 5 X 90%1RM and 3 X 4 X 95%1RM.
I did 7 X 5 X 90%1RM and 10 X 3 X 95%1RM my last 2 days of the Base back to back, so that makes me feel good.
But then I always feel good until the bar hits my back.
[quote]Modi wrote:
Nice work so far undersired08. Your Squat has really improved a ton.
I’ve been quietly following allowing, since I knew I wanted to run the Smolov Cycle after I finished my 13 weeks of Sheiko. I just finished week 1 of the Base Meso Cycle. 8 more sessions to go. The frequency of Sheiko helped, but the intensity of Smolov is much greater.
And like you, I was/am not used to sets of 9 or 7. That’s cardio as far as I’m concerned.
Keep up the good work![/quote]
Modi, thanks a lot. I have been following your Sheiko for a bit as well. The second week is fun, because surviving it “healthy” makes the last 4 sessions go by like a holiday.
Since I was so used to doing Westside, Monday’s and Tuesdays were big days for me and when I finished those sets I felt like I could do anything.
I usually watch vids of you, meat, and hanley squatting on my sqaut days for motivation. So, post some Smolov vids to get me all fired up.
Looking at the rep schema, the early sets will feel like warmup sets, but the “work sets” are in sets and rep ranges a little higher than what I am used to performing…
Not sure I follow you. Do you mean sets and rep ranges being a little higher than what you were used to BEFORE Smolov Jr and Smolov Base? I mean you went through 4 X 9 days on the Base.
Looking at my spreadsheet for Intense, there is no day with any set with more than 5 reps, and the tough “work sets” are also around 5, at most. But of course the intensity is much higher.
So tough days in Weeks 3 and 4 may have you do 5 X 5 X 90%1RM and 3 X 4 X 95%1RM.
I did 7 X 5 X 90%1RM and 10 X 3 X 95%1RM my last 2 days of the Base back to back, so that makes me feel good.
But then I always feel good until the bar hits my back.
[/quote]
FF, I was referring to the sets for the day. For example, the first session will be 1set of 3, 1set of 4, then the “work sets” begin with 3sets of 4 and 1set of 4. The way the workout day is laid out, it gives you a good platform to warm-up before you get into the heavy sets. It’s just that it’s a good guide to not burn yourself out before it’s time. It looks a LOT like what I would do for my Westside workouts, but with higher rep ranges on the “work sets”.
[quote]undesired08 wrote:
Modi, thanks a lot. I have been following your Sheiko for a bit as well. The second week is fun, because surviving it “healthy” makes the last 4 sessions go by like a holiday.
Since I was so used to doing Westside, Monday’s and Tuesdays were big days for me and when I finished those sets I felt like I could do anything.
I usually watch vids of you, meat, and hanley squatting on my sqaut days for motivation. So, post some Smolov vids to get me all fired up.
[/quote]
Week 2 Day 1 complete…I had some strange pain in my right knee on the first set of 9 today. I decided to stick with it, and it went away after the first set. In the past, I probably would have stopped and saved it for another day, but I had to keep with the schedule.
I put up a video in my log. I didn’t want to pollute your thread with my vids.
