Hi everyone!
Next Saturday I will be exactly 16 weeks away from my first powerlifting meet.
After fiddling around with other kind of programs, I decided to try a high volume one.
Right now, I see two options:
1 - Jump on a 16 week Sheiko program (the programs on Sheiko’s website are 12 weeks long, but it’s easy to make them 16).
2 - Since I feel weak on the squat, do Smolov Jr (3 weeks) followed by a deload week and only after that start the 12 week Sheiko.
What would be your option?
Thanks.
[quote]putdacream wrote:
Hi everyone!
Next Saturday I will be exactly 16 weeks away from my first powerlifting meet.
After fiddling around with other kind of programs, I decided to try a high volume one.
Right now, I see two options:
1 - Jump on a 16 week Sheiko program (the programs on Sheiko’s website are 12 weeks long, but it’s easy to make them 16).
2 - Since I feel weak on the squat, do Smolov Jr (3 weeks) followed by a deload week and only after that start the 12 week Sheiko.
What would be your option?
Thanks.[/quote]
Sheiko 29/30/31/32 is 16 weeks long. Which ones do you plan to run? When you said that it’s easy to add 4 weeks to the program, how do you plan to do that? There are noticeable trends in the program that cycle intensity and volume in order to move between periods of high volume and high intensity. If you understand that and how your body responds to it then you could alter it but I’m not sure that’s a good idea since you haven’t used it before.
I have used Sheiko 32 twice for peaking and didn’t find it very effective. You may have to try it for yourself though.
If you choose option 2, you could run 29/30/31. For Sheiko 31 week 3, you could switch deadlift to Monday and squat to Wednesday. Work up to your deadlift opener on Monday in place of the heavy session and work up to your squat and bench opener on Wednesday in place of the heavy session. The Friday session should be done as scheduled. Skip week 4 to recover for the meet on Saturday. Be conservative with your Smolov training - you will make gains even if you go too light but you’ll hit a wall and waste time recovering if you go too heavy. Same thing with Sheiko.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
Sheiko 29/30/31/32 is 16 weeks long. Which ones do you plan to run? When you said that it’s easy to add 4 weeks to the program, how do you plan to do that? [/quote]
Sheiko released new plans on his website.
The 3 Day Program is 37-31-32 (12 weeks).
I was planning to add 30 after 37.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
Be conservative with your Smolov training - you will make gains even if you go too light but you’ll hit a wall and waste time recovering if you go too heavy.[/quote]
I was thinking going with 90%.
[quote]putdacream wrote:
Sheiko released new plans on his website.
The 3 Day Program is 37-31-32 (12 weeks).
I was planning to add 30 after 37.
[/quote]
Sheiko 29 and 37 are pretty similar, 37 having slightly more volume. It probably won’t matter much since most of the gains come from 30 and 31. I would still recommend 29 for the 16 week cycle if this is your first time running Sheiko.
[quote]putdacream wrote:
[quote]lift206 wrote:
Be conservative with your Smolov training - you will make gains even if you go too light but you’ll hit a wall and waste time recovering if you go too heavy.[/quote]
I was thinking going with 90%.
[/quote]
That should be fine. If you’re capable of doing that 10x3 in the first week then you should be able to get through it. Eating and sleeping enough are the most important things to focus on.
Edit: Using 90% may be a bit too conservative to get the most out of the program - it might even be easy. It should be a current max, something you could for sure hit within 2-3 weeks from now. Depending on your conditioning or experience with high frequency/volume you may have to drop a bit of weight from there.
Also, make sure you have fully recovered before starting. I typically run the Smolov 2 week intro mircocycle to ensure I start off fresh. If needed, I would truncate that 12 week Sheiko cycle to 10-11 weeks just to make sure I start Smolov off in top condition.
[quote]lift206 wrote:
Using 90% may be a bit too conservative to get the most out of the program - it might even be easy. It should be a current max, something you could for sure hit within 2-3 weeks from now. Depending on your conditioning or experience with high frequency/volume you may have to drop a bit of weight from there.
Also, make sure you have fully recovered before starting. I typically run the Smolov 2 week intro mircocycle to ensure I start off fresh. If needed, I would truncate that 12 week Sheiko cycle to 10-11 weeks just to make sure I start Smolov off in top condition.[/quote]
Thank you.