Shouldering 240lb atlas stone:
[quote]csulli wrote:
Shouldering 240lb atlas stone:
Gah, I havenāt touched a stone in a while. Making me wanna do stronkmenz.
1/11/2015
Did a charity meet today. It was put on by Lift with Purpose to benefit Demetri Whitt, who has cerebral palsy. Was an unsanctioned meet, so obviously I donāt record these as meet lifts, but it was an incredibly wonderful event.
Squat:
warmups
405 good
430 good
460 good; 10lb PR
Bench:
315 good
335 good
345 fail
Deadlift:
500 good
525 good
550 hitched a little; wouldnāt have passed in a real meet. I can do this without hitching though, it was just a touch off this day.
Overall a pretty great result for me honestly. I had a fun time and it actually benefited something besides the meet organizerās wallet. 100% of the entry fees went to help pay for a surgery Demetri needs.
Pretty stoked about the squat and dead. That was a good day.
Hereās my squat PR:
Sorry for potato quality; my sister just sent this over text. Knees go a bit crazy in the holeā¦ but overall a pretty strong rep.
1/11/2015
Never let meet day keep you from your training. Itās time for me to start Smolov, so I rested for a couple hours and then headed to the gym. Iām doing it for squat and bench (not Smolov Jr.; full Smolov). Not regular bench tho. Iām gonna do feet up close grip bench. Not sure what max to use for that, but I just put in 275 and went ahead. If itās too easy Iāll just pause all the reps.
I superset the squat and bench sets.
4 sets of 9 squats with 295
superset with
4 sets of 9 bench with 195
I like to act tough, but Iām not gonna bullshit you, this was pretty fucking rough on my legs after that meet. The bench was really easy though. Might need to up the max anyway.
Why are you doing the bench feet up, and close grip? Just curious?
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Why are you doing the bench feet up, and close grip? Just curious?[/quote]
If I did Smolov for regular bench I think it would hurt my lower back way too much to the point where it would impede progress on squats and deads. I have very poor thoracic mobility, and so when I set up on competition bench, my lumbar spine has to strain to make up for that when I arch. Even if I donāt arch, using leg drive at all aggravates it somewhat. Iāve had a low back injury/imbalance in the past that will flare up on bench. Just feels like my leg drive is uneven and it really puts my hips out of alignment and pulls on that muscle real bad.
Itās an issue I need to continue to address (gotta get better thoracic mobility), but in the mean time, this is a nice way to get in the work without messing anything up.
1/12/2015
Squat:
warmups
315 7x
315 7x
315 7x
315 7x
315 7x
Close Grip Feet Up Bench Press:
warmups
275 1x
295 1x
315 1x PR I guess lol
225 7x
225 7x
225 7x
225 7x
225 7x
I decided to go ahead and max out on the close grip cripple bench. I needed to get a better idea of what to base my numbers off of. 275 was too low. That 315 wasnāt quite strict enough though, so Iām probably gonna use 305 or 310 or so.
Hereās my feet up close grip rep tho:
OMG HeavyTriple is going to kill you for doing a feet up Bench Smolov cycle hahahaha
Smolov for squat, and bench? You canāt hide from my challenges by using smolov on only two lifts, Csulli. 
edit: Seriously though, bro, Y U NO FINISH CHALLENGES U ACCEPT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Nice CGBPFU PR! No arch, no leg drive, and close grip, that looks tough.
What are your reasons for running a full Smolov right now? There seem to be tons of arguments for and against that program and others like it, so Iām curious to know why you are running it. Also, given how you usually train, is Smolov actually a DECREASE in volume?
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
OMG HeavyTriple is going to kill you for doing a feet up Bench Smolov cycle hahahaha[/quote]
LMAO
I put it on insta and he said something already. I didnāt realize he had a thing against feet up bench!
[quote]Destrength wrote:
Smolov for squat, and bench? You canāt hide from my challenges by using smolov on only two lifts, Csulli.
edit: Seriously though, bro, Y U NO FINISH CHALLENGES U ACCEPT?!?!?!?!?!?!?![/quote]
Lol sorry bro, hold on I am writing myself a note so I will remember for next training session (srs)
[quote]Ecchastang wrote:
Nice CGBPFU PR! No arch, no leg drive, and close grip, that looks tough.[/quote]
Thanks man! That means a lot coming from someone who benches as much as me at like 40lbs lighter lol.
[quote]LiftingStrumpet wrote:
What are your reasons for running a full Smolov right now? There seem to be tons of arguments for and against that program and others like it, so Iām curious to know why you are running it. Also, given how you usually train, is Smolov actually a DECREASE in volume? ;)[/quote]
Well in all seriousness you kinda hit it with your last statement lol. Iām not trying to sound badass, because relatively speaking Iām still not that strong, but I am very proud of my work capacity at least. Iām conditioned to train in such a way that itās really no big deal for me to jump on a quick Smolov mesocycle. Itās just a convenient way for me to get in weekly volume. For dudes who arenāt as used to training that way, Smolov is treated with this reverence like it is some lofty thing that might kill you, but if you are used to training with high volume and high frequency already, it just becomes a nice little program to try and ramp up your weights a bit.
[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]LiftingStrumpet wrote:
What are your reasons for running a full Smolov right now? There seem to be tons of arguments for and against that program and others like it, so Iām curious to know why you are running it. Also, given how you usually train, is Smolov actually a DECREASE in volume? ;)[/quote]
Well in all seriousness you kinda hit it with your last statement lol. Iām not trying to sound badass, because relatively speaking Iām still not that strong, but I am very proud of my work capacity at least. Iām conditioned to train in such a way that itās really no big deal for me to jump on a quick Smolov mesocycle. Itās just a convenient way for me to get in weekly volume. For dudes who arenāt as used to training that way, Smolov is treated with this reverence like it is some lofty thing that might kill you, but if you are used to training with high volume and high frequency already, it just becomes a nice little program to try and ramp up your weights a bit.[/quote]
Interesting. So, are you basically maintaining volume while increasing intensity? Do you have a meet planned at the end of the cycle?
[quote]LiftingStrumpet wrote:
Interesting. So, are you basically maintaining volume while increasing intensity? Do you have a meet planned at the end of the cycle?
[/quote]
Ye. The volume is always either 4x9, 5x7, 7x5, or 10x3 and the weight just increases little by little for a month. I donāt have a meet planned though. Iāll probably do one in May.
[quote]csulli wrote:
[quote]Destrength wrote:
Smolov for squat, and bench? You canāt hide from my challenges by using smolov on only two lifts, Csulli.
edit: Seriously though, bro, Y U NO FINISH CHALLENGES U ACCEPT?!?!?!?!?!?!?![/quote]
Lol sorry bro, hold on I am writing myself a note so I will remember for next training session (srs)[/quote]
I still cannot take that seriously. Donāt go full retard for some silly internet challenge; donāt do anything that will dick up your bicep tendon or shoulders for your squatting and benching.